Vampire Character Names: How to Choose a Name for Your Vampire

Because of the explosive popularity of the Twilight series, writers and readers alike have become obsessed with everything vampire. If you're a budding writer looking to join in on the vampire trend, you may be struggling to find an apt name for your vampire.

Picking a vampire name, however, should be no different than picking a name for any character. The following five tips will help guide you toward choosing the right name.

Vampire Character Name Tip 1: Consider How Your Characters Become Vampires

Chances are, your vampires were normal, everyday people before becoming vampires. What parents would name their child "Galswinthe" or "Blodwyn" or "Crow"? Unless your character's parents had a passion for unusual names, stick to more conventional ones.

Sure, names in fiction sometimes allude to a character's personality or quirks, but don't overdo it. Gothic or dark names usually don't work well unless the character chose the name after becoming a vampire.

Vampire Character Name Tip 2: Consider the Time Period

For name ideas, consider the time period. Use this factor to your advantage if you want the vampire's name to stand out or show a difference in eras. Plenty of websites offer tools to allow you to see name popularity by year. The United State's Social Security Administration, for example, lists the top 1,000 names for each year going back to 1879.

If your character is from before 1879 (or not from the United States), you'll need to do some extra research. One easy way to find popular names from earlier centuries is to type in the century (for example, "16th Century") into the search field at thinkbabynames.com.

Vampire Character Name Tip 3: Consider Location and Ethnicity

Names usually reveal something about location or ethnicity. You should also consider the culture where your vampire comes from in choosing a name. Tons of resources on the web compile name meanings and ethnicities. 20,000 Names From Around the World, for example, is a great resource for picking out names according to ethnicity.

Vampire Character Name Tip 4: Avoid the V's please

To make a vampire sound more, well, vampirish, writers tend to gravitate toward V's-especially V names that are Eastern European. Unless your vampire is Eastern European, it's best to avoid these now clichéd names. Names like Vlad and Vincent are especially overdone.

Vampire Character Name Tip 5: Avoid obvious puns and wordplay

Please no "Fang," "Ash," "Shadow," "Crimson," or "Damien." As mentioned earlier, it's questionable how your character would get such a name. If your vampires chose their moniker, then hopefully they'd be a bit more creative. Directly tying in an aspect of vampirism to a name is a sure way to make your readers roll their eyes.

Conclusion

In truth, you could ignore all these naming tips and still write a great story. Names can certainly add flavor and dimension to a character, but your writing is what counts.