A list of last names you can consider for your novel's original character (OC):

1. Anderson

2. Bennett

3. Collins

4. Davis

5. Evans

6. Foster

7. Grayson

8. Hawkins

9. O’Brien

10. Johnson

11. Kennedy

12. Lawson

13. Mitchell

14. Nelson

15. Owens

16. Peterson

17. Quinn

18. Reynolds

19. Sullivan

20. Thompson

21. Underwood

22. Vaughn

23. Wallace

24. Xavier

25. Yates

26. Perez

random names made using markov gen fed with a lot of tolkienesque names and words in different languages he invented; 444 names

by the way you should visit @444names if you like this content

Aaraglesna Adslas Agaldë Agduca Aiweth Alcwil Aldenn Aldowmaglór Althor Amelas Anakey Andshalchil Andung Anelmonion Anewhand Anthûn Arayinelen Ardaravi Argorchalin Argoth Aringfindur Arvestefind Atcherb Auglan Auhúrin Auhúriode Awnfanduir Azagli Baglûnarat Baladall Balaidor Balionyahant Banermoregon Baraglor Bargli Barket Bartin Batorsh Baugley Beldarthor Beline Beoparin Berfly Berheaglúth Biryathornir Blagry Blarafor Blocthalla Blophil Blothing Blugalo Blugazmor Boacilcat Boadorn Bofuil Borimborgon Borondile Bothracitows Bragloth Bragontiong Braphar Brayfis Bredebor Bredendover Briondant Briondovene Brionnorna Bromenwë Bucamhog Buzgûl Bórithil Bórwale Caladild Caldoroolg Canglee Catart Celing Celiver Celmir Ceminyn Cerund Cesgand Chandómirin Chielindanor Chilgeorcer Cilessaras Cipeckalduf Codhells Codrethmo Colperessë Condridre Conduril Conighâd Corgondinnel Cracitë Cranarvir Crater Curbar Curgolo Cushaegundir Círionin Daikey Dandeen Deaphiliket Dermollar Dillart Dindille Doheet Dorguan Draith Dridharwenel Duidelu Duildo Dáintsquee Déawingwet Egolphana Egoseechidh Eilthoplamen Eldamp Elemerhil Elesth Elestron Elfalathéod Elfist Elkwhalirië Elodroa Elrodil Elumpin Erundë Esgathéod Esnazarat Essall Estatartohel Esterkû Ethéod Evingwir Eärnat Eärnel Eärwing Faiton Faullocond Felbaloonor Felron Fendicar Fenefly Fingriën Finketlegole Finnat Fisheas Fishor Fishruf Fistermel Follondshail Foolion Foroos Frerimlird Fréalper Fëansir Galamildan Galant Galmamron Galorm Gantinn Gaspant Gelethron Gerina Ghtaith Giacil Gianthorn Giaring Giarolë Glalfind Glessharven Gliantath Glimothelly Glondoronke Glómin Glúvamin Goishindumar Goldalmoosai Goldamrondur Golduckand Golodran Gophancan Gorlaclamit Gothidroth Griaramrog Grimbor Grimrosh Groppe Gríane Guangbil Guantar Gwaitery Gwatatin Gweapion Gwennesnat Gwifeleg Gwindil Hagatant Haglórantor Hagroug Haleng Hamrodhilin Hanagriniele Hanaket Hangraningon Harging Heasheethor Henter Herpong Herron Hiriannog Hiribo Huolór Huroth Hyenthili Hámrows Húrzumagar Iderflion Idhery Ilúthámrath Imladorn Imperonwë Imprion Inagûl Iormtom Ishalion Iveredberwin Ivrodran Jacarthorgon Jaghor Kallacalde Khânben Kiwenol Kiwine Kíliandur Kúvand Kúvillar Lacarven Lacillug Ladang Laffar Laffastien Lafolfin Laildog Larlanglo Legalmanaith Lessal Lhailin Lhundir Lobjecthe Lorthros Lottârin Loungmanden Luiliondil Mablugamin Mabwennyë Magazôr Maghtatto Magliond Maithéod¹ Malasp Maldir Maledhiduray Malthwor Mamron Mandirdil Maraithorn Marand Marómito Meargol Mehtaithan Melaguan Meleckwhark Minest Minweas Miriel Miring Morethil Mothor Mounnain Nagoro Narienda Narsoron Nereidhil Nerret Niandar Nianel Niangor Nigelin Ninelo Nipmund Nocton Norgult Námraphi Nûzumoundor Orlion Ortholóm Osaigerear Ounduruse Pachancat Palcola Palfly Palionk Pantindick Parahovesth Paratar Parouse Pecthed Phagoos Pighâd Pireforn Pladamen Plagos Plumant Poishrong Pornhamuch Prantangwing Prante Pregolfal Prileaddagor Pythalf Pythroundred Quingorgo Quinzin Radorn Rahaldar Ravegnosse Redhiper Rimaerma Rinalrow Roddaglind Roddalchin Rodilin Roseas Rórimfin Sadelinzin Saiglebrin Sauglisher Seader Shadfin Shalam Shaldark Shalliandush Sharine Sheldur Silrog Singbordiri Sloungele Slugloonwë Smoselm Sméagavi Snacil Snakey Snasar Sninzimë Squilimir Squinca Squiril Sterfisin Stomeas Stoutath Streness Stumandishar Sumagûl Sumaugal Swaitbard Swaticirm Taraing Targir Tesgali Thaulane Theleambath Theret Therven Thidhil Thrambur Thwine Thámrolf Tiperion Toalain Tombel Torben Torthrórin Toutahedhel Tularmwhado Tundow Tuoldë Turind Twinwë Tyraglon Túrinurusk Ufernsil Ugamith Uidger Ulaccon Uledalas Ulesgaldan Ulmaglobst Ulwalan Umlikee Undilmiel Ungarth Ungbiry Unúmello Uoldir Uolendil Upightin Vaidhilmë Vailmondor Valcap Valindil Valirdtate Vallartrene Valrond Vegole Vegrauld Viatfin Vilark Vindaithil Vorike Vuladrinchal Vánargo Vánatron Waedeld Wangfis Watárimpid Werúmin Whardaca Winzimermeg Wombas Worgolse Worowfarc Wosele Ylmalbanaril Yáviene Yávion Zindilthor Éodend Éodwili Éothelmira Íriling Óinkerfil

Good evening to everyone except the antagonist of my novel.

Dont just normalize using black characters in fantasy... Normalize using black and African NAMES for those fantasy characters.

You're telling me names like:

Diearra

Alayla

Tavion

Quamel

Rashaad

Zaniya

Kumonga

Shanice

Rhasheeda

Etc.

Don't have an air of fantasy and royalty to them?! Stop the b.s. these names are gorgeous and they should be used more in fantasy mediums.

Hey does anyone have any dehumanizing names, weird ask but I’m trying to write a toxic relationship. Preferably something related to objects

Thoughts on Naming

Naming things can be a paralyzing process where no matter what name you come up for your fictional person, place, animal or thingamajig, just doesn’t feel right. You may even come up with some naming conventions to help yourself out but the rules just end up feeling like a dull math problem of adding, removing, swapping and rearranging letters. Coming up with names can be... difficult to say the least. There are plenty of people are more qualified to discuss this than me, who have analyzed this subject more thoroughly and put together their thoughts together in a more organized fashion rather than just slapping together a post. So I am going to do something slightly different.

For the longest time I did not register names as anything more than a “Hello! My name is:____” sticker. Names weren’t words with meaning, they were just identifiers that are just that thing and nothing else. If that’s the case, why don’t gibberish words that I came up with don’t feel like names? What I ended up identifying as the problem is that English is kind of a shambling language with no clear naming conventions of its own but steals them from other languages. The realization resulted in some brainstorming that produced these naming guidelines: 

Name has a removed meaning

Name has a direct meaning

Name as both removed and direct meaning

Name is arbitrary

((I will have TL;DRs at the bottom of each section))

Removed Meanings 

A great number of people, places, animals and things have names that have no obvious meaning making that word a “true name” in my eyes. There is meaning, but that meaning is hidden beyond the “Language Barrier.” In a sense, a lot of names are straight up meaningless sounds to English speakers since there is no English definition for them. Can you tell me what a “Michael” is? What about a “Stephanie?” An “Alaska?” A “Swahili?” These are names that only have meaning in the language they originally came from. Like how Michael was originally the Hebrew “Mikha’el” which means “gift from God/who is like God” or how Stephanie is the English version of the Greek name “Stephanos” meaning “crown.” They have meaning, it was just left behind when the word was taken. Though sometimes the meaning of the word was used originally but faded with time. Alaska for example is the modification of the Aluet word “alaxsxaq” meaning “the mainland” (it’s meaning is actually a lot longer but this is fine) as well as the word “Swahili” is from the Arabic word “sawahil” meaning “coast.” While Alaska and Swahili are good names for the places they represent, is every Michael  a gift from God? Do all Stephanies hang out around royalty and stand on their head during ceremonies? Probably not. These names are now only tangentially defined by their original meaning and have become an encapsulation of the thing they represent. Is Alaska the mainland? Sure but most people will tell you it’s the state. Is Swahili a coast? Absolutely, but people are quicker to think about the country of the language.

Names like these can paralyze creatives because how much worldbuilding needs to be done before you can confidently name your main character? While world building is super dope, it is not entirely necessary to make a name or group of names feel cohesive. You only only need a handful of mostly consistent rules to follow. Maybe your Space Epic takes inspiration from the Romans so places typically end in “-a” like Hispania, Germania, Sicilia, Arabia and Britannia. Maybe your fairy tale needs something totally new, perhaps their names are very airy so most of their names are vowels. Maybe people’s names need titles like Mr., Dame, -san or Sire to make any new name recognizable as a name.

((TL;DR Words can sometimes feel like they are exclusively names because the meaning became secondary over time or was lost between languages, leaving only a name. IE Katherine, Boston, canal))

Direct Meanings (Descriptor Names)

This one is... well... direct. I have just shown that a lot of names might have a meaning but it is secondary as an identifier. Abrahams are Abrahams, lions are lions and London is London. Names with direct meanings are the opposite where the definition of the name describes the thing it represents. As unoriginal or on-the-nose as it feels, names for things can be ridiculously straight forward. A “locker” is a thing that locks; a “Texas longhorn” is a cow with long horns that lives in Texas; an “astronaut” is a “sailor(nauta, Latin)” that sails in the “stars(astrum, Greek)”; and “Bigfoot” is a weird forest dude with big feet. There isn’t any mysterious second meaning to these names, what you see is what you get.

A lot of descriptor names are nicknames/slang and modern creations. A person who is new to something is a “newbie”; we call our pet cat “whiskers” because they got whiskers right on the snout; and we call them “computers” because of all the computations they handle. Names with direct meaning can make creatives feel like hacks when they come up with them, but relax, it is human nature.

Name your fictional castle Goldwall because the fortress walls shine like gold and name your character Blade if they are going to be edgy! No one is stopping you and millennia of people are right there with you nodding along because damn. That castle does look gold. (A recent noteworthy example of cheesy naming is in Elden Ring. From a company with famously obtuse story telling combined with George RR Martian, they had all the creative power in the world and decided that a manor in a volcano should be called “Volcano Manor.” No frills like “Volcano Manor, Home of the Blasphemous,” no “Manor of Seeping Earth,” and no “Abode of the Repugnant” just “Volcano Manor.” Gotta love it.)

((TL;DR Names can be ridiculously straight forward where the name has a meaning that describes the thing itself. IE - eraser, sneakers, New Castle))

Mixed Removed, Direct Meanings

Mixed names have at least two components where one part of the name has removed meaning while another component has direct meaning. This usually results in multi-word names where the addition of a word can either separate two similar objects or bring together two separate objects. It can also happen as an attempt to make a word with a removed meaning more familiar by adding a recognizable part.

This happens a lot with animals and places. Examples include the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean (Atlantic referring to the Atlas Mountains in Africa which is turn refers to the Greek word “atlas,” and Pacific is from the Latin word “pacificus” meaning “peacemaking”); the mythical Amazons, the Amazon Rainforest and the Amazon River (Amazon referring to the ancient Greek warrior women meaning “without a breast,” while the rainforest was associated with the warriors because a European explore got his ass kicked by a group of women that lived there); the Himalayan Mountains (Himalaya means “snow abode” in Sanskrit); the Sahara Desert; and the River Avon. The last two names are when these kinds of names become funny since Sahara Desert (Arabic) means Desert Desert and River Avon (Welsh) means River River. Seriously, when you see names like this you really can’t be too hard on yourself when naming things. Feel no shame when you name your fictional waterfall the “Alto Proceritas Falls,” The Tall Tall Falls (Spanish, Latin).

((TL;DR Names can come in stages, going through different hands and times to create names that are a mash of languages and cultures. IE - Gobi Desert, New Mexico, rendezvous point))

Arbitrary Names

In general, these kinds of names are pretty rough to handle because it all comes down to “what feels right.” This is because all language is built upon the fact that, one day, cavemen looked at a rock and all agreed they would call it “rock.”

For very old languages and words that have descended from those old languages have no meaning that you can break down more. The further back you trace a name, the more history will revert it to its original form until finally... there is nothing left to trace. Eventually, the word become a totally meaningless jumble of sounds that someone decided the thing with utters over in the field is definitely a cow. 

Just now I decided that “spaps” is the totally legit name for my make-believe bird-like animals that fly using wind they can generate the same way bladeless fans generate, with magic. 

((TL;DR Words did not have meaning until people began agreeing that an arbitrary pattern of sounds represents something else. IE Proto-Indo-European - two/dwóh, mother/méhtēr, star/hstḗr))

Finally, here are some quick notes about where to start if you’re struggling to come up a good way to come up with names.

Naming Context

Who, what, where, when, why are fantastic places to start. The same thing can have different names depending on the context of that particular moment. Who is doing the naming? Were the subjects of “The Great King” or where they the victims of “The Blue Tyrant?” Is the nameing being done by a human or something else? Is it “Subject 9b” or is it “Nibbles the Mouse?” Where is the the thing being named? Is it “Mountain Lake” or is it “Valley Lake?” When was it named? Is it “The Intergalactic Launch Point” or is it “The Crash Site Junkyard?” Why is it being named, for what purpose? Is it the “Archeological Dig Site -10” or is it “The Sinking Sands?” Beyond that, the naming conventions you are inspired by in real life or come up with on your own can be remarkably creative.

Names of people, places and things can be named based on any number of its own qualities and the qualities of its environment, but that is not the interesting part,. What is interesting is how a thing is described. Using a single spaceship as the foundation, the name could be simple like “Cruiser”; it could be exaggerated synonyms like “Aether Galleon”; it could be quirky like “Bottle Rocket”; it could follow administrative guidelines that demand clear identification but still has some wiggle room for personalization like “Passenger Class Spacecraft 123.SUC-MI-D”; it could be a poetic description of its creation like “Fire and steel/hammer and forge/shape and build/seal and fly” with a more manageable name like “From Fire to Flight”; or it could be something seemingly childish like a mimicry of the the sounds it makes like “Fffffuwm Pew Pew.” There are millions of ways to go with naming rules and if you stick by them, you can pull of some really extreme ones.

((TL;DR The environment and time of the naming as well as the thing’s inherent properties are great starting points for naming something, but naming rules are way more creative than simple descriptive names. IE - name is the intended goal, name is the result of a bureaucratic necessity, name is never given but rather earned.))

Linguistics

Finally, linguistics. This is something to consider if you are making a foreign culture or language and you want it to feel authentic. Basically, languages have tendencies. Each language has sounds and letters they use and sounds and letters they do not use. Deciding  what to remove and what to add to this fiction-culture language will build a solid identity for it. Something I tried once was to make a character with an orc accent and to figure out what that sounded like, I hooked my pinky fingers around my lower lip to act as protruding tusks to see what sounds I could and could not make (no b, m, or p sounds). You don’t have to go that far though. The human vocal chords (and non-human if your are creating with that in mind) are extremely versatile and capable of producing a great number of sounds but most languages only repeatedly use a fraction of those sounds. So depending one if you want that culture to feel strong or soft, you can convey parts of that in the sounds and letters you select.

((TL;DR Names are informed by the language and each language has it own preferred sound and rhythm. IE - rojo, lago, campo; l’eglise, champagne, mademoiselle; montag, bier, fisch))

And that’s it! I hope you took something worthwhile away from this and can feel more confident moving forward with whatever creative projects you are working on!

me: this is a background character who's in one scene, has two lines, and is completely irrelevant to the rest of the story. i am going to stop obsessing over what to name him and use the random name generator on behindthename.com. i am going to accept the first thing it gives me and move the fuck on.

behindthename.com:

those first couple weeks after escaping a time loop have gotta be disorienting as all fuck. all those little cues that used to tell you what's about to happen are now triggers that cause you to brace for something that isn't coming. you have to relearn the permanence of death -- hell, you have reacquaint yourself with the entire concept of finality altogether. everything keeps changing but it never changes back and you keep having to remind yourself that this is normal. "it won't reset anymore," you echo to yourself, over and over and over, like a broken record, like you're still trapped in a loop, like someone who escaped the time loop but was doomed to bring it into the future with them

A Guide to Historically Accurate Regency-Era Names

I recently received a message from a historical romance writer asking if I knew any good resources for finding historically accurate Regency-era names for their characters.

Not knowing any off the top of my head, I dug around online a bit and found there really isn’t much out there. The vast majority of search results were Buzzfeed-style listicles which range from accurate-adjacent to really, really, really bad.

I did find a few blog posts with fairly decent name lists, but noticed that even these have very little indication as to each name’s relative popularity as those statistical breakdowns really don't exist.

I began writing up a response with this information, but then I (being a research addict who was currently snowed in after a blizzard) thought hey - if there aren’t any good resources out there why not make one myself?

As I lacked any compiled data to work from, I had to do my own data wrangling on this project. Due to this fact, I limited the scope to what I thought would be the most useful for writers who focus on this era, namely - people of a marriageable age living in the wealthiest areas of London.

So with this in mind - I went through period records and compiled the names of 25,000 couples who were married in the City of Westminster (which includes Mayfair, St. James and Hyde Park) between 1804 to 1821.

So let’s see what all that data tells us…

To begin - I think it’s hard for us in the modern world with our wide and varied abundance of first names to conceive of just how POPULAR popular names of the past were.

If you were to take a modern sample of 25-year-old (born in 1998) American women, the most common name would be Emily with 1.35% of the total population. If you were to add the next four most popular names (Hannah, Samantha, Sarah and Ashley) these top five names would bring you to 5.5% of the total population. (source: Social Security Administration)

If you were to do the same survey in Regency London - the most common name would be Mary with 19.2% of the population. Add the next four most popular names (Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah and Jane) and with just 5 names you would have covered 62% of all women.

To hit 62% of the population in the modern survey it would take the top 400 names.

The top five Regency men’s names (John, William, Thomas, James and George) have nearly identical statistics as the women’s names.

I struggled for the better part of a week with how to present my findings, as a big list in alphabetical order really fails to get across the popularity factor and also isn’t the most tumblr-compatible format. And then my YouTube homepage recommended a random video of someone ranking all the books they’d read last year - and so I present…

The Regency Name Popularity Tier List

The Tiers

S+ - 10% of the population or greater. There is no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. 52% of the population had one of these 7 names.

S - 2-10%. There is still no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. Names in this percentage range in the past have included Mary and William in the 1880s and Jennifer in the late 1970s (topped out at 4%).

A - 1-2%. The top five modern names usually fall in this range. Kids with these names would probably include their last initial in class to avoid confusion. (1998 examples: Emily, Sarah, Ashley, Michael, Christopher, Brandon.)

B - .3-1%. Very common names. Would fall in the top 50 modern names. You would most likely know at least 1 person with these names. (1998 examples: Jessica, Megan, Allison, Justin, Ryan, Eric)

C - .17-.3%. Common names. Would fall in the modern top 100. You would probably know someone with these names, or at least know of them. (1998 examples: Chloe, Grace, Vanessa, Sean, Spencer, Seth)

D - .06-.17%. Less common names. In the modern top 250. You may not personally know someone with these names, but you’re aware of them. (1998 examples: Faith, Cassidy, Summer, Griffin, Dustin, Colby)

E - .02-.06%. Uncommon names. You’re aware these are names, but they are not common. Unusual enough they may be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Calista, Skye, Precious, Fabian, Justice, Lorenzo)

F - .01-.02%. Rare names. You may have heard of these names, but you probably don’t know anyone with one. Extremely unusual, and would likely be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Emerald, Lourdes, Serenity, Dario, Tavian, Adonis)

G - Very rare names. There are only a handful of people with these names in the entire country. You’ve never met anyone with this name.

H - Virtually non-existent. Names that theoretically could have existed in the Regency period (their original source pre-dates the early 19th century) but I found fewer than five (and often no) period examples of them being used in Regency England. (Example names taken from romance novels and online Regency name lists.)

Just to once again reinforce how POPULAR popular names were before we get to the tier lists - statistically, in a ballroom of 100 people in Regency London: 80 would have names from tiers S+/S. An additional 15 people would have names from tiers A/B and C. 4 of the remaining 5 would have names from D/E. Only one would have a name from below tier E.

Women's Names

S+ Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah      

S - Jane, Mary Ann+, Hannah, Susannah, Margaret, Catherine, Martha, Charlotte, Maria

A - Frances, Harriet, Sophia, Eleanor, Rebecca

B - Alice, Amelia, Bridget~, Caroline, Eliza, Esther, Isabella, Louisa, Lucy, Lydia, Phoebe, Rachel, Susan

C - Ellen, Fanny*, Grace, Henrietta, Hester, Jemima, Matilda, Priscilla

D - Abigail, Agnes, Amy, Augusta, Barbara, Betsy*, Betty*, Cecilia, Christiana, Clarissa, Deborah, Diana, Dinah, Dorothy, Emily, Emma, Georgiana, Helen, Janet^, Joanna, Johanna, Judith, Julia, Kezia, Kitty*, Letitia, Nancy*, Ruth, Winifred>

E - Arabella, Celia, Charity, Clara, Cordelia, Dorcas, Eve, Georgina, Honor, Honora, Jennet^, Jessie*^, Joan, Joyce, Juliana, Juliet, Lavinia, Leah, Margery, Marian, Marianne, Marie, Mercy, Miriam, Naomi, Patience, Penelope, Philadelphia, Phillis, Prudence, Rhoda, Rosanna, Rose, Rosetta, Rosina, Sabina, Selina, Sylvia, Theodosia, Theresa

F - (selected) Alicia, Bethia, Euphemia, Frederica, Helena, Leonora, Mariana, Millicent, Mirah, Olivia, Philippa, Rosamund, Sybella, Tabitha, Temperance, Theophila, Thomasin, Tryphena, Ursula, Virtue, Wilhelmina

G - (selected) Adelaide, Alethia, Angelina, Cassandra, Cherry, Constance, Delilah, Dorinda, Drusilla, Eva, Happy, Jessica, Josephine, Laura, Minerva, Octavia, Parthenia, Theodora, Violet, Zipporah

H - Alberta, Alexandra, Amber, Ashley, Calliope, Calpurnia, Chloe, Cressida, Cynthia, Daisy, Daphne, Elaine, Eloise, Estella, Lilian, Lilias, Francesca, Gabriella, Genevieve, Gwendoline, Hermione, Hyacinth, Inez, Iris, Kathleen, Madeline, Maude, Melody, Portia, Seabright, Seraphina, Sienna, Verity

Men's Names

S+ John, William, Thomas

S - James, George, Joseph, Richard, Robert, Charles, Henry, Edward, Samuel

A - Benjamin, (Mother’s/Grandmother’s maiden name used as first name)#

B - Alexander^, Andrew, Daniel, David>, Edmund, Francis, Frederick, Isaac, Matthew, Michael, Patrick~, Peter, Philip, Stephen, Timothy

C - Abraham, Anthony, Christopher, Hugh>, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Walter

D - Adam, Arthur, Bartholomew, Cornelius, Dennis, Evan>, Jacob, Job, Josiah, Joshua, Lawrence, Lewis, Luke, Mark, Martin, Moses, Nicholas, Owen>, Paul, Ralph, Simon

E - Aaron, Alfred, Allen, Ambrose, Amos, Archibald, Augustin, Augustus, Barnard, Barney, Bernard, Bryan, Caleb, Christian, Clement, Colin, Duncan^, Ebenezer, Edwin, Emanuel, Felix, Gabriel, Gerard, Gilbert, Giles, Griffith, Harry*, Herbert, Humphrey, Israel, Jabez, Jesse, Joel, Jonas, Lancelot, Matthias, Maurice, Miles, Oliver, Rees, Reuben, Roger, Rowland, Solomon, Theophilus, Valentine, Zachariah

F - (selected) Abel, Barnabus, Benedict, Connor, Elijah, Ernest, Gideon, Godfrey, Gregory, Hector, Horace, Horatio, Isaiah, Jasper, Levi, Marmaduke, Noah, Percival, Shadrach, Vincent

G - (selected) Albion, Darius, Christmas, Cleophas, Enoch, Ethelbert, Gavin, Griffin, Hercules, Hugo, Innocent, Justin, Maximilian, Methuselah, Peregrine, Phineas, Roland, Sebastian, Sylvester, Theodore, Titus, Zephaniah

H - Albinus, Americus, Cassian, Dominic, Eric, Milo, Rollo, Trevor, Tristan, Waldo, Xavier

# Men were sometimes given a family surname (most often their mother's or grandmother's maiden name) as their first name - the most famous example of this being Fitzwilliam Darcy. If you were to combine all surname-based first names as a single 'name' this is where the practice would rank.

*Rank as a given name, not a nickname

+If you count Mary Ann as a separate name from Mary - Mary would remain in S+ even without the Mary Anns included

~Primarily used by people of Irish descent

^Primarily used by people of Scottish descent

>Primarily used by people of Welsh descent

I was going to continue on and write about why Regency-era first names were so uniform, discuss historically accurate surnames, nicknames, and include a little guide to finding 'unique' names that are still historically accurate - but this post is already very, very long, so that will have to wait for a later date.

If anyone has any questions/comments/clarifications in the meantime feel free to message me.

Methodology notes: All data is from marriage records covering six parishes in the City of Westminster between 1804 and 1821. The total sample size was 50,950 individuals.

I chose marriage records rather than births/baptisms as I wanted to focus on individuals who were adults during the Regency era rather than newborns. I think many people make the mistake when researching historical names by using baby name data for the year their story takes place rather than 20 to 30 years prior, and I wanted to avoid that. If you are writing a story that takes place in 1930 you don’t want to research the top names for 1930, you need to be looking at 1910 or earlier if you are naming adult characters.

I combined (for my own sanity) names that are pronounced identically but have minor spelling differences: i.e. the data for Catherine also includes Catharines and Katherines, Susannah includes Susannas, Phoebe includes Phebes, etc.

The compound 'Mother's/Grandmother's maiden name used as first name' designation is an educated guesstimate based on what I recognized as known surnames, as I do not hate myself enough to go through 25,000+ individuals and confirm their mother's maiden names. So if the tally includes any individuals who just happened to be named Fitzroy/Hastings/Townsend/etc. because their parents liked the sound of it and not due to any familial relations - my bad.

I did a small comparative survey of 5,000 individuals in several rural communities in Rutland and Staffordshire (chosen because they had the cleanest data I could find and I was lazy) to see if there were any significant differences between urban and rural naming practices and found the results to be very similar. The most noticeable difference I observed was that the S+ tier names were even MORE popular in rural areas than in London. In Rutland between 1810 and 1820 Elizabeths comprised 21.4% of all brides vs. 15.3% in the London survey. All other S+ names also saw increases of between 1% and 6%. I also observed that the rural communities I surveyed saw a small, but noticeable and fairly consistent, increase in the use of names with Biblical origins.

Sources of the records I used for my survey: 

Ancestry.com. England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988 [database on-line].

Ancestry.com. Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935 [database on-line].

i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.

most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.

it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.

and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).

i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.

grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.

Sweet italian nicknames

- Tesoro mio (My treasure)

- Amore mio (My love)

- Caro/cara (Dear)

- Cuore mio (My heart)

- Dolcezza (Sweetness)

- Angioletto (Little angel)

- Bambino/bambina (Baby/child)

- Stellina (Little star)

- Principessa (Princess)

- Tesorino (Little treasure)

- Piccolo/piccola (Little one)

- Fiorellino (Little flower)

- Dolcetto (Sweetie)

- Cucciolo/cucciola (Puppy)

- Mio/a (Mine)

a random stash of names made from the dnd draconic dictionary + inheritance cycle dwarvish dictionary put into a markov name generator. 444 names.

ALSO check out @444names for more ^^

Adornis Adowyn Aerem Affild Agoaccont Amened Amor Anies Apol Araced Arelay Aren Arkving Arriking Arron Artat Arte Arthid Arûrged Assen Assers Astronly Asve Atchowry Ater Athe Auce Auds Auji Aujirth Axus Axuslannû Baest Bagianychir Bagn Bahaor Bahardem Baht Banyaka Barastans Barter Barthvír Bary Basj Bastre Beadveral Belzvorn Beow Berbith Bitrash Bleenk Bler Blesly Boragh Bour Bous Braechok Braker Bred Bres Bricklat Brot Brâthive Caerd Cang Canoath Cedge Cestravell Charale Chiempecy Chighanall Ciefeld Cith Clant Clay Comenti Commond Condrâth Consve Couslar Creker Crellind Dace Dang Daratch Dard Darfan Darzûl Dated Derda Derisk Dial Diejik Dien Diful Dish Disheatur Diskisvrek Dissag Doka Dord Dralech Draten Drative Drit Drân Dunt Dwarkesly Dwarton Dûnos Earaz Ebandûm Ecar Eciefer Ediess Eitymallim Enar Eniemeowed Enithi Enmîf Enta Enwaraz Eoghte Eors Equive Erel Ethkneed Fachth Faex Fakish Farul Fativite Feith Fergre Fexple Fighoun Files Firon Fiseemold Flithosjer Forng Foros Forv Fousen Fratiamans Freanged Frenti Frev Fross Frothe Gamln Gamund Gamuter Gater Gatisors Gavest Geaka Geij Gempana Ghte Gion Goarn Gone Goomear Goveschint Govinurt Gred Grer Grid Grik Grivelve Guart Guee Gûnt Hamesherfe Hant Haorme Heir Herantal Heriki Hlandeir Hlards Hocuration Hokar Horthnigt Hrad Hrimst Humal Huraxund Hwarik Hûtgach Hûtgart Ialls Ieuti Ifyrelous Ihknur Imse Imul Ingether Iric Irlad Irss Isseck Itheited Jerntem Jhementa Jokes Jormone Jure Jurf Jurisjmy Jurldûr Jurt Kaek Karzadearss Knist Knur Knuraint Knurgent Knurlakent Knurlank Knurld Knurû Koboathya Kobowar Korn Kosthiv Koth Lantard Laterôth Leen Levexik Levig Lignath Linge Linthym Länoubar Maess Mahrene Mang Mara March Marm Marn Mars Marve Matun Mear Meatuakepid Meimst Meld Mend Messeal Methichik Milf Mind Ming Mingnar Molin Monar Mooddle Mory Moung Mourdar Mrik Muntaill Mutic Nabomon Nannû Nestor Nierss Nisapplaxak Nors Nosjirast Nothisjikc Nurix Nzbore Nzdorth Nzmallscûd Ocuildûm Omenturn Onnû Ophendle Oppepesters Orng Oster Otendra Otorne Ounal Ourlcar Owaestunaha Paild Panok Picks Plathader Playemenwar Plen Plergrisho Pluee Plurly Poloovek Porthid Potary Potheildrin Prelzvolik Print Prodund Prone Qaled Qallschmer Qally Rahanthe Ralsch Rasome Rassin Rasve Rated Relag Reldra Rens Retivaye Rhaor Rhya Rhyvonative Rothadn Routialfin Rowryth Sage Sarrythr Saut Scrathurly Sedar Selaye Sestbearv Shing Shoschor Shrent Shuljackil Sige Sind Sirek Sjmy Sjth Slard Slaus Smathists Smati Some Sone Sortar Speaking Spearmeitix Speldran Spic Spildrânû Spowry Starg Stastbelf Stboace Steenous Stest Stnzmanten Sukrimst Suljarth Sven Swean Tansedth Thalk Thallegg Theldrim Thest Thign Thimper Thionble Thive Thmér Thrashamln Thrich Thrry Thulev Thyr Tonar Tonurgive Tooteut Torposhinge Tosh Trak Trik Trotergh Tund Tundly Tuntecin Tupic Twonbory Türke Türkhan Ught Ukrimpooton Urearux Urgiver Urly Ussagone Varman Vayess Vayet Vethol Vithosjmy Vive Volisid Vonjhaled Vorn Vosterik Vreel Vrekride Vrentuee Waesh Waessi Wanativest Warce Wards Warry Wary Waster Wathin Wharm Whaw Whefill Wheirearte Whelle Wheyethir Wild Wiss Wolfrall Wounslary Wyrm Wônoac Wônorv Wônothsth Yealsve Yought Yound Yount Yrik Zaronly

thinking about how the extra area added on to a pacifist run of undertale, the true lab, is about alphys's past mistakes. how it ends with the story reaffirming that, despite the pain she's caused, the thing that matters is that she has now made the choice to do the right thing. she's still worthy of her friends' love.

thinking about how undertale doesn't expect the player to get a pacifist ending for the first time. how it's more likely than not that the player will kill toriel the first time they battle her, how lots of players don't initially figure out how to end undyne's fight without killing her, etc. what it expects — not even expects, really, but hopes — is that the player, if they care enough, will use their canonically acknowledged power over time to make up for those mistakes.

no matter how many neutral runs a player has done before committing to the pacifist run, the thing that matters to the characters, to the story, is that you've chosen, now, to do the right thing.

compared to alphys, the player honestly gets off lightly, in that you're the only one (other than flowey) who really remembers any harm you might have caused. and any direct guilting the game could have done about it is long past at this point. instead, as undertale often does, it makes its point via parallels: alphys caused harm, and she knows it. she has committed to being better. in doing so, she has unlocked for herself a better ending to her story. and she deserves it. she's forgiven.

those structural narrative parallels are all over undertale, if you know where to look. and that's one of the things that makes it so fuckin' good.

You want to know why Inigo Montoya remains such an iconic and beloved character even 35 years after the Princess Bride came out?

It's because he's one of the few characters in fiction who has a story where he has dedicated his life to revenge, his whole motivation is about getting revenge....and he gets it! and then he isn't empty or despairing! he doesn't regret it! he's totally satisfied!

because so many stories about revenge or rage are about characters "seeing the futility of their actions" or learning "their desire for revenge has only made them the monsters they hated" FUCK THAT.

Inigo Montoya kills the man who kills his father, is allowed to live in the narrative after and be happy about it and it is so satisfying. it's fantastic. it's iconic.

let more characters rage against the world, bring it down with bloodied hands, and let them be FUCKING RIGHT about it. Let them celebrate their success with sharp grins, and let them live happy, full lives where they always remain proud/fulfilled for what they've done