Hullo.

Coming up with character names isn't always as easy as it sounds. Not when you have to come up with plenty of new names every single day, and they all have to be 'interesting'.

What's an 'interesting' name, then?

"John Smith" usually isn't particularly interesting, unless you're trying to make a point. A man named "John Smith" is probably not who he claims to be, or else he's burdened with the most clichéd name there is, and people continuously make fun of it. It's a name that sticks out, despite (or perhaps because of) its presumed anonymity. I'm using the name "John Doe" in something I'm working on (a way-off-future something), but in that particular case it's very suitable.

(Think about it.)

Most of the time, you'll want to avoid a name like John Smith or John Doe, however. It lacks character. It's not 'interesting'.

"Seamus McDougall", however, is what I'd call an 'interesting' name. So's "Nigel Nobbs". And "Enora Denoon".

You might not want to name your children Seamus or Nigel or Enora (then again, why not?), but they sound good. They roll off the tongue. They're descriptive. You can visualise the man (or woman) behind the name.

Coming up with names that are both interesting and appropriate -- because having silly names is just no good, nor are names that are pure fantasy; they need to be grounded in reality, at least in this case -- is quite a challenge. A fun challenge. But not as easy as it sounds. Because after a while you do start repeating yourself, and coming up with names that don't sound alike or look alike requires attention to detail, and tons of research.

Research? Think about it. Write a list of all the names you can think of. Okay, so you can probably write hundreds of names, first and last; friends, family, celebrities, historic names, and so on. But those names are probably limited to your own nationality, plus the usual selection of English-speaking names (because, after all, those are the names we hear the most). How about Arabic names, male and female? Indian names? Chinese names? Gaelic names? Latin-American names? Finnish names? Russian patronyms?

So research, then, and plenty of it, because a made-up Japanese name may sound fine to you and me, but may be utterly ridiculous to someone from Japan, or someone familiar with Japanese culture.

Even coming up with 'interesting' English names isn't all that easy, not when you've exhausted (or refuse to resort to) your bog-standard Johns and Jennifers. So research is always good; research into the history behind, and meaning of, different names. It's all right to give a character a name like "Deirdre", but wouldn't it be better if that name actually fit the character in question? And knowing that "Deidre" means "sorrow" in Irish-Gaelic, and that this name is shared with a tragic heroine from Irish mythology, you'll be in a better position to apply that moniker to a suitable character.

Names have power, even when the reader (or viewer, or listener, or player) doesn't really know, or care, about what a name means or where it comes from. Ignorance will never reduce that power, nor your responsibility to the character and to the name.  ¶ 22:35