Characters are hard for me to come up with. Especially before I have a name. For instance Atra in Godmaker's bastard had like 3 names before I came up with her, and her whole character is masked mysteriousness. All because I originally lacked a name for the female companion of Letum.
Others were easier, Rhett was a name I hadn't picked yet and his personality wasn' established till I began BWR, and Rose was one originally from a character named Mia, in Camp Dixie (then turned Divine Rebellion) Rose is modeled off of her vibe, just aged up to 17 rather than 14. Rose and Mia feel like a similar name vibe to me. Either in a bubbly sweet character, or a more venomous kind. Now she actually had a character to base her on. Rhett I didn't even know how to write until I finished the first draft of BWR, because I had the name, not the character.
It is easier to name a character I already have a vibe for. For instance, Hunter. Golden retriever type personality, with unassuming knowhow in weapons, hunting, and survival. Goodole boy. Hunter, pronounced Hunner by Alaina, felt just right.
Alaina, named Lainey, exclusively by Hunter, was named after a former coworker of mine, of the same name. Similar teasing but funny and happy personality, with a little hidden darkness. It fit perfectly. However I went with Alaina as primary name, because Lainey is what my coworker went by.
Corinne and Arden were named based off two old classmates of mine years ago, I didn't know them well but they were sisters. I had this idea of a narcoleptic serial killer, and named her Corinne, because it is an odd name. I used Arden for Arden because she was a calm and quiet assassin who is deaf. Neither name matches irl Corinne or Arden in personality though, just fun names. I had the idea originally of a Narcoleptic serial killer when I had this flash of inspiration: [A girl wakes up, covered in blood, laying on a table full of sharp metal tools. She rolls over, seeing a man staring at her, eyes wide, tied to a table. Corinne sets up then hops off the table to return to her work.]
I came up with the idea of Oran by the north south united states near split, and how both regions despise eachother socially. Or at least did once. Regardless I took that, and after adopting Roman names for the north (inspired by the empire of Oran idea I'd come up with), I used German for the south. The southerners I didn't want to be as proper in society as I believe southerners were in the 1800s, I inspired their actions of rebellion and bombing after the Irish in the troubles. And with the idea of an empire falling apart due to democracy (A theme I see playing out in the real world ;)), I had the idea of a bastard son of the emperor killing his relatives and taking up the throne to fix things. Letum became his name, to match the vibe I went for.
I largely come up with a vibe, then actions, then a name, then full personality, quirks, and other things. Letum was a goofy, hateful, funny, cunning pseudo villain (Though her is the protagonist).
Some characters of mine have been long standing. Jack wasn't his original name, that was my actual IRL name, because Jack was me, inserted into the Percy Jackson universe. Charlie was the love interest at the time. I invented Raven later on, when I stole from the Blackwell Pages series, She was a daughter of Loki, not a love interest of Jack. Later later on, I created Divine rebellion, and Charlie and Raven became sisters, of House Loki. Now they are fullborn, of my new pantheon, Vaelix and Nythrana.
Nova was created for DR, as a more minor character. It was based off vibes, she was the godly daughter of Thanatos and Hel (Thanon and Hela in my new pantheon), which gave her the winged and half ghostly look. She became a more central character, and close to the true main character in Before We Rot, draft one.
My new pantheon was created to consolidate the number of demigod houses, jurisdictions, and allow for more lore and stories to be written involving them. I really failed to come up with custom names for everyone. The main custom one is Vaelix, which was a chaotic name. So he was god of chaos.
Planets are hard as hell to name too. I have to go off of vibes for them too. Aethere is meant to be light and airy, Terradine old and established, Xav for newfangled and trade heavy, Oran was a short one but meant to be a well known and feared name, with gravity behind it. Kraia felt like an outpost planet turned isolated one. Bakro is a jungle planet with a fallen empire, once full of history now forgotten. Taldor sounds like a mythic name, like from Lord of the Rings. I chose the name because it is tidally locked with it's sun, very old and established as well. (Google tidally locked planets, it is an untapped setting for scifi/fantasy. So cool.) Vuldris sounds volcanic which fits it very well. The planet was hit with an asteroid.
Overall I guess I come up with a vibe first, then actions. (The why the vibe is the way it is). After actions I find a name that fits the vibe. Boom, named character. Same goes for planets, vibe, why vibe, name matching vibe.
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