And I am completely incapable of coming up with names for my Beauty and the Beast characters. I’m taking the story and completely flipping it on it’s head to some extent, making it all not fairytale and slightly messed up (I won’t go into details because plotstealers, not like I don’t trust the internet at large or anything), and I just CAN’T FIND NAMES.
I read the original story. Like ORIGINAL original, Villenueve’s full, unabridged, translated story. And it contains absolutely NO names, and basically nothing helpful to naming and hardly anything helpful to plot.
Anyways, I like references/allusions. And ironic names. And names that fit/represent the characters.
Beast is more along the lines of reclusive and shy, moral and proper, and not actually a prince trapped inside a monster.
Beauty is rather cold and harsh (at first), timid and thoughtful, but turns out to be strong-willed, stubborn, and capable.
Any and all suggestions welcome. I’ve never had a more difficult time with this.
I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Ophelia[/name] and [name]Hanna[/name]! I’ll definitely give those ones a shot.
[name]Charlton[/name], [name]Leopoldo[/name], and [name]Samson[/name] are along the right lines for Beast, but not really striking me as perfect.
More suggestions for both would be GREATLY appreciated! I can’t write without names, and this rewrite has been clawing at my brain for a few months now.
I had the same problem with [name]Cash[/name]. He was [name]Will[/name] in my head for months but then I realised I couldn’t have a [name]Will[/name] with a [name]Grace[/name]. This was way before I started writing. To solve the problem I went to behindthename and literally started reading every name out loud until I found the ‘cash’ sound. Then I thought of [name]Cashel[/name] and I just knew it was right.
Maybe try that?
Is this a modern story? Or are we still in the same time period but just with no magic?
[name]Just[/name] looking doing a Google search for the most basic ‘names meaning beauty’ for the girl and there are tons. Names that Mean “Beautiful” Obviously they’d need to be verified.
I like the suggestion of [name]Ophelia[/name] and [name]Imogen[/name]. It seems to fit (in my mind) how you are describing Beauty.
For Beast, the first name that popped in my mind was [name]Bastian[/name]. [name]Basti[/name] sounds like how beast is pronounced in Romanian. I don’t know if it fits the tone of your story, but [name]Bastian[/name] sounds like a regal but reclusive prince that isn’t really a monster.
[name]Imogen[/name] has the right feel to it, but I honestly just don’t like the name. [name]Ophelia[/name]'s in the same boat, though it is currently the frontrunner in spite of my dislike of the sound.
As far as time period goes, I have the setting so I’m not limited in names. Personally I won’t use trendy/cutesy names, but they are still usable the way I have things set up, if that makes sense.
I went to behind the name too! I found a few, but nothing that really stuck. The name I had picked out originally ([name]Tabitha[/name]) didn’t have the meaning I wanted/a meaning I felt I could use, and it just doesn’t fit her anymore.
[name]Althea[/name] maybe? I personally really like [name]Ophelia[/name], but I can understand someone not being as big of a fan. [name]Filomena[/name]/[name]Philomena[/name]? [name]Rowena[/name]? [name]Delfina[/name]?[name]Odessa[/name]? [name]Acacia[/name]? I’m just throwing a bunch out there that struck me as along the same lines as [name]Ophelia[/name], but that may not be the direction you want to go. Maybe something along the lines of a [name]Scarlett[/name], [name]Magdalene[/name], [name]Silvia[/name], [name]Eden[/name]? Or are those too contemporary sounding? Thoughts?
For the boys, again I hope this is the right direction to head in- [name]Aurelio[/name], [name]Carnell[/name], [name]Matthias[/name], [name]Eliezer[/name], [name]Desmond[/name]?
I like [name]Althea[/name] and [name]Odessa[/name]! And The same direction as [name]Ophelia[/name] is exactly where I want to be going, haha. I’m not limiting myself to a name meaning ‘Beauty’ as I’d originally intended, as they are a tad obvious, so just… anything works, basically. It’s about sound and personality.
[name]Matthias[/name] is actually one of my top boy’s names right now, ha. It feels a bit… young? Beast is hard; I need a name that sounds dark but not evil, isn’t popular right now/in the past ten years (so as not to be heavily associated with youth in my mind), preferably kind of long. Somewhere between [name]Eliezer[/name] and [name]Desmond[/name].
In between [name]Eliezer[/name] and [name]Desmond[/name], hmm. Maybe something like [name]Cedric[/name] (though that has a lot of [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] associations)? [name]Elias[/name]? [name]Torrence[/name]? [name]Eamon[/name]? [name]Anatole[/name]? [name]Ivor[/name]? [name]Sinclair[/name]? Absolam? [name]Efren[/name]? [name]Maclean[/name]? [name]Callum[/name]?
oooh, [name]Absalom[/name]! I like! And [name]Eamon[/name], [name]Anatole[/name], and [name]Maclean[/name]. Those are definitely where I want to be for Beast!
Still looking for suggestions for Beauty. [name]Odessa[/name], [name]Althea[/name], [name]Hanna[/name], and [name]Ophelia[/name] are still in the running, but none are giving me quite the right vibe… maybe a bit more… strong? I tend to go for harder/sharper consonants. So not quite so soft?
Okay, I know you’re looking for names along the lines of [name]Ophelia[/name], but have you considered [name]Tassia[/name]? She’s a nn for [name]Anastasia[/name], but I think it works - the double s and the -a ending make it soft and feminine, but the string T gives it some strength. [name]Anastasia[/name] works too.
[name]Callan[/name] - considering he’s the beast, I like the idea of his name meaning ‘handsome’, and it. Then again, I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.
[name]Adonis[/name]
[name]Cadmus[/name]
[name]Aeneas[/name]
[name]Aster[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Leander[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Lysander[/name]
Okay, I know you’re looking for names along the lines of [name]Ophelia[/name], but have you considered [name]Tassia[/name]? She’s a nn for [name]Anastasia[/name], but I think it works - the double s and the -a ending make it soft and feminine, but the string T gives it some strength. [name]Anastasia[/name] works too.
[name]Callan[/name] - considering he’s the beast, I like the idea of his name meaning ‘handsome’, and it. Then again, I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.
[name]Adonis[/name]
[name]Cadmus[/name]
[name]Aeneas[/name]
[name]Aster[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Leander[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Lysander[/name]
I really liked Absolam too! For Beauty the one sharper name that sounds similar to the ones pi like I’d [name]Odette[/name], but that’s the name of the princess in Swan [name]Lake[/name] so I don’t know if that would bother you.
Other names I like:
[name]Eudora[/name]
[name]Annette[/name]
[name]Inez[/name]
[name]Elvira[/name]
[name]Theodora[/name]
[name]Odette[/name] is a great suggestion! Maybe [name]Odetta[/name], for the sake of differentiation… Hmmm…
[name]Absalom[/name] and [name]Maclean[/name] are on top for Beast right now, and I quite like the suggestion of [name]Fitzwilliam[/name].
I’ll need to let all of these sit for a while. I’ve been working on it so long it’s hard to just up an pick names. More suggestions always appreciated!
