Crafting Through Names



Names are a rather important and common thing that we humans love to give out to everything we perceive. If you've read my post about world-building through cartography or maybe you didn't, you probably want tips to name your world-building town, cities, geographical features, and other places. Not only does naming your location fill the itch to name it but it is also a tool you can use for your world-building project. Names can be simple or as fanciful as you want to make them they can also hold plenty of subtext if you are clever enough.

In the real world, names are everywhere and range in complexity. Some examples of these could be the multiple villages in Norway that go by the name Å. There are also places with super complex names such as Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg Lake otherwise known as Webster Lake. Names can be derived from anywhere be it a geological feature, the name of an influential person, a historical moment, a thing in another language, or even after itself... I'm looking at you, the multiple rivers in England called the River Avon (translates to River River.) 

For the sake of world-building names can be as detailed as you want them to be without being too farfetched. Hell, you can even make up words or name them after a conlang you may have built. These methods of naming are not restricted to just place names but can also extend to naming your characters. Here are some examples. Remember the giant spider in the Lord of the Rings that tried to kill Frodo? Well, Tolkien named it Shelob. Lobbe is a translation for spider and that spider so happens to be female. The name Shelob is just the combination of the words female and spider. Names don't have to be complex sometimes they are as simple as an occupation such as Smith.  Another option could just be the name of your father such as Jorganson (Son of Jorgan). Names are a rather important part of storytelling and worldbuilding but can be as freeform as you want them, so run wild while coming up with names!         

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