Names you don't use (for your OCs)

I tend to say away from entirely foreign names, especially names common for my ethnicity, most of the time, I make up names by grabbing uncommon names or smashing two syllables together. If the character is of foreign decent, I'll try to use syllables common in the language. Some of my common name atrocities:

Raylough (Originally Ray)

Vandall (Meant to sound vaguely German, meant to sound like "vandal")

Chaz (normal, but uncommon name)

Jeoffa (Combination of Geoff and Jeffrey)

I usually avoid really common human names (David is just one that springs to mind), but occasionally I'll use them for background characters. Other than that, I can't really think of anything I specifically avoid. I mostly use whatever comes into my head when it comes to naming characters, or in some cases I'll just use a name that I think suits them somehow.

I'll occasionally use human-sounding names, but I will never, ever use the name Luke- it's my older brother's name, and using it just feels weird (honestly it feels weird for any character to have that name. I've been unable to finish some books with someone named Luke as the main character because I'll just superimpose my bro's personality on the character and things get super confusing quickly)

I also never name ocs after plain objects unless it's part of a descriptor or title (for example, I have a character named Flowerface, but I'd never name a character Flower), or if it just fits too perfectly (I have a character named Lamp, but that's only because they're a LAMPrey eel that glows. They're the only exception to my rule). I do name characters after abstract concepts/nouns, however (such as NULL)

I don't use names of people who've caused me grief irl because it spoils the name ya know? The only exception to this rule is Oscar because he named himself (character came from a dream and was referred to as Oscar by other dream characters) and I can differentiate the character enough from the person who I knew with the same name.

I generally don't use names of people I know irl be it family, friends, line managers, officers or colleagues even if I'm on good terms with them. I find it weird especially if it's someone I get on well with and it's really hard to differentiate the character from the person I know irl. Additionally, back in my school days I had people be vain enough to ask if my OC is meant to be them, be really persistent about it and go as far as demanding me to draw/write that character in a certain way even if the OC had a completely different name/personality to them. Ah, joys of school drama but it is why I am super wary about using names of people I know irl. That said sometimes I do meet people sharing my OC's surname/forename so it can't be helped in those cases and I'm generally not going to rush to change my OC's name unless it becomes an issue/that person turns out to be nasty. 

I'm not going to use names with fandom attachment. Example Luke, Edward, Dean, John, Finn, Flynn, Bond, Shelby and so on. That is provided I'm aware the name has fandom attachment in the first place. I did have an Alax Tracy for a while but I kept associating him with Thunderbirds even though he wasn't a fan character so I had to scrap him.

time to lightly revive this thread

i avoid milo at ALL costs, and even get a lil uncomfortable with other people's characters w that name jksksk,,, i did not like him very much

i also try to avoid names of people i actually know?? or really common oc names like shadow, midnight, etc. or popular characters with the same names (if im not aware of course its all cool, but im not gonna go and name my character naruto)

• My name, my family's names, or some of my closer friends' names (cause then it's awkward)
• Really common American names (unless I think it'll work with them)
  
• Names that sound very bland/I don't like the sound of
• Ethan. I hate the name Ethan with a burning passion.
  

Usually I just keep away from human names, but I'll never use common names or the names of my friends/family. My characters just kinda get their names while I'm drawing them for the first time, so I can't really avoid certain names, if that makes sense.

Names that are super common. Also, I have a thing where I like a bunch of names that start with the same letter, but I try to diversify.

Usually I won't ever give a character a name that belongs to someone I know, ESPECIALLY if it's someone close or if I have bad memories with them.

Such names: Jay/Jaydee, Kylee, Mary

Honestly I dislike using real names at all :')
I have never met or even heard of a person who shares my birthname irl so I tend to inflict all my characters with the same blessing/curse.
the only exceptions to this rule are Crispin, Dain (which I only found out was a real name after lmao) and Zara... these characters were actually named as homages to friends or actors or other characters, and I never got around to changing them :'0

My go-to naming convention is just to smash together words in my woefully-undeveloped conlang for divines/ex-divines, which is an easy way to generate legit-sounding divine/demon names like Vekyolm and Zytan whatnot. Bonus being they almost mean things if you squint.
For humans... I like pick an uncommon last name and put it as someone's given name for that nerdy spice. Or I take a name I like and mangle it beyond all recognition. So, like: Aaron --> Aarix | Valarie --> Valair | Daniel --> Dain | etc.

i hate common names just in general and dont use them unless its a personal character. naming characters after ppl u know are also a hard thing for me. i fffffffricken hate the name rachael/rachel its so stuck up and mmm i dont like it

also unironically naming your characters weird japanese names when you're not japanese sounds too weebish and i hate it (dont call me a hypocrite bc i did have some in the past that r on my TH now) but now its just like cmon dude dont