How do we come up with names for fictional characters?

[The Bookaholic]

I think that authors who are deeply emotionally involved with their characters will find names that just sound right too them. Just like parents knowing what to name their child. But in twenty years, they character can't complain about their name unlike in real life

[Nathrad Sheare]

Sometimes names just pop into our heads. Even J.K. Rowling, when asked how she came up with "Voldemort," (Did anyone else know it was originally pronounced "VOL- de- more?" If so why didn't you tell me first? ) she replied, "It just came to me. I made it up." See? It's possible to just HAPPEN on a name. I know I've done it before. There really are very few rules one can put on an artist, hm?

[x1f4j8k9]

There's some sites that will randomly give you names, I use those sometimes.

[rei_sawakami]

I'm definitely one of those people who come up with a personality first, so I usually will be reading and find an unusual name, and I'll maybe tweak it.

[kaylahar6]

They probably get the names from friends, family, or other book characters.

[aaronhattle]

Some people will say that it's important to have a meaning behind names, but I have never really bought that. I think what's much more important is the sound of a character's name. The sound of the words actually means a lot.

[erinreadingbooks]

I usually look in baby name dictionaries online. It helps me come up with a lot of unique and awesome names. Good luck!

[Dream Catcher]

I like unusual names that suit the characters personality. That may be the harshness of the sound or it origin.

[Bfrisco]

Very rarely, it just clicks, but often I look through a bunch of name websites/books, some geared towards writing, others are baby names, before anything sounds right.

[TrishaAnn92]

When I write, I definitely put a lot of thought into the characters names and usually change them at least 5 times until I find something that I like and seems fitting.

[FNAWrite]

This way at least once - while writing in the fantasy swords/sorcery genre, I happened to see on the road a truck from the Corda Inks company. From there came the character Korda Ynx.

[Danni Krue]

For me personally, I listen out for names that sound interesting and cool in my day to day life and jot them down to possibly use in one of my stories. I work To-Go at a popular restaurant, so I hear dozens of names each day.

[colegrove]

I pick names that are easy to type. Names like "Count Gerhard von Falkenstein" tend to wear me out.

[miztree46]

I select character names by looking at the meaning of names.

[NiniQ]

I sometimes use the US Social Security Administration website to find names appropriate for a particular time period. The site let's you search by year (back to the early 20th century) for most poplar baby names. The US Census Bureau has genealogy information and lists last names. Sometimes a name will jump out at me from the list and I know its right for the character.