Let you tell you I have the WORST time picking names. LAST names please don't even get me started on those. I don't really have a process... but I do. Sometimes I start by looking up unique baby names. Unique? Why you may ask? I have a very common girl name, in a class of a little over 150 students there were exactly 12 Sarahs. Crazy right? Maybe it's my birth year or something.

Anywho... I look up unique, Uncommon and least used/popular names. For the most part I match names with personally. Cinnamon = Spice. Cinna is a bit spicy. Sometimes I pick names based on what some family members are named. Caroline, Phillip, Emma, Katerina all old names. So on and so on. Sometimes I get inspiration from a current book or television show or movie that I'm watching. That's normally how Characters pop in my head. It may be a huge headache to choose names for our characters but it is one of the things I love the most about creating a character.

So I do not have a single streamlined process, and like my characters, the way I pick names is all over. Where I usually start though is I have a notebook full of names that I've jotted down that I happen to like either in books, TV, celebrities... Etc. If nothing on my list seems to fit the character I'm creating, then I go ahead and search for names on the Google based on a ~vibe~ I think this character might have. I usually scour for hours before I decide on something. Other times, I'll see a name that I like and POOF there's a character voice in my head. Those are my favorite.

Second gens are definitely the easiest of the bunch though, because my characters usually lean naming their kids based on something that means a lot to them. Sometimes it'll be a name directly after a descendent or someone they care about orrrr they'll name their kids something with a very similar meaning.

It really depends on the game. Sometimes it is a bright idea, some ad running in the radio or really extensive search.

To make things simple, I wanted to name this account after my first character. While I know a lot about the Wizarding World, I know nothing about SnitchSeeker. A RPG game that is running for twenty years. I wanted the whole Hogwarts experience and decided for a character not that well versed in the world of wizards and witches:

I decided for a halfblood wizard, which dad (wizard) dies in an accident, when the boy is just three years old. He has an idea, there is a magical world, but as a late bloomer (magic awoke late at ten years) he was for most of his life no part of it. As last name I wanted one, that was part of the lore, but not overly promiment. So I took a list of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and went through every family. The winner was the MacMillan family.

The boy got his first name, when his dad was still around. Wizards and witches tend to use old fashioned names. But his mum was a muggle and would not have wanted a name, with that her boy would be rediculed. I took a peek at long list of male first names and Arthur filled both criteria.

For the names inside his family, the origin was kind of important. There is still a Clan MacMillan. So I placed them in Scotland and picked typical names. Duncan for his dad, Fiona for his mum etc.

Vibes, in general. I typically get the face narrowed down before looking up names for them, although sometimes the reverse happens. I'll first think up their heritage, where they grew up, ethnicity and all, to influence the type of name they'll have. Then I'll pull up websites that list names based in a specific country of origin.

If it's a common name, I'll tweak the spelling so it's more unique, for example, Ian became Ean. But it all traces back to what my eyes stick to the longest and then I'll find a way to fashion it.

Another fun way is with tradition. The more recent surnames I chose came from The Sims series, mostly Sims 2. Goths, Curious, Menon, Grunt, Dreamer all came from there. The Dreamers typically are African descent, but their partners aren't always of African descent, and in the game, their first name starts with the letter D. Goths are a wealthy family, so my character Thor comes from old money, but he became the sole Goth member after his parents died in the Wizarding War, but he's continuing the legacy now with his husband and extending family.

Other surnames, I came up with as a child like Forsfelle, a combination of "Forest" and "Fellow". 12 year old me had it spelled as "Forsfell" but on SS I added the 'e' to make it look a bit more fancy. Because of "Forest" I associate the name with the color green, therefore, Slytherin fits them. Their family has a tradition to have Slytherin or Ravenclaw-adjacent children born, but their partners can be in any other house.

I'm usually a stickler for keeping or creating new traditions with families. Keeps things a bit lively for me, working out how to keep a legacy going through them.