i need help naming.

[mordale]

ok, if you've read some of my other thread's you might notice i've been writing something over the past few years...

problem is i suck at naming, when i say suck i mean i suck like the event horizon of a black hole.

several characters only have their alias or given name.

and i frankly don't have the information to name some of them cause i frankly don't know common or semi-common names from the regions some of them come from.


so here we go, first off lets start with the main team that then story focuses on.


the team leader, on account of her being a veteran and filling the role of S&R on the team when it comes to getting civilians out of harms way.

alias hourglass, she comes from the middle east, trying to decide which country to have her come exactly, she still has the accent but over 2 decades in the west have effected her adherence to a certain few Islamic beliefs.

she stopped wearing the burka, i think thats what its called, almost after half a decade living over here in the west favoring more flashy clothing.

this didn't turn out well as a super villian/villianess pair of twin brother/sister obsessed with beauty and glamour attacked her and brutally mutilated her face.

she now wears the head/face covering portion of the burka(i think thats what it is called, i don't know) so she can claim she wears it due to beliefs rather then the practical nature of hiding her face which could give two-face a run for his money(using as short-hand reference, i am using a a more tasteful description in the actual story).
not that she does it out of fear, she is at the point she doesn't care what strangers think of her, she does care what her friends do and will commonly be shown(from behind from the reader's POV) with her not wearing the mask.


her character progression from her start in super-heroics was basically, shy wallflower, out and out diva, and now combat pragmatist without the stereotypical amorality or anger issues.

so, any ideas what her given-name, surname should be? and suggestions on her country.

note i can't promise any will actually be used.

i also have a few others, and if this proves fruitful i might start showing more of my work on here soon, still need to find an artist as i can't draw the human body to save my life.

[Blueobelisk]

That sounds incredibly unbelievable of a story. I'm trying to wrap my head around a team leader, running around shooting terrorists and jumping out of helicopters...wearing the head-dress thing.

I don't know lol.

Btw how did her face get mutilated? They had her tied up and decided that they didn't care about her gambling debts/scars/smile? Or was it like. She took a bomb to the face?

[Amorac]

Personally, I wouldn't reveal or ask anything on an forum about something I would be writing.

Anyway, why not just look up names of say actors/characters of movies made in the middle east, derive from that.

And do some research. Having a character wearing a burka and not knowing what it's called.. Do you know anything about their way of life/religion/values?

[mordale]

Personally, I wouldn't reveal or ask anything on an forum about something I would be writing.

Anyway, why not just look up names of say actors/characters of movies made in the middle east, derive from that.

And do some research. Having a character wearing a burka and not knowing what it's called.. Do you know anything about their way of life/religion/values?

the reason why I'm asking is I don't want to end up writing a character with only as much knowledge about their background as Wikipedia can provide, I'm looking for someone who can give me some actual context and depth to the character and their beliefs.


and as for not knowing the names the entire reason I made this thread is I am shit with names, full stop.
I have problems remembering names of people and things alike.

[Amorac]

Well, there are other sources then Wiki. Even the library is a good source, maybe even better. (Could say write your story in one)

Looking up real or fictional names on say imdb could be usefull. Just having an alias may not even be a problem tho?

Just saying, asking on a forum, depending on your final goal may not be the best bet. Think about say Rowling posting on a forum, asking for a name and giving a small part of the plot about a sorcerer apprentice battling an evil dead sorcerer on a school and taking Harry Potter as suggested.

Other then that, imho, if a writer can't do the research himself (f)or develop(ing) a character, esp a main one, writing a good story may prove difficult. Just imho tho.

As for remembering, you do write the names and character profiles/background down, right?

[Puupi]

Fatima McLovin-Hussein

[Reg]

Any more background on her character? Are her parents both from the M.E.? Tough to invent a surname without knowing more.

As far as given names, I've always liked the name Khalida for Arabic-root female names.

[Strikered]

look either randomise it or you can do some background research on names from the origin of the area your character come from, you can find some quite traditional names or just make it up, take your name mix it up so it's an anagram of you or someone you know, or even take inspiration from something you have read before, if you want to continue in creative writing and you struggle at names then you've got problems