How do you create character names?

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

Fantasy names always seem to have a surname too: Thorin Oakenshield, Berek Halfhand etc.

I wouldn't call those surnames, more nicknames, like Skallagrimur, because he was bald (skallig på norse), Oakenshield because he preferred wooden shields to iron (the opponent's sword could fasten in the wood), Halfhand because he had an accident (someone chopped off a couple of fingers).

Originally Posted by Justin Nemo

It seems that fantasy and sci-fi are easy enough comparatively, but what about real sounding names? I hate those books with names like Brent Thornley or Cassandra Hart

I have a document with the alphabet and dot first names around in there till it's full, then start again with a second character per letter. (I usually skip difficult letters like X, Z, Q) It's one of the standard documents in my Scrivener setup. For last names I don't use the next consecutive letter, as an earlier poster. I tend to choose surnames more carefully, often from the phonebook. The music of the name has to be right. Most of my names are foreign ones (to english speaking people), but that doesn't affect the principles.