Names
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What's in a name? You might ask. Well, a lot more than you think. Though Juliet might argue with you, names do say a lot after all... Juliet didn't come to the happiest end in the world. Please remember though that I am not in any way commenting on your name. My observations are merely literary! Firstly there are the 

Letters you use

Is your character exotic or ordinary? This can be conveyed easily by either using normal sounding orders of letters or throwing in a few 'x's and 'z's. Who sounds stranger? Xena or Alice? There we go. See what I mean?

Sound

is also a good indication of personality. All the letters of the alphabet have different sounds (no duh. Why else are they there?). Some are hard sounds and some are soft, some are loud and some are quiet, some are gentle and some are strong. Tough we don't consciously think about it, we pick up on these sounds in names. Try it with your own name. Here's a table of what I believe certain sounds convey: however, please note that I might speak differently from you!    

Something else to consider when choosing a name is

Length

This is because you will be writing that name a lot. If your name is long it might be wise to pick one with a 'nick-name' that sounds nice! Length of names can also convey information. A long name hints at intellect while a short does not. For example look at the names Elisabeth or Aminatiae verses El or Tia.

Originality

comes into this equation too. Do you want a normal character or an extraordinary character? If you want an ordinary character then pick an ordinary name. One that many people could have. For example, Betty Smith or Chantal Brown. If you want an extraordinary character then try making up your own name. Mix up two names you like, reverse one name or jumble a whole lot of letters. Here's how. 

Mixing up two names is easy. Look at Betty and Chantal. 
Bet + tal = Betal or Talbet
Chan + ty = Chanty or Tychan
Ett + Hant = Hantett or Etthant

Reversing a name is slightly more difficult because some letters just don't go together! You can solve this by changing order slightly for example:
Chantal = Latnahc = Latnach

Taking this a step further we have the complete jumble. This includes picking random letters and shoving them together in an interesting way.
a b c x y z = Zacbyx
h o t s t u f = Tosthuf 

Quite exotic don't you think. That brings me to 

origin

Oh where oh were did my character come from? Earth? Romulus? A planet in another galaxy? If your character is from Earth then where on Earth? I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that surnames are different depending on where you are. The British have the common 'Brown', the American's have 'Smith' and the South Africans have 'van Niekerk'. Then there are prefixes like Mac and Von. Bare these in mind when naming your Earth characters.

If your character is from an established Star Trek race like the Vulcans or Klingons then you should bare in mind their grammar and favorite letters. Vulcans like V's, O's and K's: Spock, Tuvok. Klingons like apostrophes ('): B'Elanna, K'Ehleyr and O's with letters towards the end of the alphabet: Worf, Gowron. 

Not from Earth or a know planet? Heres a trick. Lean in close: People associate close places with letters at the beginning of the Alphabet! Don't believe me? Look in the next science fiction or fantasy book you read. A is almost always closer to home than Z!

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