hello friends here's a late night shinji helps because i'm doing literally everything besides studying for the act next week!
names are like my most favorite things in the world, like omg i love names so much
there are just so many wonderful names out there, and all names and cute and cool!!
a lot of people say naming is the hardest part of character creation, because it is very difficult to try and give your charas
significant names that actually pertain to them!!

not every name has to mean something!! in fact most names are chosen because they sound nice
at the same time, a lot of ethnic names actually do have meanings.
take for example, quavenzhane ( cuz she is my princess and i will sacrfice my life to protect her ). 
"quaven" is a combo of her parents names and "zhane" means fairy in swahili!! and yes surprise surprise many "ghetto"
names actually stem from african languages ( who would've thought ) and other languages such as french and arabic!!
so, names can both have meaning and just be cool.
names can also come from celebrities, fictional characters, etc
for example, my history teacher named his daughter gwendolyn ( winnie for short ) after one of the characters in the wonder years
because he absolutely loves that show
i named one of my characters kay because of kay faraday from ace attorney investigations because kay is my fav and its a
really cute name okay
and i named her twin winnie just because i liked the name winnie
and i named their younger sis october because she was born in october.
another oc i had was named galilei, after galileo because she was really into astronomy
the fruit of my loins ellington is named after duke ellington ( i also used a jazz naming scheme for his siblings too )
i named song chae ran after cl because i really love the name chae rin
juniper is named after juniper lee from the life and times of juniper lee
bomi is named after apink's bomi

many people like to have naming schemes, or themes that go along with names.
i personally, am not a fan of conventional names, but i am totally in love with using nouns and simple words as names
this may be difficult to do with the korean language as many words can mean different things
take for example my baby i byeol nan, aka the girl who came from outer space
"i" is a common variant of the surname "lee" it is also a variant of "two" and according to a hanja dictionary means "strange"
the "byeol" in beyol nan means "star" but together "byeol nan" also means "strange/weird/a synonym for odd"
this is both an example of a name with meaning ( because byeol nan is a very quirky and strange character ) and of the troubles
of using nouns and words as names.
some easier ones are my girls gongju and inhyeong. "gongju" means princess and "inhyeong" means doll
the process is a whole lot easier in english.
like my favorite names are: tea, bunny, galaxy, dawn, venus, luna, rain, lluvia, park, bambi, juniper, stella, io, himemiya, otome, usagi
( notice how i threw in a lil spanish #thanksprofe )
notice how most of these are celestial themed, one is spanish, three are animals, four mean the same thing in different languages
( coughs rain y lluvia, bunny y usagi ), one is a plant, and one is just something i love a lot
usually, for japanese names and such, i choose really cute ones or really feminine ones ( because i love femininity )
himemiya comes from "hime" which means "princess", otome means "lady", and usagi means "bunny"
when it comes to chinese names, i really like names that have "mei" in it, for example lang mei xie and tsai meifeng
when it comes to thai names i literally choose the longest names possible because i am absolutely in love with long thai names ( sorry
applyfic authors!! )

also here's just a lil list of naming schemes that i hate just because:
hate flowers ( says the girl named ivy )
hate countries ( pls stop naming your children china and india and america )
hate gemstones ( ruby, opal, pearl )

names can also be used to express a characters personality and other symbolisms as well as adding flesh to characters!
and a great way to do this is by thinking about what each name makes you think of!
i named characters in a short story "tea leafee" and "rain day". the story was called tea is better on rainy days and
it was inspired by madoka magica
given all that, what do their names tell you about them?
for one, they're both girls, the story is about them, and its probably sad and gay.
think about tea, what does tea do? tea warms you up, tea can clean out ya system, it can help you fall asleep, and it can
make you feel good. 
tea is a magical girl who becomes the embodiment of hope and fights to protect people from falling into despair, tea leafee
is warmth and love, tea leafee is soothing, she is good and she is gentle. 
now think about rain, what does rain do? ( i don't romanticize rain at all tbh ) rain is cold, rain chills you to the bone, rain
gets you sick, rain is a metaphor for crying and sadness.
tea had a major crush on rain, and rain broke her heart and made tea cry. now, it is rain who is crying after witnessing tea
come within an inch of her life. the story takes place in a hospital while tea is recovering from the events, and rain is sad
and moping and crying, and tea is the one who warms her up.
those two names right there hold so much symbolism and personality ( which is why my short story got an a coughs )

when i think of bunny, i think of cute because i love bunnies. i think of girly and playful, but also easily scared and a
crybaby. when i think of bunny, i think of sailor moon ( this was even one of her names in a certain dub ), so that's why bunny
kaouthai is so cute and girly and such a baby.
when i think of princess and gongju and himemiya, i don't mean princess in the stuck up snobby brat way ( because honestly
i don't condone using princess in a negative connotation like how on earth can it be negative ) i think of pretty girls
pretty girls who are super cute and literal angels and who i wanna kiss
when i think of galaxy i think of vastness and infinite possibilities, when i think of dawn i think of warm and innocent.

names can not only fit personality, but hint at ethnicity and paired with nicknames, can really add depth and lil quirks to your babies.
wendell bartholomew II goes by wendy. she literally tells everyone she ever meets that her name is wendy. like the only people who know her
name is actually wendell are her 2 closest friends. she hates her name and thinks it ugly because it is pretty gross ( sorry for all the girl 
wendells out there!! )
ike satoshii hitachiin is japanese, and ike is his english name. he has been living in america for most of his life, approximately 12 years. only
his friends and family call him ike
leonardo latasha baker goes by len for short. he's half black half japanese and goes by len. he feels like leonardo has a certain suave ring to it,
but he goes by len because its short and also keeps him connected to his japanese side

but there is also deciding if a name fits a character.
as you can tell, most of the names on my "fav names" list are very out there and quirky.
its hard to see a boss like unpretty rapstar's cheetah being named tea.
its hard to imagine a calm and elegant young lady being named bunny.
its hard to imagine an incredibly cute and sweet and girly character being named after stones.
not every name fits every character, and that's alright!

i forgot where i was going with this but let me just say that i love names so so much like
you don't even know.
names are very powerful tools and can leave really amazing lasting impressions!!
so next time you're filling out an app and have half a mind to name your character hana or haneul, think
"does this name really capture the essence of my character?"

with all my love,
shinji