I have one word-named OC. My alien, Unity. He named himself that after he arrived on Earth and a proselytist (someone who wants to convert someone to a different religion, according to Wikipedia) spoke to him and said "In unity under Him, we will all be one and return to our original form". (He was uninterested, but the word stuck with him).
I like collecting random words to use to name my characters because I personally don't like using actual names or made-up-word-names most of the time. It's more fun and even more rewarding since I can be proud of coming up with a really good word name for a character. I randomly came up with the idea for this thread on the spot so I can have more ideas for random words and people can use these words.
Definition of "Word Name":
It's a name for a character (or pet, baby, whatever you feel like naming) that's just a typical word in your language. So no "real"/human names (like Alex, John, Jane, Amy, etc), made-up-word-names (or rare names?) (like Sylvar, Aias, Volodar, etc. Used this name gen since I'm not too good at coming up with names like that-), or words in other languages (like Japanese). This thread is made for random English words to name things like characters after.
Word Names are usually words that are objects (Pillow, Fence, Television, Bucket, etc), nouns (Family, Afternoon, Breakfast, etc), adjectives (Blue, Square, Bitter, etc), or similar categories. Using things like Holidays, months, weekdays, and such like that can also be allowed as well.
Quick rules:
-Be nice to everyone. Obviously.
-Don't get mad at people "stealing your name" if you use a random word name you put here. Putting it here means it should be free to use. Plus, if the said word is very common, you shouldn't get too mad since, ya know, it's a word we use every day that isn't copyrighted?
-If a random word happens to fall into the "real name"/human name (like Lily) or words in other languages (like Sushi), as long as it also still fits into the definition of Word Name, it's allowed.
Edit: Forgot to say this was for sharing names. Not characters themselves. I usually forget to say things like this because I guess no matter how much I specify what I'm trying to say lol.
Here's a word list example. Can be longer or shorter:
Ravenous
Ufo
Banjo
Grub
Quest
Buttermilk
Fable
Coffee
Chic
Lily
Tunnel
Nutmeg
Mars
Butters
Popcorn
Muffin
Grasshopper
Bat
Chase
Storm
Thunder
I like using real words as names! o: I don't have a whole lot, sometimes it just doesn't work but it's still fun when I manage to find something that fits that isn't an actual real name haha. Heck, even my username lmao
next to Clock I have Sugar, Vantablack and Mistake. There was Timebomb too but that character is currently stuck in development hell for like 2 years and I doubt I'm ever gonna get anything done on them orz
Love this, most of my characters go by their aliases, which 90% of the time are word-names rather than actual names, I'll certainly be using this lmao since I've run out of creative words already. I love sharing word names! Here are a few of mine I'm currently using for characters, feel more than free to use them!
I actually agree with you. :D I really enjoy word-names as well, especially if they are stealthy nods to the character, plus it's fun to figure out how they got the name.
I've got my changeling Lo, as in "Lo and behold", named by his father for his striking appearance. One of his personas is named "Penny", for having been a conmans' apprentice.
There's also Parable, (a nod to Platos' "Parable of the Cave") whose whole subterraneal culture was made of such names. Some of her clan-mates included Tuft, Vicar, Fingers, Pace, Bones, Bossy, Candid, Sound and Echo (twins), Maverick, Ashen, Vibrance, Camouflage, Mirror and Vellum.
As for even more that I've either used, seen or thought up:...Crimson, Inglenook, Secrets, Jail, Price, Fish, Focus, Vixen, Harrier and Mellifluous.
My native-tongue (estonian) ones that I've used or seen others use: Verev ("Crimson"/Blood-colored"), Eeben ("ebony"), Argus ("cowardice", particularily fun when playing with foreigners), Saladus ("secret"), Pai (the action of petting someone/something), Ustav (loyal), Hilja ("late" in estonian, "quiet" in finnish).
Well literally any flower/tree/plant/nature based name or word will do (peony, lily like you mentioned, acacia, etc.). A lot of colors have been used as names as well, such as Red, Indigo, Scarlett, Cyan(ea), etc. And another one that works well is names of gemstones etc? (agatha/Agate, Amethyst, ruby, sapphire, etc). Even Amber and such names will fit in word-name categories, as might the month-names?
A word name that has grown a lot on me personally is Sorrel. Don't know why, probably because it kinda looks like Soren, which I also like, but it's very sweet and cool.
Cinder has also grown on me, as an alternative for Ash. Something you could add to your list could be names like Bliss and Blaze/Blaise, Chastity, Faith, Felicity and such word-names.
https://nameberry.com/list/421/Word-Names - this is a list with like 600 of them, and I'd also suggest just browsing through a massive dictionary (or finding dictionaries in other languages in a library or something, and browsing through them for words you think would be cool as a name).
Hope it helped! ^^
EDIT: found a better link to better names https://www.scarymommy.com/baby-names-lists/word-wonderful-names-from-the-dictionary/
i have a couple........ hopefully most of them count
Thagomizer [i have a ton of other transformers ocs with object names though, ie spinneret, deglove... i just need to... actually put them on here u_u]
Oh, here's Maw ^^
I think his original name was a word name like Maw, but I changed it since I liked Maw better.
This thread made me realise how many of my OCs' names are just random words fhdjs
Words that straight up aren't names: Apple, Caramel, Cirrus, Hesitance, Kaleidoscope, Mango, Oatmeal, Pancake, Paragon, Parfait, Parsley, Powder, Rainbow, Reverie, Rocket, Sinner, Skittle, Stomachaches, Tempest. I like food names, and weird lookin words as names in the case of stuff like Kaleidoscope and Reverie hfjdks. A lot of these names are nods to their actual characters, eg Cirrus has weather manipulation powers, Skittle is very sweet and innocent, Stomachaches gets their name because they literally make people's stomachs hurt. I usually like to draw from some kinda trait when I'm picking names rather than assigning random words.
I also have a couple that are kinda borderline?
Aspen, Candy, Daisy and Jasper (I actually have two Jaspers) and Wisteria are actual names but also regular words, with Aspen and my second Jasper being chosen specifically for their non name association; Aspen is a nature spirit so I wanted something naturey in origin for him, and Jasper is named after the gemstone bc they're glowy
I also have my Reaper kids, Corvus, Eleonora and Kirkegrim, who's actual names don't fit the bill, but Corvus and Eleonora are referred to generally by characters who don't know them personally as The Raven and The Butterfly, and Kirkegrim is most commonly given the nickname Church by the two of them.
I wasn't sure if Saturn would count since it is technically a Roman god's name but she's named for the planet, not the god hjdks; I really love space inspired names, I have more characters named after planets I've yet to upload and it's an inspiration I find myself coming back to again and again. They are another one who I wasn't sure if They counted but I'm throwing Them in anyway; Their name is straight up just Their pronouns, and that's why I capitalise it every time I write it ghjfks
This is a cool thread, I love names like this so much and it's super interesting to see the inspirations behind some of these names. I am so sorry for the e ss ay I just wrote ghjdks