Characters last names

[Sunburst]

I can never, ever, think of a last name aside from James or Jacobson or soemthing stupid like that:PDoes nayone know of any I could use for characters in stories?

[piscessunlibramoon19]

I used to have the same problem when I'd write, but now I have a list of last names. Now the problem is that I have such a big list. Here's the list, you can use as many as you want because it's not like a surname can have a copy right or anything like that. So anyway, here you go (it's last names of my ancestors):

Gibson, Wilson, Wells, Laughlin, Gloshen, Hawthorn, Cauthorn, Hickman, Berry, Wyant, Fischer, Smith, Hansen, vanCleave, Thomas, Whitaker, Roland, Ingham, Dowell, Lenox, Brower (my maiden name; German spelling is Brauer), Goddard, Allen, Russell, Wiley, Manchester, Budenseik, Althaus, Fitzgerald, Carpenter, Weiss, Brody, Fry, Zuroweste, Young, Shepherd, Millemon, Laws, Maisie, Hamilton, Abrams, Ellis, Mulvaney, Kreuger, Todd, Combs, McManamy, Miller, Norris, Raleigh, and Yellowfeather.

[HappyHaHaGirl]

I thought there was like a random name generator online somewhere for that very thing... I'll look for it later.

[Sunburst]

Thanks! Those are really good names, I think I'll use one or two in my story I'm working on right now...

[Kilgore Trout]

I just use a newspaper.

[*Doormouse]

Phonebook, any phone book.


: ) life and love

[MattInVegas]

Character don't have to HAVE more than ONE name. Mc Guyger comes to mind.

(Although his character DID have a FIRST name. Anyone know it? Good for 1000 credits on MY forums???)

[HappyHaHaGirl]

Do you mean MacGyver? Like the show? I used to watch that all the time....wasn't it like Arthur or Angus or something?

[MattInVegas]

Do you mean MacGyver? Like the show? I used to watch that all the time....wasn't it like Arthur or Angus or something?
DING DING DING DING! Angus is the correct answer! Now. for another 1000 points, where was he from? (The Character.)

[gesone]

Use Beteta or Castle. Irish last names are always good. Bygrave is good.

[backtothelab]

Phonebook, any phone book.


: ) life and love
That got me thinking; it would be so cool if you could pull names out of a phone book from india or china or tibet or something. Man that would be cool. I'll tell you what I told the last girl though--get your yearbook and use names out of those. Hell, I'll give you some out of mine if you don't have a yearbook.

[Simulato]

If you still need some -
Ameche
Anderson
Andretti
Apicella
Armando
Ayortha
Aval
Avignon
Bancroft
Barlow
Barlett
Beck
Beckinsale
Bradshaw
Brewer
Browning
Bryson
Butler
Cardo
Carson
Carter
Catran
Clanton
Clark
Clarkson
Clarry
Cohen
Colangeo
Cooper
Copson
Copur
Cortez
Curtis
Daniels
Daniel
Danielson
Douglas
Dowden
Esler
Faraday
Farrel
Field
Franklin
Futa
Green
Harrod
Hayward
Hudson
Ibbotson
Jolson
Kendell
Klimek
Lahr
Lake
Lang
Lapin
Larking
Lee
Legorne
Leopold
Lewis
Liden
Mair
Maricot
Martel
Mercer
Miguel
Minhade
Miles
Monfort
Montana
Norgate
Opus
Osipa
Page
Parker
Peterson
Polo
Reamon
Richmond
Rivello
Roberts
Robertson
Romanov
Russell
Russet
Santangeli
Sayanto
Sicone
Siena
Sinatra
Stomboli
Thompson
Tompson
Trell
Upson
Voltardo
Walnut
Walton
Watercress
Willow
Wright
Young
Zellow


I have lists of male names, female names, name meanings and last names that I use for my own stories. :)

And yes, I do have a life. :p

[HappyHaHaGirl]

DING DING DING DING! Angus is the correct answer! Now. for another 1000 points, where was he from? (The Character.)
Damn! I don't know. :( Chicago? :)

[Dilapidated]

Here are some interesting surnames of people I know:
Candeger - prounounced John-deer (it's Turkish)
Caputo (Italian)
Celentano (Italian)
D'Addario (Italian)
Dieter
Dietrich ("DEE-trick")
Drapeau (French)
Moreland
Moulaison (French, it's my last name and I HATE IT)
Paschke
Reische (pronounced "Rice")
Rhoades
Schmidt/Schmidtz
Stambaugh
van der Molen (They spell it so it's all one word: Vandermolen, but i like the three word one better, it's more interesting)
Zeeck

Reading the phone book could be helpful, too.
My characters' last names suck, too. Maybe I should take some of my own advice. :p

[piscessunlibramoon19]

Yes, I agree, Irish names are great. Scottish too. My Scottish ancestors' last name was Blaeloch, which is Scottish Gaelic for "Blue Lake". My mom swears it's spelled "Blaylock" but I know better. It was just changed to that from the Gaelic spelling in order to seem more "American" when they settled over here.

[Sage-Phoenix]

I have trouble with last names too, usually just end up using the surname of the last person I've seen on TV.

[geckopelli]

Advice:


DON'T bog down on details like names. Call the characters "tom" and "sue" for now. It's how the character ARE that counts- not thier names. As the story flows, the character may find his/her own name. And in any case, you can change it latter.
So don't sweat names, or the perfect opening sentence, or the proper desciptive word- any one of these little things can send you grinding to a halt. Get the story on paper, from begining to end, and then, if it's a good story, re-write with that killer name and that perfect opening and the proper desciption.

That being said, maps are a good source for unusual names.

[Musikero]

You could always use the names of your family, friends, enemies, pets, etc. As for me, the last three stories I wrote didn't have any names so I didn't have any trouble thinking about what I would call my characters. I rarely use more than two characters so it's easy to do. With a larger cast however, better start looking through your phonebook.