Tuesday, January 29, 2013

You Name-Caller! 24 Unusual Medieval-Fantasy Names {WriterlyWednesday}


Hey there, peoples! How have y'all's weeks been, so far?

Today for WriterlyWednesday we're going to continue the You Name-Caller! mini-series and I'm going to share 35 of my favorite medieval fantasy-themed character names.

When I say "medieval fantasy", I'm referring to names which would fit in books like The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and other similar volumes. Basically, medieval fantasy, in my opinion, is a clash between mixing medieval assets and traits, with idealism and not-so-realistic details. It isn't true Middle Ages history. Look at The Chronicles of Narnia. The outfits, weapons and accessories described almost belong in King Arthur's world, don't they? But at the same time, they don't, because the Chronicles of Narnia is obviously a whole world unto itself.

 Medieval fantasy is fun to write because it can hold a level of historicalness about it, yet it is completely fictional and completely fantasy. You don't have to research for it, but at the same time, many fantasy authors do research for certain tidbits in their novels.

 The realm of fantasy is limited only to your imagination. Perhaps this is why it is such a popular choice to write from and about. Fantasy is such a broad topic, I dare not try to cover every sub-genre and category within it, today. That's why we're looking at medieval fantasy names in particular.


GIRLS:


1. Eadowyn - (pronounced EE-do-win.) You can also spell it Eaedowyn, making the pronunciation. (EY-do-win) To my present knowledge, I created this name. (But it wouldn't surprise me if the name actually existed before I thought of it! It probably has!)

2. Gwendolyn - The image of the perfect medieval fantasy girl name.

3. Ahealea - (pronounced ah-HAY-lia) To my knowledge, this is also my creation...I first thought of it in a ridiculous little short medieval story I wrote when I was about 9 years old.

4. Kelita - This is actually a Biblical male name, ironically. However, when I first happened upon it in the Old Testament, I thought it could be used as a fantasy-theme girl's name as well. I personally like this one a lot, and have used it in a medieval fantasy screenplay I'm working on.

5. Sholan - Another name I created (or so I think, at the moment) for a character in my medieval fantasy screenplay. I twist on the name Shalom, although it is actually pronounced sho-lehn.

6. Larkspur - Very fantasy-sounding, in my opinion. This is actually the name of a flower.

7. Winerva - Another very fantasy-sounding name. Not sure where I found it or where it came from.

8. Natise - (pronounced nah-TEES) Once again, not sure whether I 'created' this or found it elsewhere. :P

9. Rynn - As far as I know this is one of my creations as well. I think it sounds like a tough-girl kind of name...maybe for the female assassin character, or the daunting young spy?

10. Melothria/Melothri - I have used this as a medieval fantasy location name, but I think it could also be used as a character name.

11. Florivel - To my knowledge this is a creation of mine. I have it for a young girl in my medieval screenplay.

12. Virgata - This is actually taken from the Latin name of a plant, which I can't remember exactly at the moment. -_-


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BOYS:


1. Atlas - Simple, yet masculine.

2. Oceanas - (pronounced oh-she-AN-us) An interesting name referencing the high seas.

3. Talon - I find this one particularly cool. Another author friend used it for one of her characters.

4. Archer - One of my all-time favorites.

5. Skene - I don't know where this one came from. But I think it's pretty unusual.

6. Hawshank - Another unusual one, more commonly used as a last name.

7. Aristian - (pronounced A-RIST-ee-an) Another name I found in a little short story I wrote back in early childhood. I think I made this one up, too.

8. Trodan - This was in the same little short story above. To my knowledge this was my 'creation' also.

9. Ronan - Very masculine sounding, in my opinion.

10. Arden -  I have a main character in my medieval fantasy screenplay with this name.

11. Rosyar - I find this extremely fantasy sounding.

12. Varchess - One of the most ultimate "bad guy/villain/evil king" names in existence.

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Did you recognise any of these names? Have any you would add to the list?
What are YOUR favorite medieval/fantasy names for characters?

P.S. Some fellow writer friends of mine started a new writing blog of which I will be helping to contribute to, every Wednesday! Check it out here.

9 comments:

  1. Great post Leah, I always love to pick up a bit more on names, as that is one of the hardest things for me. I recently did researched some medieval/fantasy character names and came across Blayne/Blaine as a male character name that I really liked :)

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  2. I like a lot of your names! I've seen Ronan before, I think. Larkspur sounds like an elf name I would use. Wonderful post.
    In my midevil story, I use the girl names Luray, Marrin, Roxallya, Elzbith, and Jemma. And some of the boy's names are Hayden, Jammeand, Keyden, Cal, Ohven, and Tellemus.
    ~Sarah Faulkner

    www.inklinedwriters.blogspot.com

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    1. Those are some neat names! And I actually have a character named Hayden, as well! :D

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  3. Those are great names, I think I like Rynn and Talon the most.
    In my fantasy medieval story. I use names like Saber, Gabriella, and Reun

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    1. Ooh, I never thought of Saber before! That's a cool one!

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  4. I do recognize Gwendolyn a few of the others are real names too. I think I quite like 'Arden' and 'Rynn', but I quite like 'Rilian' from The Silver Chair too.
    To me Medieval Fantasy does not mean an assortment of mythological creatures, rings with weird powers or other such, it can just meant that it is not set in a real time or place. I know of one such a trilogy of books which are very 'historical' (with characters and events based on real history), and I would say very well researched too.

    When it comes to names, do you think it is possible to go too 'far out'? I have one book by Lori Wick set in 16th century England in which the male protagonist, a nobleman (a Duke to be precise) is called Bracken.
    I rather think that is so not the type of name a 16th century nobleman would have,
    That type of story I rather like, don't get me wrong I like Narnia too, but sometimes I prefer the more realistic.
    When it came to real late Medieval England (that means like 1300 onwards) England a lot of names seem to have been really quite normal, like Alice, William and Thomas.

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  5. I have Elian. In, my opinion, it's seems like a name for a prince or some other form of royalty (not sure if it's "medieval"). For girls, I have Jali & Morticia. As far as I know, they are both of my creation, but I don't know. Jali sounds like a name for a funny person and Morticia (pronounced mor-TISH-a) has an evil ring to it.

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    1. Those are cool! And I agree, Morticia sounds rather like a name for a villain.

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