Naming a Character? Visit this Blog!

This is to announce a relaunch and refocus of my old Korean Names blog. It's now Writers Guide to Korean and Global Names.

So far what I have gotten done is that I took down all the old posts--- not very many--- which were topics like 'Korean Male Names beginning with J'--- and replaced them with three new posts. One for Korean female names, one for Korean male names, and one for Korean family names.

These three new posts were a cut-and-paste job of some files on my computer to which I've been transferring my Korean names lists. These posts will be updated as the files are added to.

I've also put in a list of word verification words, for those who collect and use such things. I'm also going to be adding names from other ethnic groups, starting with Quechua.

Posts planned for the near future will be ones on Roman names, Esperanto names, Frisian names and Low German names.

Since it takes a long time to prepare these posts, I'm also using the blog as a place to post info on the most current Korean soap operas I'm watching on KBS America. This is relevant because Korean soap operas are where I get names from.

I'm hoping the revamped blog will be useful to writers who are naming characters. Check it out and see what you think.

Writers Guide to Korean and Global Names

Holignes! I lost my notebook of cool word verification words!

When I am writing and a new character, place, or alien species pops up, I often take out a small notebook of word verification words I've encountered, and pick one more-or-less at random.

It's better for my writing than stopping the writing process to search for the perfect name for an hour and a half. And some of those word verification words are worth keeping in the final draft.

But today, alas, in between trading kittens around to different cat mommies and feeding a newborn kit milk with a spoon (she won't take a bottle), I discovered that my little word verification notebook is missing in action.

This is doubly tragic as I have started work on a writers' naming book. It will have a section on German names, one on Korean names, one on Welsh names, one on Esperanto names, and a list of word verification words as a source for alien and other odd names and words.

So--- I've had to start a new notebook. Luckily I have a spare one that's the same as the one I use for Korean names. I'm also going to start files on my computer and enter the WV words into that whenever I have a page or so. I already have similar files for Korean names.

But it's an ednesh lot of work, so if you have a cool WV word to share, mention it in your comment and it will be added to the list.

Polish Names for Your Characters

Continuing my new obsession with all things Polish.... I'm compiling a list of Polish names in order to help with naming Polish fictional characters.

Nazwisko--- family names
Polish family names are hereditary and passed from father to children. The family name comes last. The most common Polish family names are Nowak, Kowalski, and Wiśniewski. A long list of Polish family names in order of popularity is found at http://www.futrega.org/etc/nazwiska.html

Kamiński
Mazur
Grabowski
Baranowski
Krupa
Pawlik
Barański
Czyż
Mroczek
Grodzicki

Imię - given names
A list of Polish given names is given at http://www.edziecko.pl/ciaza_i_porod/0,79473.html

IMIONA DLA CHŁOPCA male names
Piotr
Krzysztof
Jan
Marek
Stanisław
Jacek
Łukasz
Paweł
Grzegorz
Michał
Józef
Klaudiusz

IMIONA DLA DZIEWCZYNKI female names
Maria
Katarzyna
Agnieszka
Krystyna
Elżbieta
Janina
Halina
Danuta
Jadwiga
Dorota
Grażyna
Natalia
Ewa
Zofia

Pronunciation:
Polish pronunciation can be difficult. 'J' is pronounced like english 'y', 'w' like english 'v', 'y' like english 'i' in 'bit', and 'ł' like english 'w'.

I hope this will help writers in naming their Polish characters. This post will be updated with more names as time goes by, as my similar post on Korean names is.

Polish Name: Wikipedia

Character Name Generators

I usually spend a lot of time finding the perfect names for all my characters. But with JulNoWriMo only days away and only one of my characters named, I'm looking at some of the name generators on the internet. I figure even if the names are far from perfect, I can always rename during the rewrite.

Character Name Generator at Prairie Den

Fantasy Name Generator

Random Name Generator

Irish Name Generator

Name Generator for Different Ethnicities

If you need a Korean name, look here.