@@purplepawn5336 haha I got that from my father, he has a small black book in which he writes down the most stupid names that he finds in the credits, and I just made that into character names
Here is Kaladin, his friends call him Kal There is also Kelsier, also known as Kel 🤔 I hope there is also a Kil, Kol and Kul around the Cosmere and they meet at some point, it would be hilarous.
And then there's the Tolkien method: Invent half a dozen languages, complete with vocabulary, syntax and grammar and even their history, then let said languages determine the names. Gondolin. Minas Tirith. Thangorodrim. Erebor. Beren and Luthien. Thranduil. Dain. Thorin Oakenshield. Smaug. Morgoth. Sauron. You can go on and on. All the names sound cool and natural, because they follow the flow of a real language, even if it's an artificial one.
Many of Tolkien's names were also taken from real mythologies and texts. It seems to have been most prevalent in The Hobbit, with the dwarves and Gandalf's names all being taken unchanged from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, as far as I'm aware. To my mind, that's fine - it's entirely believable that a secondary world culture might come up with a word that sounded similar or identical to one from ours, particularly when you consider how often cognates appear in real languages.
Plus the Hobbit originated from a children’s story separate from Middle Earth that slowly came to be apart of it, so pulling on something more pre-established is understandable… Plus a ton of the names are actually translations of the real names in their respective languages 😂 Frodo or Bilbo Baggins isn’t their real names, they’re the translated ones! It’s why there are so many descriptive names like Shelob (literally “she spider”), because most names began as descriptors and it’s only through changes in language that make them sound non-descriptive. River Avon means “river river” as the native Britons called it a river, an ‘avon’, when asked.
I often take a name and change or add a few sounds (or even just spelling). David > Davin > Daviniro. Callie > Kali > Markali. Erin + Seth > Erinseth > Eranaseth. Terry + Garth > Terrygarth > Tarréägarth. One neat thing about names formed this way is that have a shortened form that is easy for a lay reader to pronounce (Davin, Kali, Seth, Garth). Consequently, they may be more Earth-centric than you want (in which case, stick to the full form). I use the short form in narration, and most characters use it in dialogue. The nicknames also serve as a pronunciation hint. I introduce one character as *Shonna* so that when her full name comes up later, readers have a clue as to how in the heck they're supposed to say *Ashonnarrë* (in theory). If *Shonna* is the nickname form, they're more likely (again, in theory) to come up with Uh-SHAWN-uh-ray (as opposed to ASH-uh-nar or Ash-uh-NAR-ray or something else). I used to put an accent mark on the stressed syllable (Ashónnarrë), but I ended up ditching that as being too distracting. (I make an exception for pairs of vowels pronounced independently: Tarréägarth keeps its accented E to distinguish it from the A right beside it.)
@@Sybato I would spell SHO-na as Shona; the doubled consonant is supposed to signal a short vowel (e.g. bottle, stopping, coffin, hopper, etc. versus both, locate, rotor, voted). I'm not too fussed over that, though. I mainly want to avoid the way-off pronunciations of her full name.
When I found out about Elend's name in the original, it made me laugh: It means "misery" in German. They changed it to Eland in the translation, and that's a nice name. ^_^
Funny story about that (everyone mentioned here is German). My mother listened to the english audiobooks and we were texting about it one day. She approximated the spelling of the names based on phonetics (I think she went with something like Allend). She refused to accept that his name was spelled Elend when I told her. Some time later I was playing Mistborn House War with her and a friend of mine who I had also pushed into listening to the english audiobooks. When he read the name on a card he had pretty much the same reaction. I think it's pretty sensible the name was changed in translation based on these two (and my own) reactions :D
I devised a trick which I'll probably use lots more in the future: basically, I obfuscated the words "Lancelot the Paladin" and got "Liancion Palanu" which is an epic name. I refer to it in my head as "name echoing". You take the phrase that describes your character and then hammer it out until it sounds how you want it to. I use the trick for very few names, though. Most of the time I just make a Latin/Greek sounding name or else some sort of pun/foreshadowing/allegorical name.
Akira Toriyama did this a lot in Dragon Ball: Kakarotto = Carrot with an additional syllable. Broly = Broccoli with a syllable removed. The list goes on. That manga is full of pun names. Each group of characters has a theme, but no symbolism like you do. :)
Know your culture. Know your environment. Know the language - As your characters name will most likely be a product of these elements. (and probably should) Know the cliches to avoid. Know there is no specific method of finding the right name. Tell yourself its ok to change that name as you go. Understand that your character may have several names in the world you've created. No! Your name doesn't need to be rooted in allegory or "deep meaning" No, it doesnt matter where you found or came up with the name as long as it works. Allow yourself to like the name! Tell yourself its ok to watch these vids.
I think it's still supposed to be/ can still be pronounced like the English Elend, but couldn't be written like that because German readers of the German translation would obviously just read the German word Elend. I know in the German audiobook it's pronounced phonetically German, but at the time that came out they also still translated stuff like Star Wars to Krieg der Sterne so it figures they wouldn't pronounce it English.
@@crelgen1588 somehow everything is translated to German. Even things where it doesn't make sense. You know the movie "Into the Spiderverse"? In german the title is changed to "Spiderman: a new universe" which isn't even german! It doesn't make any sense! With Elend it's not that bad. I thing Spook is much worse. He's called Spuki and that sounds soooo bad. Fortunately in Wax&Wayne they finally called most of the characters their original names
@@Soul2312 I know! I really don't understand the motivation behind those not-the-original-title-but-still-English-kinda titles. I've got no problem with having to adapt things to a different audience, but at least make it non-cringy. I got the German Warbreaker audiobook for my little sister which is called Sturmklänge...for some reason. When talking about the books we always got confused, because I thought we were talking STORMlight Archives. With Mistborn they also translated the houses, like Venture is Wager etc, and I don't know how I feel about that. You're German too, so you know Hanni und Nanni, right? With those books they changed all kinds of stuff, the country, the names, hell, even the time period! And I never knew as a kid because it worked so well. Maybe they should get feedback for those title/name changes, like they do with early screenings for movies.
@@Soul2312 Swedish cinema does this as well, but they have this habit of not being the slightest bit loyal to the original title. Some 5-10 years ago they went too crazy with it and we got movies like The Fault in Our Stars being renamed "Sooner or later I'll explode"
If you are not making high fantasy novels like Brandon here I suggest baby books. Sometimes I just pick a first letter and choose a name from that. Example- D= Derek, damion, drake, Dustin, Drew, Daren, etc. If you are making a romance, thriller, etc you just need regular names. Not ones like Draquithion Blasterastionson. You can just go "Oh, I want a V name." And choose Victoria or Violet or Valerie.
In the book I’m currently writing about Werewolves, I gave them a tradition with names, they all have the same to letter phrase somewhere in it and then I built the name of what sounded right for that character. It makes the fantasy names feel more real and stem from a past like in the real world. Then for a poor human character I took inspiration from real life naming in history. The names Johnson for example likely came from John’s Son. The characters father was a mason, his was the mason’s son, so his name became Mason. Or I just pick a letter and do a google such for names beginning with that fits the setting, time period or has meaning related to the character.
I absolutely love names--have probably spent far too long compiling multiple lists both in word docs and online at behindthename. Choosing a name for a character is normally a pleasure I defer until I've after I've done the hard work of writing the story. Till then they're designated by their role in the story (protag, antag, antag's mother's hamster) or a _ or x. A major difficulty for me with fantasy names in particular is coming up with a unified linguistic aesthetic for each culture without actually coming up with languages, cause I ain't got the time or skill for that. I need the names from each culture to feel related and recognisable (just like how we immediately know a French or Japanese name when we see it), but also to be: 1. distinct from each other, like real-world names 2. Not blatant rip-offs of real-world languages 3. Æsthetically pleasing and easy to say 4. Sound right for the character 5. Not have already been taken by someone's homebrew roleplay wiki or WoW character. This one's harder than you think. I feel like a lot of fantasy names fall into the traps of either feeling like the belong to the same Generic Fantasy Language--Arandor Trueheart, etc. or being ugly, unpronounceable nonsense, like T'Shizarr-Ek R'Avikzq'okzlltrp. Obviously the absolute master of this was Tolkien. Also, I would never use a name that was an actual word in another real language, because if someone from that culture reads my book they're gonna laugh at me.
With my names I tend to think about the characters personality and role in the story, then I search for names in “dying”/ancient languages so they sound cool, sometimes I change some letters to make them sound cooler also.
This explains why all these names are similar to my language (Scandinavian). In Elantris many of the names and fantasy words were natural to pronounce in my mother tongue. Like "Fjordell" or "Arelon". I was also surprised when in Mistborn era 2, the words "Hermann" and "Frue" popped up. Which means Man and Wife in my language.
Rock is the one of the coolest names, I loved this video. You explained the Horn-eaters (From the high peeks) and combine Russian and Hawaiian lore/accents. You truly are gifted at writing and creating worlds and names and everything that makes a book nearly impossible to put down. Thanks Brandon.
A lot of people speaks about Elend and Kaladin but nobody mention Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor. That's so a common name in the world, never believe he use it
I like to pick a pattern for the culture, and then work within that pattern. Makes coming up with names easier. For example, in a story for a a rpg campaign I came up with (and then never did end up running) the rule was that high born names would use harder, more clipped sounds, and lower born names would use softer sounds. So noble names would have a lot of Ts, Ks, Vs, maybe a strong S in there, while lower born names would have more vowels, and softer consonants, such as y sounds, h, m, th, etc. the king was Tain, the god T’toc, whereas a low born might be Lohma or Elly or something. If I’m doing a one off character I usually do a pun of some sort. My dnd character was a rogue, so I named him Picar after the term picaresque.
I have a cool way to do this, doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try: u take a name of some object or thing around u and then change how it sounds a little - a gr8 example is windu from Star Wars
I get my names from three old sources: 1) Chemistry. For example there is a knight called Ferum, his enemies refer to him as Ferum the weak. Now, Ferrum is the latin name for iron. (FE) I learned the Robert E. Howard who wrote the Conan series named the god Conan worships "Crom". And when I found out that he more than likely got the name from Chromium (a metal used in steel) I thought it was so cool, I am gonna do it! :D 2) Wordbooks. Before knowing that Brandon had used the name Odium, I used Odeum in one of my fantasy names. Odium is latin for hatred. 3) Names from mythology with some changes to them. I used to call a character Djinnah, he is a sorcerer. Now a djinni or jinni is, to make a long story short, a desert spirit from islamic arabian mythology. Also known as a genie. For my part though I am struggling with place names. Because I feel that every name should tell a small story about that place or it's signifance. For example New York was named after the Duke of York over in olde england. Or my old student town, Turku or Åbo (in swedish). I am not sure about Turku, but Åbo literally means "Å bo" or "nest by the river". And there is a big river floating through Turku. Makes sense, no? Languages are also interesting. In one of my stories I had a bunch of elves calling their homeland some weird mishmash of sentences, but in-universe it translates to "The Land where Dragons rule". First of all, yes I am a dragonforce fan. :D Second of all, I had written a poem about the last elvish king who lamented that his land which was once beautiful was now a land "where dragons rule". So from having a different name it was now called that.
I love that Dragonforce song XD Also, there is a Fire Emblem (FE) character named Chrom, so your first point was interesting for me to read even though it doesn't sound like that was an intentional connection.
In Scotland (and probably all over the Uk), they have a lot of descriptive place names. I just opened Google maps in the region south of Edinburgh, where I was driving around in fall 2019 last time. There are names like Coldstream, Gorebridge, Temple, Whitehill... It’s almost too simple to be true. xD
Concerning place names, I can't recommend enough the related video "on worldbuilding: place names" by booktuber Hello Future Me! He gives a really nice and complete explanation on how real life geographical points are named and how those names can naturally evolve.
Thank you sO much for uploading this video. Always looking forward to your uploads! I just made up the names in my book and (as well as some people in the comments) put words together. Me and my friends sat at two tables at lunch together and they were helping me. We played a game of Wheel of Fortune. Hence my book title -> (something to do with “fortune” *work in progress*) Each friend would give me either a vowel or consonant and we’d go back and forth. Even if the words not make sense, somehow I unscramble the letters, add more, take some out. I ended up with Kaslyn, Ravyn, (more fantastical type names) Eyspen, Decryc, Rycis, etc. I have plenty more that I may or may not use. (I’d be more than happy to answer any questions)
I wonder if there is a nice Linguistic 101 course for names that could give you a decent foundation and help you with coming with fictional languages and names. But also without delving too deep into the field, cramming you with stuff you don't need. Almost like - linguistics for fiction writers.
If one's story spawns generations remembering that names are usually based on ancestors. Also if characters family is common and old then the last name is likely short and either occupational or locational. If character is from a wealthy and newer background they probably have longer and fancier last name. Also if people are around same area their names likely have similarities. For example in Kenya many last names start with Kip, Dutch names have many times van or de and Finnish last names usually end with the nen.
Back in my D&D days i'd look at the item list and combine syllables. Halberd and a sword? Sworhal or Halsor for your character name. Works pretty well on the fly.
Some years ago, I got a lot of spam emails, that were supposed to convince me to invest money into shady business opportunities. Of course, I never followed any link within them, but I collected the fantasy sender names, so that I would be able to use them in a book that I thought I was going to write some day. They were hilarious.
I have a wizard in the novel I'm writing, I won't tell you his name, because it's a good one... However, I kind of want to name him Tahdar. You know... Tada!!
My naming schemes aren't terribly well thought out - I just kind of smash together sounds. Example of some characters in my current story - Irian, Nalrie, Tarn, Derkin, Enarise... I really need to assemble some rules so there's consistency... but after venturing into conlangs a while back, I'm weary about even dipping my toes back in slightly.
The thing here is that they seem jumbled together. Mine are: Kingdom of Idallin: Varrand, Saddan, Ivver, Dagenne, Nardelland Commonwealth of Luim: Aina, Nain, Ioen, Vien Chekevekasz Pilgrims: Dagaszachen, Nevekeszchen, Iidicheszen Those are not perfect, but I try for consistency. For example, Luim is four digits, with two vowels put together. Idallin has double consonants, etc...
@@milospollonia1121 The kind of thing I'm going for is names that sound like they're from early 19th century America, which is my main inspiration for the setting.
I've got story about a steampunk city built high in the mountains called Stratopolis. It's a portmanteau of stratosphere and metropolis (duh). Then I have an underground city called Lithidome. Lithi meaning rock/stone and dome meaning....dome. As far as human names, I just alter existing names or use less common names. Valera instead of Valerie, Ike instead of Mike.
I legit just jumble sounds around in my mouth for a few minutes until I stumble upon a cool combination and so far it seems to work - most of my friends who read my stuff always call attention to how much they like the names.
How an author chooses names can be fascinating. And it can sometimes be a warning that a book is going to be bad. I mean, if the space pirates are called John, David and Joe, and the hero is called Jim, and the author is also called Jim, then you know that Jim probably didn't put a lot of thought into the names, and so probably didn't put a lot of thought into the rest of the story either.. Probably the next step up from this is when the characters are called Bohn, Divid, and Jeo, where at least the author didn't use common everyday names, which can be absolutely fine, but can still raise the reader's suspicions about just how much the author thought the names through.. Then you have Brandon who just goes above and beyond, and you never even think about the names because they match the characters and the world so perfectly..
@@3.k It's fine when the story is based around real locations, in or around present day. And obviously if it's in the past, on Earth, then you just use names suitable for the era. I was mainly referring to fantasy and "futuristic" sci-fi, but I guess I kind of forgot to actually mention that!
@@JoeBob79569 I think I know what you mean, but I don’t think that classic names are a general no-go for a setting in the future. There are names that people have given to their children for hundreds or even thousands of years now. They come into and go out of fashion periodically, but they don’t die out. I think there can be circumstances where an author would decide to call their characters Bob and Jill, because they want to set normal people into a future everyday setting. I would agree with you, if the setting was not in our world / timeline, or if there were certain reasons why there are no more Joes and Jacks in that future. :)
@@3.k Yea, agreed. It does depend on the story, context and the setting, and a million other things. But usually it's something that the reader doesn't even think about if the names are well thought out. They just fit. But if the reader thinks "hmm, those names just don't seem right" then they probably aren't. For example a "Jack" might be perfectly fine in a futuristic setting, where he's a settler on a new planet, and just an ordinary guy. But it might not work if he's the local kid bully in the school on the generation ship, because it might be a bit too cliché. Or it might work well, you just don't really know until you're actually reading the book, and absorbed in the world.
@@JoeBob79569 I agree. It usually throws me off when I see the author behind the narrator all the time. That’s also the difference between an enjoyable “voice” or “tone”, and one that is not so good. :)
I think it's super neat that Vorins value symmetry as holy. And Thaylens, who follow a different religion tend to have names with almost no vowels and zero symmetry.
Punai. Name of the continent in my story, wanna know how I can up with it? Putty Knife. No joke, I was shopping with my dad and he needed a putty knife. So I took the “Poo” sound from “PUtty” and “Nai” sound from “KIfe” Punai :D Names can come anywhere people, just gotta do stupid stuff sometimes 😂
I love the bit at the end - try out a name and if it sticks, cool, if not find a new one. That's great advice :D Also, side note, I found myself intensely trying to figure out what your shirt says during this video haha
Kaladin was named Merin at first. Litterally, that was his name until a few months before WoK was finished. If that was a final version, then you can be darn sure that he has indeed come up with shitty names.
I personally subscribe to the theory that Thaylen names (such as Tvlakv and Vstim) were created explicitly for the purpose of being mean to Michael Kramer, and I will hear no arguments to the contrary.
I like to take real but lesser known/used names, maybe older names that aren't really used so much anymore, then combine parts from 2-3 names. Sometimes I switch out a letter or 2 to make it sound more fantasy/unique, but also not too out there and weird. Then I promptly google the name to make sure I didn't accidentally make up a name that is already a very well known character from a show/book I'm just not familiar with, or.. make sure the name isn't also the name of a pesticide or STD treatment or something because that would be awkward.
So, what if readers pronounce your characters' name wrong (for example, I pronounce Adolin with a long A sound)? Do you let that thing fly or does that bug you?
Brandon you are my favorite author. I've read all of your books, besides your novelettes ( which are on my list ) can you finish Dream Of Spring? George RR Martin may die :( before its released. ( BTW, Thanks for For Warbreaker, the Whole Stormlight Archive And both Mistborn 1-3 and Wax and Wayne 4-6 ). Also last but certainly not least Skyward, and all of your other books I loved. Even Though I Haven't been able to listen yet, (due to financial struggle and rent increasing in Utah), anyways, I loved reading them twice before buying them from Graphic Audio getting cold chills while listening. Remembering how awesome your writing truly is, your truly gifted, thanks for FINISHING Robert Jordans series can you finish Georges? My QUESTion -- (( Will The Dream of Spring ever be released? ==The good news is that, according to their calculations, The Winds of Winter is set to come out in 2023! The bad news is that, at the current rate, A Dream of Spring won't be released until 2065.May 19, 2022))== ( Credit to Google and Firefox tm). Thanks Brandon Thanks sir - Andy S.
In my opinion any name works as long as it makes sense given the setting and doesn't sound awkward, like having too many phonetically close consonants mushed together. The name having a story-relevant meaning is a bonus, but not necessary, especially not for unimportant characters.
I am pretty sure in one of the streams a moderator put a link up where it discussed the kandra from Mistborn. Can someone post that link? I was wondering how you came up with the idea for those characters. :) Finishing Hero of Ages now - loving it!
Wait, Elend isn't intentionally named after the German word for misery? That honestly explains a lot. I always thought that was kind of random and didn't follow a theme.
Is it a bad idea to name a character based of of their arcs, for example, I’m creating a female character who is a leader, is it a good idea to look up name for that character that falls into the definition of the character’s arcs
Good safety rule for making up names: whenever you make up a name or a word for your writing, google it real quick, just incase it's already a word. It could be a curse or a slur in another language. As an example, many international releases of Studio Ghibli's film Laputa: Castle in the Sky drop the "Laputa" from the title because in Spanish "la puta" translates to "the whore".
Wow, an actual process, I just take things that sound cool and flow naturally with each other even if they are nearly identical (Cradil, Cradia) and just go with that. Is this good or do I need to change.
Now I really wish I paid more lesson in my English class. Forgetting something as basic as consenant (I even can't remember the spelling right) and other stuff really is a struggle in writing
"Straff" in German means "taut". "Elan" (without the final 't', though) is "vigor", "zeal", "zest" in German. "Wagner" (with an 'n') is a quite typical German last name derived from a profession: "wainwright".
Jasnah is a relatively common name in former Yugoslav countries. I know a few women with that name. (We spell it Jasna but the pronunciation is the same)
I thought Rock's name sounded a lot like the Hawaiian state fish name! 😂😂😂 not exactly obviously, just similarities. It was my annotation at that part of the book 😂
I have two different ways of namimg characters. Pure random because it sounds cool, or looking for a name that has a meaning that suits Its personality and character.
Yeah, Elend means misery in German, that's why they changed his name in the German translation of the book. And Straff is an adjective meaning tight/firm.
One thing that has always interested me is assuming people in Mistborn don't speak English but it's just a transaltion convention situation do Wax and Wayne have the same kind of lunar connotation for their names in their own language?
If you need inspiration for starting points: The credits of movies are gold mines
Haha, true dat
Damn, galaxy brain move
@@purplepawn5336 haha I got that from my father, he has a small black book in which he writes down the most stupid names that he finds in the credits, and I just made that into character names
Genius
Woah. Mind-blown. Thanks for that-seriously. 🤭
Here is Kaladin, his friends call him Kal
There is also Kelsier, also known as Kel
🤔
I hope there is also a Kil, Kol and Kul around the Cosmere and they meet at some point, it would be hilarous.
I’d love a Kaelosar, who‘s called Kael by his friends
You know, there is a Kalad as well. Though that person goes by other names most of the time.
...And sometimes Y btw. So Kyl; or Kyle
Will Kel callously kill Kal in the climax?
Insert pointing Spiderman meme
Eyyy so I had this character that was sort of a crazy paladin...Craladin? Kaladin!
Holy shit. He actually goes through a fallen paladin situation too. This is gold.
His name was initially Merin. Was he supposed to be a wizard in that draft (Merlin... Merin!)? Nah, I think you're reading into things.
Whoa! What are you doing here Zisteau! Haven't seen you since I watched Mindcrack!
Good to see our local zombie pigman having a good taste in books.
I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw your username haha!
So, Vin in french means "Wine" and Elend in German means "Misery". Kind of interesting that Misery and Wine go together so well :)
Brandon: Here is how I come up with names.
Me: Side-glances at internet fantasy name generator page ... *hand slowly moves to top right corner*
ಠ ͜ʖ ಠ
And then there's the Tolkien method: Invent half a dozen languages, complete with vocabulary, syntax and grammar and even their history, then let said languages determine the names. Gondolin. Minas Tirith. Thangorodrim. Erebor. Beren and Luthien. Thranduil. Dain. Thorin Oakenshield. Smaug. Morgoth. Sauron. You can go on and on. All the names sound cool and natural, because they follow the flow of a real language, even if it's an artificial one.
Many of Tolkien's names were also taken from real mythologies and texts. It seems to have been most prevalent in The Hobbit, with the dwarves and Gandalf's names all being taken unchanged from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, as far as I'm aware. To my mind, that's fine - it's entirely believable that a secondary world culture might come up with a word that sounded similar or identical to one from ours, particularly when you consider how often cognates appear in real languages.
Plus the Hobbit originated from a children’s story separate from Middle Earth that slowly came to be apart of it, so pulling on something more pre-established is understandable…
Plus a ton of the names are actually translations of the real names in their respective languages 😂
Frodo or Bilbo Baggins isn’t their real names, they’re the translated ones! It’s why there are so many descriptive names like Shelob (literally “she spider”), because most names began as descriptors and it’s only through changes in language that make them sound non-descriptive. River Avon means “river river” as the native Britons called it a river, an ‘avon’, when asked.
"Cephandrius" is an incredibly badass name made only more badass by being only one of a character's many names.
Now that you mentioned it, I finally understand why I always picture Rock as a huge Polynesian looking guy.
lol Mentally I've always cast Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Rock lol
I often take a name and change or add a few sounds (or even just spelling). David > Davin > Daviniro. Callie > Kali > Markali. Erin + Seth > Erinseth > Eranaseth. Terry + Garth > Terrygarth > Tarréägarth. One neat thing about names formed this way is that have a shortened form that is easy for a lay reader to pronounce (Davin, Kali, Seth, Garth). Consequently, they may be more Earth-centric than you want (in which case, stick to the full form). I use the short form in narration, and most characters use it in dialogue.
The nicknames also serve as a pronunciation hint. I introduce one character as *Shonna* so that when her full name comes up later, readers have a clue as to how in the heck they're supposed to say *Ashonnarrë* (in theory). If *Shonna* is the nickname form, they're more likely (again, in theory) to come up with Uh-SHAWN-uh-ray (as opposed to ASH-uh-nar or Ash-uh-NAR-ray or something else). I used to put an accent mark on the stressed syllable (Ashónnarrë), but I ended up ditching that as being too distracting. (I make an exception for pairs of vowels pronounced independently: Tarréägarth keeps its accented E to distinguish it from the A right beside it.)
I read Shonna as SHO-na (almost like Shoney's), is that right? The weird thing is that I do read Ashonnarrë as Uh-SHAWN-uh-ray.
@@Sybato I would spell SHO-na as Shona; the doubled consonant is supposed to signal a short vowel (e.g. bottle, stopping, coffin, hopper, etc. versus both, locate, rotor, voted). I'm not too fussed over that, though. I mainly want to avoid the way-off pronunciations of her full name.
this is what i do
That's a genius method! I'll have to try that!!!
When I found out about Elend's name in the original, it made me laugh: It means "misery" in German. They changed it to Eland in the translation, and that's a nice name. ^_^
Elend more like Bellend, gottem😎
Funny story about that (everyone mentioned here is German). My mother listened to the english audiobooks and we were texting about it one day. She approximated the spelling of the names based on phonetics (I think she went with something like Allend). She refused to accept that his name was spelled Elend when I told her. Some time later I was playing Mistborn House War with her and a friend of mine who I had also pushed into listening to the english audiobooks. When he read the name on a card he had pretty much the same reaction.
I think it's pretty sensible the name was changed in translation based on these two (and my own) reactions :D
Haha! Wow!
I was wondering how I ended up assigning Rock a Russian accent in my head.
I do the same thing
I think it's because of the grammar of his speech. It is similar to how Russians speak english
I think it comes down to speech works sounding like a Russian speaking English. Like using "is" in place of "its".
That's actually how he sounds in the audiobook.
It's because his Alethi is broken in the exact same way that a Russian's English would be broken
I devised a trick which I'll probably use lots more in the future: basically, I obfuscated the words "Lancelot the Paladin" and got "Liancion Palanu" which is an epic name. I refer to it in my head as "name echoing". You take the phrase that describes your character and then hammer it out until it sounds how you want it to. I use the trick for very few names, though. Most of the time I just make a Latin/Greek sounding name or else some sort of pun/foreshadowing/allegorical name.
Akira Toriyama did this a lot in Dragon Ball: Kakarotto = Carrot with an additional syllable. Broly = Broccoli with a syllable removed. The list goes on. That manga is full of pun names. Each group of characters has a theme, but no symbolism like you do. :)
That's so cool!!!!
Know your culture. Know your environment. Know the language - As your characters name will most likely be a product of these elements. (and probably should) Know the cliches to avoid. Know there is no specific method of finding the right name. Tell yourself its ok to change that name as you go. Understand that your character may have several names in the world you've created. No! Your name doesn't need to be rooted in allegory or "deep meaning" No, it doesnt matter where you found or came up with the name as long as it works. Allow yourself to like the name! Tell yourself its ok to watch these vids.
this felt good to read. thanks
In German, Elend means "misery" and in the books he's named Elant which I think sounds way less cool but oh well.
There’s a village in the German Harz mountains by the name of Elend as well.
I think it's still supposed to be/ can still be pronounced like the English Elend, but couldn't be written like that because German readers of the German translation would obviously just read the German word Elend.
I know in the German audiobook it's pronounced phonetically German, but at the time that came out they also still translated stuff like Star Wars to Krieg der Sterne so it figures they wouldn't pronounce it English.
@@crelgen1588 somehow everything is translated to German. Even things where it doesn't make sense. You know the movie "Into the Spiderverse"? In german the title is changed to "Spiderman: a new universe" which isn't even german! It doesn't make any sense!
With Elend it's not that bad. I thing Spook is much worse. He's called Spuki and that sounds soooo bad. Fortunately in Wax&Wayne they finally called most of the characters their original names
@@Soul2312 I know! I really don't understand the motivation behind those not-the-original-title-but-still-English-kinda titles. I've got no problem with having to adapt things to a different audience, but at least make it non-cringy.
I got the German Warbreaker audiobook for my little sister which is called Sturmklänge...for some reason. When talking about the books we always got confused, because I thought we were talking STORMlight Archives.
With Mistborn they also translated the houses, like Venture is Wager etc, and I don't know how I feel about that. You're German too, so you know Hanni und Nanni, right?
With those books they changed all kinds of stuff, the country, the names, hell, even the time period!
And I never knew as a kid because it worked so well.
Maybe they should get feedback for those title/name changes, like they do with early screenings for movies.
@@Soul2312 Swedish cinema does this as well, but they have this habit of not being the slightest bit loyal to the original title. Some 5-10 years ago they went too crazy with it and we got movies like The Fault in Our Stars being renamed "Sooner or later I'll explode"
If you are not making high fantasy novels like Brandon here I suggest baby books. Sometimes I just pick a first letter and choose a name from that. Example- D= Derek, damion, drake, Dustin, Drew, Daren, etc.
If you are making a romance, thriller, etc you just need regular names. Not ones like Draquithion Blasterastionson.
You can just go "Oh, I want a V name." And choose Victoria or Violet or Valerie.
I swear I read "How do I come up with memes"
SAME
Take a dip in the Pools of Dankness
In the book I’m currently writing about Werewolves, I gave them a tradition with names, they all have the same to letter phrase somewhere in it and then I built the name of what sounded right for that character. It makes the fantasy names feel more real and stem from a past like in the real world.
Then for a poor human character I took inspiration from real life naming in history. The names Johnson for example likely came from John’s Son. The characters father was a mason, his was the mason’s son, so his name became Mason.
Or I just pick a letter and do a google such for names beginning with that fits the setting, time period or has meaning related to the character.
I absolutely love names--have probably spent far too long compiling multiple lists both in word docs and online at behindthename. Choosing a name for a character is normally a pleasure I defer until I've after I've done the hard work of writing the story. Till then they're designated by their role in the story (protag, antag, antag's mother's hamster) or a _ or x. A major difficulty for me with fantasy names in particular is coming up with a unified linguistic aesthetic for each culture without actually coming up with languages, cause I ain't got the time or skill for that. I need the names from each culture to feel related and recognisable (just like how we immediately know a French or Japanese name when we see it), but also to be:
1. distinct from each other, like real-world names
2. Not blatant rip-offs of real-world languages
3. Æsthetically pleasing and easy to say
4. Sound right for the character
5. Not have already been taken by someone's homebrew roleplay wiki or WoW character. This one's harder than you think.
I feel like a lot of fantasy names fall into the traps of either feeling like the belong to the same Generic Fantasy Language--Arandor Trueheart, etc. or being ugly, unpronounceable nonsense, like T'Shizarr-Ek R'Avikzq'okzlltrp.
Obviously the absolute master of this was Tolkien.
Also, I would never use a name that was an actual word in another real language, because if someone from that culture reads my book they're gonna laugh at me.
That last restraint is meh
With my names I tend to think about the characters personality and role in the story, then I search for names in “dying”/ancient languages so they sound cool, sometimes I change some letters to make them sound cooler also.
This explains why all these names are similar to my language (Scandinavian). In Elantris many of the names and fantasy words were natural to pronounce in my mother tongue. Like "Fjordell" or "Arelon".
I was also surprised when in Mistborn era 2, the words "Hermann" and "Frue" popped up. Which means Man and Wife in my language.
Rock is the one of the coolest names, I loved this video. You explained the Horn-eaters (From the high peeks) and combine Russian and Hawaiian lore/accents. You truly are gifted at writing and creating worlds and names and everything that makes a book nearly impossible to put down. Thanks Brandon.
I started getting weird in the comment section. So I'll be short, this was a great vid. Super insightful yet short as hell. Bravo
Really loving the upload pace. No pressure tho, just gives me something to look forward to.
Vin literally means wine in French, but it's pronounced differently. So as a Frenchman, I didn't even realize that's what it was.
Cosmere sounds like Cashmere which always reminds me of that Seinfeld episode with the red dot.
A lot of people speaks about Elend and Kaladin but nobody mention Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor. That's so a common name in the world, never believe he use it
I like to pick a pattern for the culture, and then work within that pattern. Makes coming up with names easier. For example, in a story for a a rpg campaign I came up with (and then never did end up running) the rule was that high born names would use harder, more clipped sounds, and lower born names would use softer sounds. So noble names would have a lot of Ts, Ks, Vs, maybe a strong S in there, while lower born names would have more vowels, and softer consonants, such as y sounds, h, m, th, etc. the king was Tain, the god T’toc, whereas a low born might be Lohma or Elly or something. If I’m doing a one off character I usually do a pun of some sort. My dnd character was a rogue, so I named him Picar after the term picaresque.
I have a cool way to do this, doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try: u take a name of some object or thing around u and then change how it sounds a little - a gr8 example is windu from Star Wars
dude, i've been trying to come up with names for my characters all week! thank you!
Fantasy name generator is my go to tool
I wonder what language Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor is inspired by.
Why, comrade, it is Russian ofcourse /s
I get my names from three old sources:
1) Chemistry. For example there is a knight called Ferum, his enemies refer to him as Ferum the weak. Now, Ferrum is the latin name for iron. (FE) I learned the Robert E. Howard who wrote the Conan series named the god Conan worships "Crom". And when I found out that he more than likely got the name from Chromium (a metal used in steel) I thought it was so cool, I am gonna do it! :D
2) Wordbooks. Before knowing that Brandon had used the name Odium, I used Odeum in one of my fantasy names. Odium is latin for hatred.
3) Names from mythology with some changes to them. I used to call a character Djinnah, he is a sorcerer. Now a djinni or jinni is, to make a long story short, a desert spirit from islamic arabian mythology. Also known as a genie.
For my part though I am struggling with place names. Because I feel that every name should tell a small story about that place or it's signifance. For example New York was named after the Duke of York over in olde england.
Or my old student town, Turku or Åbo (in swedish). I am not sure about Turku, but Åbo literally means "Å bo" or "nest by the river". And there is a big river floating through Turku. Makes sense, no?
Languages are also interesting. In one of my stories I had a bunch of elves calling their homeland some weird mishmash of sentences, but in-universe it translates to "The Land where Dragons rule". First of all, yes I am a dragonforce fan. :D Second of all, I had written a poem about the last elvish king who lamented that his land which was once beautiful was now a land "where dragons rule". So from having a different name it was now called that.
I love that Dragonforce song XD
Also, there is a Fire Emblem (FE) character named Chrom, so your first point was interesting for me to read even though it doesn't sound like that was an intentional connection.
In Scotland (and probably all over the Uk), they have a lot of descriptive place names. I just opened Google maps in the region south of Edinburgh, where I was driving around in fall 2019 last time. There are names like Coldstream, Gorebridge, Temple, Whitehill... It’s almost too simple to be true. xD
Concerning place names, I can't recommend enough the related video "on worldbuilding: place names" by booktuber Hello Future Me! He gives a really nice and complete explanation on how real life geographical points are named and how those names can naturally evolve.
Thank you sO much for uploading this video. Always looking forward to your uploads!
I just made up the names in my book and (as well as some people in the comments) put words together. Me and my friends sat at two tables at lunch together and they were helping me. We played a game of Wheel of Fortune. Hence my book title -> (something to do with “fortune” *work in progress*) Each friend would give me either a vowel or consonant and we’d go back and forth. Even if the words not make sense, somehow I unscramble the letters, add more, take some out. I ended up with Kaslyn, Ravyn, (more fantastical type names) Eyspen, Decryc, Rycis, etc. I have plenty more that I may or may not use. (I’d be more than happy to answer any questions)
This is a great video. The guy that makes these videos does a sick job. Good work.
I wonder if there is a nice Linguistic 101 course for names that could give you a decent foundation and help you with coming with fictional languages and names. But also without delving too deep into the field, cramming you with stuff you don't need. Almost like - linguistics for fiction writers.
If one's story spawns generations remembering that names are usually based on ancestors. Also if characters family is common and old then the last name is likely short and either occupational or locational. If character is from a wealthy and newer background they probably have longer and fancier last name. Also if people are around same area their names likely have similarities. For example in Kenya many last names start with Kip, Dutch names have many times van or de and Finnish last names usually end with the nen.
Back in my D&D days i'd look at the item list and combine syllables. Halberd and a sword? Sworhal or Halsor for your character name. Works pretty well on the fly.
Some years ago, I got a lot of spam emails, that were supposed to convince me to invest money into shady business opportunities.
Of course, I never followed any link within them, but I collected the fantasy sender names, so that I would be able to use them in a book that I thought I was going to write some day. They were hilarious.
I have a wizard in the novel I'm writing, I won't tell you his name, because it's a good one... However, I kind of want to name him Tahdar. You know... Tada!!
My naming schemes aren't terribly well thought out - I just kind of smash together sounds.
Example of some characters in my current story - Irian, Nalrie, Tarn, Derkin, Enarise...
I really need to assemble some rules so there's consistency... but after venturing into conlangs a while back, I'm weary about even dipping my toes back in slightly.
The thing here is that they seem jumbled together. Mine are:
Kingdom of Idallin: Varrand, Saddan, Ivver, Dagenne, Nardelland
Commonwealth of Luim: Aina, Nain, Ioen, Vien
Chekevekasz Pilgrims: Dagaszachen, Nevekeszchen, Iidicheszen
Those are not perfect, but I try for consistency. For example, Luim is four digits, with two vowels put together. Idallin has double consonants, etc...
@@milospollonia1121 The kind of thing I'm going for is names that sound like they're from early 19th century America, which is my main inspiration for the setting.
Me too! I came up with:
Ilodem
Denn
Harodin
So on...
@@lbentforleather9654 There is slight method to my madness - I derived my main character's name, Irian, from "Irreantum."
I've got story about a steampunk city built high in the mountains called Stratopolis. It's a portmanteau of stratosphere and metropolis (duh). Then I have an underground city called Lithidome. Lithi meaning rock/stone and dome meaning....dome.
As far as human names, I just alter existing names or use less common names. Valera instead of Valerie, Ike instead of Mike.
Cool, Brandon, thanks for sharing your insights w/ us on name-generation for literary fiction 🙏🏽
You FAQing legend!
So pleased that you're blowing up RUclips recently!
Word searches. Browse though the puzzle itself and you'll often find letters that line up and work well phonetically.
Lord knows I needed this and I needed it NOW! Thank you!
I legit just jumble sounds around in my mouth for a few minutes until I stumble upon a cool combination and so far it seems to work - most of my friends who read my stuff always call attention to how much they like the names.
If there's an adaptation I hope we get the true KHolin pronunciation in it.
I've got a beautiful black cat that I've name Navani Mheowlin
How an author chooses names can be fascinating. And it can sometimes be a warning that a book is going to be bad.
I mean, if the space pirates are called John, David and Joe, and the hero is called Jim, and the author is also called Jim, then you know that Jim probably didn't put a lot of thought into the names, and so probably didn't put a lot of thought into the rest of the story either..
Probably the next step up from this is when the characters are called Bohn, Divid, and Jeo, where at least the author didn't use common everyday names, which can be absolutely fine, but can still raise the reader's suspicions about just how much the author thought the names through..
Then you have Brandon who just goes above and beyond, and you never even think about the names because they match the characters and the world so perfectly..
Imagine a book where the hero’s name is Harry, and other character names are Ronald, Fred, George, Oliver, Katie, Alicia and Angelina. ;)
@@3.k It's fine when the story is based around real locations, in or around present day. And obviously if it's in the past, on Earth, then you just use names suitable for the era.
I was mainly referring to fantasy and "futuristic" sci-fi, but I guess I kind of forgot to actually mention that!
@@JoeBob79569 I think I know what you mean, but I don’t think that classic names are a general no-go for a setting in the future. There are names that people have given to their children for hundreds or even thousands of years now. They come into and go out of fashion periodically, but they don’t die out.
I think there can be circumstances where an author would decide to call their characters Bob and Jill, because they want to set normal people into a future everyday setting.
I would agree with you, if the setting was not in our world / timeline, or if there were certain reasons why there are no more Joes and Jacks in that future. :)
@@3.k Yea, agreed. It does depend on the story, context and the setting, and a million other things. But usually it's something that the reader doesn't even think about if the names are well thought out. They just fit.
But if the reader thinks "hmm, those names just don't seem right" then they probably aren't.
For example a "Jack" might be perfectly fine in a futuristic setting, where he's a settler on a new planet, and just an ordinary guy. But it might not work if he's the local kid bully in the school on the generation ship, because it might be a bit too cliché.
Or it might work well, you just don't really know until you're actually reading the book, and absorbed in the world.
@@JoeBob79569 I agree. It usually throws me off when I see the author behind the narrator all the time. That’s also the difference between an enjoyable “voice” or “tone”, and one that is not so good. :)
One easy method? Take any word and change one letter. You'd be surprised how much mileage you'll get out of that.
Instructions unclear haven't been able to get the word 'mileage' out once
@@alonzoc537 mixed up mileage and melange, now I'm high and onwards to become a galactic messianic figure and committing mass atrocities.
When I write I just mash sounds together until I get something fun to say. Like Vekros, Asakesh, Gadnick..etc.
As a reader of fantasy but an author of works typically set in our world, I'm grateful that this isn't much of a problem for me. Still, I commiserate.
Thank you! I’m writing my own book and I needed advice on names
I smash my head on my keyboard a few times, then get rid of a few letters until it's something pronouncible
This is hilarious and I will be using this method. You’re a genuis.
I think it's super neat that Vorins value symmetry as holy. And Thaylens, who follow a different religion tend to have names with almost no vowels and zero symmetry.
Punai. Name of the continent in my story, wanna know how I can up with it?
Putty Knife. No joke, I was shopping with my dad and he needed a putty knife. So I took the “Poo” sound from “PUtty” and “Nai” sound from “KIfe”
Punai :D
Names can come anywhere people, just gotta do stupid stuff sometimes 😂
This was more helpful than I expected it to be. Thank you
I love the bit at the end - try out a name and if it sticks, cool, if not find a new one. That's great advice :D Also, side note, I found myself intensely trying to figure out what your shirt says during this video haha
Those Tolkiens on the shelf...
Brandon flexes on us big time
@@milospollonia1121 Not to mention keeping it on topic given that Brandon is discussing the creation of fictional languages and names.
He has elves on his shelves. Lol
@@futtynucker5278 Okay, that got a belly laugh out of me. XD
@@Rhadagar I try. 😁👍
I see y'all showing off your naming methods and I love each and every one! You all are so creative :D
Elend means misery in german lmao
I swear to god I saw a cosmere meme on this exact thing. That feeling where you realize Vin and Elend mean Wine and Misery.
It's elende in Dutch
Probably the reason why they changed the Name to "Elant" in the German translation.
@@Blyfh Did they keep Straff? It's similar to Straf but it has an extra F
Elände in Swedish
I always assumed Kaladin was a nod to Caladan, the Atreides home world from dune
Talks about Con/Langs and naming schemes with the leatherbound Silmarillion in the background
Epic
I wonder if he ever looks at a made up name or word and thinks "god, that sounds so stupid." Speaking from personal experience
Kaladin was named Merin at first. Litterally, that was his name until a few months before WoK was finished. If that was a final version, then you can be darn sure that he has indeed come up with shitty names.
@@milospollonia1121 glad I'm not the only one lmao
@@milospollonia1121 I don't know why everyone (including Brandon) says that Merin is such a bad name
@@emosongsandreadalongs idk, it just feels weird, very non-Alethi
@@milospollonia1121 mm. It's not bad, but it's very asymmetrical.
As always good insights from mr. Alexanderson.
I personally subscribe to the theory that Thaylen names (such as Tvlakv and Vstim) were created explicitly for the purpose of being mean to Michael Kramer, and I will hear no arguments to the contrary.
Why is it mean to him?
@@lunav8026 Because it's a lot of consonants in a row, often in combinations that don't normally occur in English.
Lego went to the Maori for the names in their Bionicle franchise, like you suggested - and promptly got sued. 😂
I am using the site behindthename :)
Dude 😭😭😭😭. Thank you soooo much for this 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️
Me too. But I wish they'd remove the stupid arbitrary limits on name lists.
I use it to make sure my made-up names do not already exist in another culture.
I like to take real but lesser known/used names, maybe older names that aren't really used so much anymore, then combine parts from 2-3 names. Sometimes I switch out a letter or 2 to make it sound more fantasy/unique, but also not too out there and weird. Then I promptly google the name to make sure I didn't accidentally make up a name that is already a very well known character from a show/book I'm just not familiar with, or.. make sure the name isn't also the name of a pesticide or STD treatment or something because that would be awkward.
Fun fact: Elend is German for 'ellende' which is Dutch for misery. (I'm Dutch). I guess that fits his character quite well.😂
So, what if readers pronounce your characters' name wrong (for example, I pronounce Adolin with a long A sound)? Do you let that thing fly or does that bug you?
Brandon you are my favorite author. I've read all of your books, besides your novelettes ( which are on my list ) can you finish Dream Of Spring? George RR Martin may die :( before its released. ( BTW, Thanks for For Warbreaker, the Whole Stormlight Archive And both Mistborn 1-3 and Wax and Wayne 4-6 ). Also last but certainly not least Skyward, and all of your other books I loved. Even Though I Haven't been able to listen yet, (due to financial struggle and rent increasing in Utah), anyways, I loved reading them twice before buying them from Graphic Audio getting cold chills while listening. Remembering how awesome your writing truly is, your truly gifted, thanks for FINISHING Robert Jordans series can you finish Georges? My QUESTion -- (( Will The Dream of Spring ever be released?
==The good news is that, according to their calculations, The Winds of Winter is set to come out in 2023! The bad news is that, at the current rate, A Dream of Spring won't be released until 2065.May 19, 2022))== ( Credit to Google and Firefox tm).
Thanks Brandon Thanks sir - Andy S.
In my opinion any name works as long as it makes sense given the setting and doesn't sound awkward, like having too many phonetically close consonants mushed together. The name having a story-relevant meaning is a bonus, but not necessary, especially not for unimportant characters.
Thank you! I constantly get hung up on names.
I am pretty sure in one of the streams a moderator put a link up where it discussed the kandra from Mistborn. Can someone post that link? I was wondering how you came up with the idea for those characters. :) Finishing Hero of Ages now - loving it!
Wait, Elend isn't intentionally named after the German word for misery? That honestly explains a lot. I always thought that was kind of random and didn't follow a theme.
I love these I love Brandon. But I do miss his long form lecture videos. I’d love to see those back.
Well cousin, I do love your books.
Is it a bad idea to name a character based of of their arcs, for example, I’m creating a female character who is a leader, is it a good idea to look up name for that character that falls into the definition of the character’s arcs
Good safety rule for making up names: whenever you make up a name or a word for your writing, google it real quick, just incase it's already a word. It could be a curse or a slur in another language.
As an example, many international releases of Studio Ghibli's film Laputa: Castle in the Sky drop the "Laputa" from the title because in Spanish "la puta" translates to "the whore".
"Vin" means "wine" in French. Not once did this cross my mind while reading the book. I'm French. :S
Wow, an actual process, I just take things that sound cool and flow naturally with each other even if they are nearly identical (Cradil, Cradia) and just go with that. Is this good or do I need to change.
Crazy that my name would be sacrilegious in Roshar
It's interesting actually, it would be sacrilegious in modern Alethkar but not in the past of the world.
Not sure if this question has been asked before, but how do you come up with character goals? (both short term and long-term)
first ( a great honor in my life)
and the topic is really useful . thanks as always.
OH so that's how Susebron is pronounced? :D
I imagined it Suse-bron, with 'suse' sounding something like 'muse"
Elend's fathers name "Straff" means punishment or penalty in norwegian. Always thought it really fit his character.
Now I really wish I paid more lesson in my English class. Forgetting something as basic as consenant (I even can't remember the spelling right) and other stuff really is a struggle in writing
"Straff" in German means "taut".
"Elan" (without the final 't', though) is "vigor", "zeal", "zest" in German.
"Wagner" (with an 'n') is a quite typical German last name derived from a profession: "wainwright".
How do you come up with maps and the geography of your worlds?
Jasnah is a relatively common name in former Yugoslav countries. I know a few women with that name. (We spell it Jasna but the pronunciation is the same)
great info, thx for posting these :)
I thought Rock's name sounded a lot like the Hawaiian state fish name! 😂😂😂 not exactly obviously, just similarities.
It was my annotation at that part of the book 😂
Me realizing that Brandon pronounces "Demoux" as "Demeaux" 😂
My favorite magicians are Penn & "T'Teller" 🤣
Ah, yes, Misery and Ostrich, my favourite characters.
exactly what i needed.
Just looked it up, Elend means misery
Luthadel is Paris confirmed
I have two different ways of namimg characters. Pure random because it sounds cool, or looking for a name that has a meaning that suits Its personality and character.
Yeah, Elend means misery in German, that's why they changed his name in the German translation of the book. And Straff is an adjective meaning tight/firm.
I just wanted names that sound cool :’)
One thing that has always interested me is assuming people in Mistborn don't speak English but it's just a transaltion convention situation do Wax and Wayne have the same kind of lunar connotation for their names in their own language?
It's highly unlikely - Scadrial doesn't have a moon.