Science Fiction Names: Four Tips for Choosing Sci-Fi Character Names

In many works of fiction, picking a character name can be as simple as choosing the first name that pops into your head. It's not the most sophisticated method, but if you're in a bind, it works.

But what if you're writing science fiction? Randomly picking out a name like Bob or Suzy may seem to ruin the futuristic atmosphere. Even researching names to use is tougher, since you lose many of the frames of references that make naming easier, such as time period. So what to do? The following four tips will help you when you're choosing names for a science fiction work.

Science Fiction Names Tip 1: Going traditional

Earlier I mentioned common names like Bob or Suzy may seem to disturb the tone of your science fiction work.

But do they?

Imagine writing a science fiction novel in the 1950s. The story is set in 2005. What kind of names would you pick? According to the Social Security Administration (which is incidentally a good source for character names), the most popular names in 2005 were Jacob, Emily, Michael, Emma, Joshua, and Madison.

Pretty ordinary, aren't they? Even from a 1950s perspective. Of course, this science fiction novel would also most likely have predicted outlandish scientific advances that aren't true to 2005 either. But the point is that stories set fifty or one hundred years from now aren't going to require you to devise a new lexicon of names.

Relying on normal sources for names-ethnicity, culture, location, nationality-or even choosing common names is still a good way to approach naming your characters. Sure, you won't know what names will be in vogue, but it's called science fiction for a reason.

Science Fiction Names Tip 2: Crafting a culture

But let's say your story is set thousands of years in the future and takes place on a different planet. What then?

Do you lose the common frames of reference for names such as culture, location, and nationality? That depends. If your planets are populated by humans, then your job is easier. Even if it's not set on Earth, cultural backgrounds and history are still going to be influential. Think about the dominant culture of your planet. For instance, in the science fiction series, Firefly, which is set five hundred years in the future, the culture has a heavy U.S. Western and Chinese influence. Keep in mind the culture when choosing names.

If you need to name aliens or Earth just isn't in the picture, then your job is much tougher considering you'll need to create some sort of culture. You still most likely will draw some inspiration from existing cultures and histories. Combining Nordic and Spanish or Persian and Brazilian and using the idiosyncrasies of the sounds of their language to create names is one method.

If you're intent on crafting an entirely new culture, then character names should be the least of your worries right now. Names will come as you work out the language your characters use and other cultural issues.

Science Fiction Names Tip 3: Avoiding clichés

Throwing names together with a bunch of x's, y's, and z's do not make good science fiction names. Similarly, making up an unusual-sounding name for the sake of it sounding alien-like is a poor path to follow.

Yes, names from made-up cultures should probably sound foreign to your readers, but there should be some over-arching coherency (typically with sounds). Mashing the keyboard or throwing letters together is not exactly a good technique.

Science Fiction Names Tip 4: Browsing web resources

Now you have some guidelines, but what if you need a starting list of names to inspire your creativity? Baby name websites abound on the Internet; Think Baby Names is one good source. For last names, Mongabay boasts a very comprehensive list.

Conclusion

Don't let naming your characters overwhelm you. Concentrate on writing a good story. If you have a compelling science fiction story, your readers won't dwell on the names, even if you do name your character something like Zerxes.