Creating names in SFF

Science Fiction and Fantasy names without a name generator

So, a quick note on naming conventions.

Going through my most recent project, I needed a name for a fae—one of the elves that Tolkein wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. There’s a reason that, in retrospect, he wanted Legolas to be called something other than “an elf.” What I was using are more like Dresden’s Summer and Winter courts.

So, I needed a name.

Now, I could, like a normal person, have used a fantasy name generator. But no, I didn’t want to go through the effort (and my house internet was down, and my cell coverage was spotty).

But right next to me was “The Fantasy Hall of Fame” collection, by SFWA (in 1992, when there were a few sane people kicking around). It was edited by Robert Silverberg.

As you may know, authors will steal names from everywhere. Names that are just laying around are perfect.

Silverberg? … Okay, we have to take off the Berg. Too Jewish for an elf. Wrong mythology. Maybe a golem can be a Silverberg. A golem made of Silver? Too pricey. He needs to be made wholesale.

I’m not just going to call a fae Silver, am I? Want to make something alien? When in doubt, change the vowels. Silver became Seevar. And we’re done.

Yes, a lot of my names are like that.

Peter Sierra, of White Ops? Sierra was in charge of a Babylon 5 video game. (That never materialized, damn it.)

The alien named Fe’eshar Straczyn? I was playing Splinter Cell. The main character was Sam Fisher. It became Feeshar, and when that wasn’t alien enough, I did what Timothy Zahn does, and through in the apostrophe. Fe’eshar. And Babylon 5 was written by J. Michael Straczynski, so Straczyn

With Kami Figlia, that was easy. I think I even explained it as “Divine daughter” in two different languages.

So, yeah. Naming people is easy, believe it or not. Even when they’re not even people.