A hero by any other name…

The characters in my story mostly have names that I made up, but a few (like Eledrynne) are ones that I derived from actual names.  I did choose some Terran names, like Caspian and Stephen, if I feel like they sound medieval enough. 

Actually, I love linguistics and culture so much that sometimes, to make up the Loratannh name for something, I see what it is on the language that has the right feel, and just adjust it a little.  That’s how I came up with Reyt-Azada, the name of the great desert dragon. 

Loracaz is a name that I made up, and his is probably the most important.  It’s one of only two that gets re-used for descendants (the only other one is Allanah, a variant of Alanna).  Loracaz I is the great hero, the one who frees Goddess Jenh from Métius’s crystalline trap.  Loracaz II is his descendant, the prince of Onsira, who defends the kingdom when Métius tries to come back.  Loracaz III is in turn his descendant, but his role as a guardian is not evident until much later in his life.  Loracaz I and II are centuries apart, but Loracaz III is more closely related to II. 

Zarrek as a character concept used to be called Chalken, but that didn’t sound right, and that ended up detracting from it carrying any of the power that I needed it to.  Z’Lé (as a name) I designed to sound Draconic.  For some of the female characters, I wanted their names to demonstrate some of their character traits.  Are they elegant and sweet, like Liriel and Eledrynne, or mystical l like Rymiel, or earthy and spiritual like Frithaya? 

I absolutely adore creating names.  I even have a dramatis personae for all of my characters.  They each have their own stories to tell, some of them in the main novels, some of them in possible short stories.