Character Names List #4 : Names Ending in -ala

(I am aware the blog address is incorrect. My apologies, I'll pay better attention next time.)

Perhaps this list's theme seems a bit random. Let me explain.

I just treated myself to a ukulele. I visited a music store, decided I wanted and ordered a Kala KA-C Concert Ukulele. It arrived today, and I'm excited to start focusing my energy on something.

I'm going to want to name my new, adorable uke, because that's the kind of dork I am, and I thought why not rhyme it with Kala? Some of these names were new to me, and I've completely fallen in love.

(These are labeled as female names)


Adala -  meaning : just, honest, honorable ; origin : English and German

Amala - meaning : pure, hope ;  origin : Arabic Sanskrit

Cala - meaning : lily, beauty ;  origin : Old Greek

Dhavala - meaning : white ;  origin : Sanskrit

Fala - meaning : resembling a crow ;  origin : Native American

Hala - meaning : moon's halo ;  origin : Arabic

Ismala - meaning : God will hear ;  origin : Hebrew

Jameala - meaning : beautiful ; origin : Arabic

Kamala - meaning : light red ; origin : Sanskrit

Kanala - meaning : shining ; origin : Sanskrit

Mala - meaning : mighty in battle ; origin : Hebrew, Germanic, English

Manala - meaning : achievement  ; origin : Arabic

Nala - meaning : lioness  ;  origin : African - Swahili

Natala - meaning : born on Christmas ;  origin : English

Pamala - meaning : all black, all sweetness ; origin : Old Greek

Vala - meaning : singled out  ; origin : Germanic

Zahala - meaning : joy ; origin : Hebrew

Zala - meaning : one who is beautiful ;  origin : Slovene

Which is your favorite? Do you have your own favorite name ending in -ala? 

Let us know in the comments!

Character Names: List #3 — Slavic

It's been a while since I've done a new character names list, but as I'm in the middle of research for my next post on female characters, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to create another one.

I've recently come up with a new story idea, and a few of the characters have a Slavic background. My mind has been a little obsessed with the idea, so here is a list of Slavic-derived names. Perhaps you too shall consider adding a little Slavic history to a character in your story?

**All of these names come from The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, Second Edition. If you don't own this book, go buy it. It's literally an essential for any writer!**


FEMALE:


Ana - meaning : One who will be reborn;  origin : Russian (form of Anastasia)

Dana - meaning : God is my judge; origin : Czechoslovakian (form of Daniel)

Eliska - meaning : Truthful ; origin : Czechoslovakian

Irena/Irina - meaning : Peace ; origin : Russian (form of Irene)

Ivana - meaning : Gracious God ; origin : both Russian and Czechoslovakian (form of John)

Jarka - meaning : Spring ; origin : Slavic

Krasava - meaning : Beautiful ; origin : Czechoslovakian

Lilia - meaning : Mauve ; origin : Slavic

Marya/Marika - meaning : Bitter ; origin : Slavic (form of Mary)

Milena - meaning : Favored; origin : Czechoslovakian

Natasha - meaning : Born on Christmas ; origin : Russian (form of Natalie)

Nesha - meaning : Pure ; origin : Russian (form of Agnes)

Varya - meaning : Stranger ; origin : Russian

Zenya - meaning : Well-born ; origin : Russian  (form of Eugene)



MALE:


Adam - meaning : Of the red earth;  origin : Czechoslovakian

Adrik - meaning : Dark ; origin : Russian

Casimir - meaning : Destroys peace ; origin : Slavic

Cestmir - meaning : Forest; origin : Czechoslovakian

Dimitri - meaning : Spring ; origin : Russian (from Demeter)

Karel/Karol - meaning : Manly ; origin : Slavic (form of Charles)

Miklos - meaning : Victory of the people; origin : Czechoslovakian (form of Nicholas)

Misha - meaning : Who is like God ; origin : Russian (form of Michael)

Reznik - meaning : Butcher; origin : Czechoslovakian

Stefan - meaning : Crowned in victory ; origin : Russian (form of Stephen)

Viktor - meaning : Victorious ; origin : Czechoslovakian

Vilem - meaning : Resolute protector ; origin : Czechoslovakian (form of William)

Yakov - meaning : Supplanter ; origin : Russian  (form of Jacob)

Ziven/Zivon - meaning : Lively ; origin : Russian

Character Names: List #2

As far as page views/repins on Pinterest, y'all seemed to approve of the first list! Here is another list of boy and girl names for you to use as reference and help in naming your characters.

The meanings and origins for the names on this list are taken from www.behindthename.com. Also keep in mind that while I distinguish names between "girls" and "boys," some of these are unisex as well. 


GIRLS:


Pippa - meaning : Friend of Horses ; origin: few different answers, from English to German to Dutch

Adelaide - meaning : Noble kind  ; origin : French form of the Germanic

Evelyn - meaning :  (possibly) Desired ; origin : English

Ingrid - meaning :  Ing is beautiful  ; origin : Old Norse name derived from the Germanic god ING

Phoebe - meaning : Bright, Pure ; origin : Latinized form of the Greek name

Lorelei - meaning : Luring rock ; origin : Germanic

Isla - meaning : Island of Islay ; origin : Scottish

Meghan - meaning : Pearl ; origin : Latin (from Margaret)

Imogen - meaning : Maiden ; origin : Gaelic

Aylah - meaning : Oak tree or Terebinth tree ; origin : Hebrew transcription of Elah

Zara - meaning : Blooming flower ; origin : Arabic

Keira - meaning : Black ; origin : Irish (traced back to a masculine name, actually)


BOYS: 

Thomas - meaning : Twin ; origin : Greek form of the Aramaic

Elijah - meaning : my God is YAHWEH ; origin : Hebrew

Logan - meaning : Little Hollow ; origin : Scottish Gaelic

Jonah - meaning : Dove ; origin : Hebrew

Cameron - meaning : Crooked Nose ; origin : Scottish

Kian - meaning : Ancient ; origin : Gaelic

Harvey - meaning : Battle worthy ; origin : English

Tiernan - meaning : Little lord ; origin : Irish Gaelic

Kevin - meaning : Kind, gentle, handsome ; origin : Irish

Colin - meaning : Whelp, young dog ; origin : Gaelic

Are your favorite names on either of these lists? 

( Quite a few of mine are! ;) ) 

Character Names: List #1

While daydreaming about one of the stories I'm dabbling in developing, I discovered a fantastic element to add to the story, but it required the creation of several more character names. I'm someone who loves naming characters and truly enjoys the process, however, after spending a long time having already come up with names for these characters, I was dragging in the idea of hunting for more.

So, in an exercise to help me create some more names, I decided I'd start creating a list we can all benefit from! I won't promise to add to this every month,  but I'll post a new list every now and then. Hopefully this will be fun for us all and help get some creative juices flowing. When you like a particular post's list, bookmark the page, or write it down and pin it up on your inspiration board or file it away for an easy go-to reference list! (I will do my best not to repeat names, but forgive me if down the road I miss one here and there!)

Today, the meanings and origins are taken from babynames.com. **Please be aware that some sites will post different meanings.**

GIRLS:

Harper - meaning: Harp Player ; origin : English

Eden - meaning: Paradise ; origin : Hebrew

Nora - meaning: Honor ; origin : English

Charlotte - meaning: Free ; origin: English

Layla/Leila - meaning: Night/Black ; origin: Arabic

Rowan - meaning: from the Rowan tree ; origin: English

Louisa - meaning: Famous Warrior ; origin: English

Audrey/Audri - meaning: Noble Strength ; origin: English

Faye - meaning: Fairy or Elf ; origin: French

Wren - meaning: Small Bird ; origin: English

Clare/Claire/Klair  - meaning: Illustrious ; origin: French

BOYS:

Noah - meaning: Rest, Peace ; origin: Hebrew

Isaac - meaning: He Will Laugh ; origin: Hebrew

Liam - meaning: Strong-Willed Warrior ; origin: Irish

Henry - meaning: Ruler of the home ; origin: German

Aiden - meaning: Little Fire ; origin: Irish

Carson - meaning: Christian ; origin: American

Sebastian - meaning: Venerable ; origin: Greek

Connor  - meaning: Wolf lover ; origin: Irish

Luther - meaning: People army ; origin: English

Caius - meaning: Person of Earth ; origin: Latin

Austin - meaning: Great ; origin: English

Character Naming Part 1: Where to Start

My favorite part about planning a new story idea isn't necessarily pulling together the plot and outline (mainly because I make most of that up as I go and don't usually flesh out an outline). For me the excitement is in developing the characters, from their physical appearances and characteristics to background story and future actions. For the next few blog posts, I'm going to share with you how I go through the process of naming my characters.

For some people, like me, this comes fairly naturally. I can spend hours picking out a specific name for a character yet have fun doing it. Others can just pick any name they want and be fine with it - which is totally okay, too. However, maybe some of you struggle with figuring out the perfect name, or maybe you want to learn how to flesh out your development process. Here's how I begin:


First and foremost - baby naming sources. Like candy in the middle of a salt factory. Baby naming sources can be in the form of books, from specific baby books to character naming books (I own The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook 2nd Edition). However, for a quick search, and what I use mostly, some websites to try out are babynames.com and behindthename.com (heads up: different sites can contain different origins and meanings. Occasionally you may have to try a few different sources to make sure you have the most accurate). Not only is there a nearly unlimited resource of baby names on these sites, but you can also refine your search for specific gender, origin, and meaning. Do you have an strong-willed Irishman as your protagonist? Perhaps you should call him Liam.

If you want to try a different route other than baby name sources, one idea is to simply compile a list of first, middle, and last names of your family, friends, and acquaintances. You might have a best friend named Emily Jane Gould, a cousin named Hannah Rae Devore, and a co-worker named Audrey Monroe. Mix it together, and perhaps you like Audrey Rae Gould.

Another fun way is to pop in your favorite movie or TV show and take a look at the credits; what are your favorite names on that list? This is also a great resource to use if you want creative names. C'mon, we've all seen those names roll by and do a double take - they're pretty crazy awesome.

The "easy" way out is to look up a name generator site. I'm not condemning this method at all (sometimes I will use it for surname ideas), but for me personally, it takes the fun out of the process.

>>Next week in part 2 we'll flesh this out and discuss how to organize your compiled names.<<

How do you compile a list of favorite character names?