forum Help renaming characters?

Started November 14, 2021 by @ElderGodSeeba petsbing bing 🐸

tune

my oldest characters have Japanese names, despite not being Japanese (One of them is but that's fine). I've been thinking of a way to make these 5 kids that are nowhere near related have Japanese last names and English last names in a way that makes sense, but it doesn't. Half of me thinks I could make a city that is land owned by Japan, making the people often follow naming traditions, but the other half of me thinks it doesn't matter in the long run and that I should get other it

Help??? me???

Maybe for one of the characters they could be named after someone important so would at least have an element to their story and possibly parents/guardian's story? Maybe there were name changes (if you have any queer characters) if that is possible. If even then that doesn't work I'd just try to find an english variation to their names or something similar so the switch isn't that big or just go forward and change their names to something else. Changing a character's name is weird at first but if it bothers you a lot then its best to just dive in and go for it.

Although if it makes sense for your world-building to have that area own by Japan then that would be an amazing opinion in my opinion. I mean the first thing to come to mind would be how Big Hero 6 is set in an American-Japanese style of location and it works beautifully! Also it could add richer world-building elements when it comes to history, culture and day to day life.

And if you need help finding names I'm more then happy to help!

Yeah, you should probably change the names. It's just generally not a great idea to give Japanese names to non-Japanese characters unless they have some real significance, and even then, it's a little iffy.
I'd be willing to help you come up with new names though, should you need it.

Yeah, alright.
I reckon i can keep the Japanese owned land and change the names, give me a minute and ill let you know what the names mean so we can find some alternatives

Etsuko Rye

"joy, pleased child "

• Nice young lady, blonde hair, blue eyes, yellow theme about her clothing
• Gives me very much sunshine, sunflower esique
• She is very sweet, sometimes she tends to become over-emotional
• An optimist through everything, even when it's considered inappropriate.
• Would like to keep the last name, ties into other characters

Osana Bennet

  "God save us"

• This one's not necessarily Japanese. It's also Spanish and Hebrew, so I'm not against keeping it
• More serious, mature. Take no shit kinda gal
• Black hair, green eyes, soft features
• Leader of sorts? Tends to take charge

Kiyoshi Ikeda

  "pure"

• Hes actually Japanese, so I'll probably keep his name, but if you think you have a better name tlet me know
• Black hair, Black/dark brown eyes, tired, droopy eyes
• Quiet type, a little judgemental
• Also sort of a leader? Much more logic oreintated than emotionally driven

Shohei Futaba

  "soar peaceful"

• First twin
• Black hair, brown eyes, sleepy features
• The more detailed orientated twin, maybe ND haven't decided yet
• Super intelligent, the left brain of sorts

Tsuga Futaba

   "hemlock tree"

• Second twin
• I thought his name meant "two" or 'second" but apparently I was wrong
• Black hair Brown eyes, soft features, usually smiling
• The more jokey of the twins, the right brain, if you will.

okay so first of all asjdklasjhdklsj pretty names?? Even if you can't use it for these characters I'd save them for separate ones who do have a Japanese origin.

Either way these are the names that come to mind/that I found:

Etsuko- Etania, Etel and Etelka

Osana- Odina, Octavia, Oreila, and Odessa

Shouhei- Shaun, Silas, Shai

Tsuga-Thiago, Tobias, Trey, Tevin, Tex, Teagan

Names that I found aren't all super common but I tried to keep it as similar as possible, the last two don't translate to english super well….also sorry the name meanings may not match up super well, english names don't translate well from japanese meanings but I gave it a shot!

Let me know what you think and if you'd want me to find other names!

These are good, but I was wondering if you could find maybe more common names? The stories not fantasy, it's just a story about some kids who are tasked with recording history lol

I like Etania and Tobias, I'll keep them it the name bank I think

Ah okay okay that makes sense! Here are some more common names for you then!

Etsuko- Eleanor, Elsie, Elodie, Eden, Erika, Erin

Osana-For her I can really only add names live Olive, Olivia, Oliviarose,

Shouhei-Spencer, Shawn, Simon, Sebastian, Steven, Sky, Sylvester

Tsuga-Theodore, Tyler, Tyson, Tristan, Tucker, Tatum, Trace, Terry, Teddy, Teo,

Hope these are better options! I will say that girl names that start with O aren't common overall and results are pretty interesting. Personally I think despite it not being a fantasy setting you could still role with a name like Octavia or Odessa. Same thing goes for Shouhei, the names go from super common to uncommon so I think you can get away with more uncommon sounding names and be perfectly fine.

I like Elodie and Eleanor for Etsuko, has that same kind of vibe

I think I might keep Osana, it's both Hebrew and Spanish, as well as Japanese, so ill probably get away with that

Im still not too sure about the twins.

I suppose I could have them be Japanese since I haven't really found any names that fit them

I mean its a simple enough fix, if finding new names just isn't working out i'd just maybe have them both be Japanese and see how that goes! Actually I find that changing nationally can sometimes bring more depth to a character so go for it and see what comes out of it.