5 Tips to Name Your Main Character Without Using a Name Generator

Main Character Name Generator Ideas.

How to Create a Great Name for Your Main Character?

 

When we hear the names of the most famous fictional main characters from moves or novels, we don’t actually understand that the name which attracts us so much was not chosen randomly, they were all picked by professionals to make sure every reader and audience will like it.

A good name for your main character is crucial in any story as it emphasizes the personality of the protagonist and impacts the readers. No one forgets the name Harry Potter or James Bond even if they forget the story.

Do read: How to Narrate a Story in Writing 

The names of the main character or every important character in the story are made by selecting the best syllables, rhymes, and many other factors.

Follow our 5 simple tips for main character name generation. 

The Top Five Tips for Creating a Great Name for Your Main Characters.

1. Using the “er” Syllable Factor

Creating the main character name with the last name ending with the “er” syllable has been seen in many famous fictional main characters’ names. 

What you have to do is just choose any common name and combine it with the last name ending with the ”er” syllable.  

The “er” factor can be used in any main character name generation, no matter what the genre is but just make sure it fits well with the roots of the main character, the ethnic or the religious group to which the character belonging to, and the era of the story timeline.

Some famous examples where we can see the “er” syllable used

Harry Potter– Harry Potter, is the worldwide most famous fictional character from books to movies. Mr. Potter, the wizard kid character created by J. K. Rowling earned her billions making her the first billionaire author. 

Harry is just a common regular name but when combined with the last name Potter it created magic.

It is obvious that you will avoid using Potter in the main character’s name now because there can’t be another famous Potter. 

 

Peter Parker– There might be someone in this world who doesn’t know about Spider-Man, one of the most famous fictional characters and for him, there can’t be a name better than Peter Parker. 

Here both the first name and the last name flow well with each other making it extremely likable to hear. Using the “er” syllable factor in both first and the last name ( Peter Parker) made the name remarkable and unforgettable for anyone.

Coming up with a name where the use of the ”er” syllable factor in both first and the last name will get you a golden name for your main character which will be hard for your readers to forget.

 

Hazel Lancaster– Hazel Grace Lancaster, the main character and the teenage girl from proclaimed writer John Green’s worldwide famous novel “The Fault in our Stars” which later turned into a movie adaptation in 2014. 

Here the sweet middle name Grace of the main character Hazel combined with the “er” syllable factor in the last name gave the character name extra elegance and sweetness.

So if your main character is a female then adding a good middle name can work well while naming the character.

 

Winnie Foster– Winfred ‘’Winnie” Foster, the main character, is a little 10-year-old girl from the classical novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.  

The name Winnie which is so sweet to hear blends well with the last name Foster.

So just think of a name like this if your main character is a young girl or a kid. 

 

Silas Marner– Every student of literature must be aware of the name Silas Marner, a kind-hearted but little strange person and the main character from George Eliot’s famous novel Silas Marner. I read Silas Marner in my first academic year while taking a degree in Literature and I still can’t forget this name.

 

Tom Sawyer– Another classical character from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, a novel by legendary Mark Twain. 

Here Tom is a regular common name but is combined with Sawyer which again follows the er effect.

 

Ariadne Oliver–  Ariadne Oliver, an important character in many novels of the Queen of mystery writing, author Agatha Christie, one of the legendary mystery novel writer.

Here the first name Ariadne is not a common name but unique and is combined with the last name Oliver which flow well together with each other.

 

Jonathan Hacker from Dracula, Landon Carter from A Walk to Remember, and many more names following the ‘er’ syllable factor.

 

So just think of a good last name ending with the syllable ”er” and combine it with any good name, check it flows well together and you will get a great name for your main character.

And by the way, now you will know why one of our biggest and most famous popstars names sounds so good, Justin Bieber.

2. Using the Same Initial letter in Both First Name and Last Name.

Remember Peter Parker, Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Willy Wonka from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Polly Plummer from Narnia or Peter Pan from The Little White Bird or King Kong.

Of course, making a name for your main character using this method is more suitable if you are writing for children, teenagers, and young adults but using the same initial letters can be used in naming your main character in any genre or for a character who is funny and lively if the name can easily blend with the character personality and the genre of the story.

 

3. Choosing a First Short Name With a Long Last Name and the Other Way Round.

David Copperfield from Charles Dickens’s novel David Copperfield is a good example of a short first name with a long last name.

Just choose any good first name and combine it with a unique last name or the other way round.

 

4. Using Mr/Miss With a Unique and a Strange Last Name.

Using just English honorifics with a unique last name also works in some cases for naming the main character.

Miss Lemon from Agatha Christie novels, Mr. Bumble from Oliver Twist. These names just contain an honorific and a weird last name like Lemon, Bumble, etc

Using the honorific Mr/Miss method is more suitable for an antagonist or another important character in the story but it can also be used for the main character.

 

5. Using Only a First Name With No Last Name

This method is hard to apply because you have to come up with an extremely unique name, but you can manage to coin one it can be very impactful for the main character name. So just think of a great and unique first name like Othello, Augustus, Algernon, Tintin, Pinocchio, Aslan, Hercules, Shrek, Zorro, Wolverine, Goku, Mario, Popeye, Gandalf, etc