There are an endless amount of names to use when choosing characters for your story or novel. There a few caveats. You don't want to pick a character that obviously does not fit with his or her background. You always want to avoid using known characters from fiction, such as Clark Kent or Lisbeth Salander. You also don't want to pick the name of a person you know especially if you are using any identifiable character traits.

This page provides resources where can find some information names as well some character name generators.

Baby Name and Other Name Resources

Baby naming guides and tools have always been helpful to writers just as they are to parents. In this case you are naming a character instead of a baby.

• Baby Names - find links to multiple baby names resources in our reference section.
  
  
• Parents Magazine Baby Names - Parents magazine offers a searchable database of baby names. They also offer baby name lists like hippy dippy names, Shakespearean names, Pokemon-inspired names, food names and more.
  
  
• Behind the Name - this site provides the etymology and history of first names. The searchable site also offers a name of the day, lists of the most popular names and name lists.
  
  
• Nameberry - this site has a database of 50,000 names. They also offer baby name lists, such as celebrity names, pet names, unusual names, literary names, flower names and "If you like X, you'll love..."
  
  
• Babble - Babble offers a searchable name database. They also let you browse by origin, theme or alphabet.
  
  
• Social Security Baby Names - the U.S. Social Security site provides a baby name resource that includes the most popular baby names. You can find the most popular names for any year after 1879.

Genealogy Resources

Ancestry.com - This is one of the largest genealogy sites and includes historical collections of vital records, obits, surname meanings and more.

Billion Graves - This searchable site pulls up images of tombstones.

FamilySearch - This genealogy database contains over 4 billion names from around the world.

Generate a Name

• Name Generator Tools: Use an online name generator to create a name for you. There are even tools for creating names for specific regions and time periods.
  
  
• Fantasy Name Generators: Visit our page for resources specific to generating fantasy character names.