Random Name Generators:
There are several websites that can be used by authors for names. Some of them are even based on various cultures, times, and ethnic backgrounds.
Baby Name Books/Websites:
Some of these sources will even give you the history of a name. They provide years when the name was popular.
Phone books:
Get your hands on a thick city phone book and open to a random page.
Real People:
I have named characters after people I know. With Permission (usually). People love being the Red Shirts in my books. Every now and then the characters refuse to die and develop into heroes.
Tombstones:
Get out of your chair and take a walk. I enjoy beautiful, historic cemeteries in Virginia. There is even a website used by researchers called Find a Grave.
--The name of a character is just the beginning of a full profile of your characters.
I tend to use combinations of friends' names if they are western. Evelyn Black a girl from my High School and Mike Slater turned into the lead character in The Visitor - Evelyn Slater.
ReplyDeleteShuffled names provides an almost endless variety.