Anonymous asked:
writingquestionsanswered answered:
I’ve got a whole post about it, and I’ve actually been wanting to update it. So here goes!
Guide: Naming Locations
1) Genre/Theme/Tone
It’s important to consider the genre, theme, and tone of your story when choosing a town name. Notice how the following place names reflect the genre or theme of the story:King’s Landing (sounds fantastical, from Game of Thrones)Cloud City (sounds futuristic, from Star Wars)Silent Hill (sounds scary, from a horror game)Sweet Valley (sounds happy and upbeat, from a YA series)Bikini Bottom (sounds funny, from Spongebob Squarepants)Radiator Springs (sounds car-related, from Disney’s Cars)Halloween Town (sounds spooky, from The Nightmare Before Christmas)Storybrooke (sounds fairytale-related, from Once Upon a Time)
2) Time/Place
It’s also important to consider when and where your story takes place. For example, “Vista Gulch” wouldn’t be a good name for a town in Victorian England because “vista” is a Spanish word commonly found where Spanish is (or was) a common language. And “gulch” is specific to the American Southwest, though it can occasionally be found in other places in North America. If you’re not sure what would be appropriate for your story, look for similar places in similar time periods. For example, if you’re writing a medieval fantasy set in a fictional world but modeled strongly after medieval France, look at maps of medieval France to see what kinds of names the towns, cities, and other places had.
3) Size/Settlement Type (Settlement Hierarchy)
When you’re naming any kind of settlement, it’s important to have some idea of the population/size, as this can sometimes influence naming conventions. These may differ slightly in different time periods/parts of the world, but this is a good general guide:
Homestead - a single dwelling or cluster of dwellings, typically occupied by one family or several related families. In modern times, often referred to as a “compound.” (Example: Fraser’s Ridge in Outlander, at least initially when it’s the cabin and just a few surrounding families.)
Hamlet - a very small community, typically with 100 people or fewer, and little in the services/amenities outside of possibly a church and a post office. When a hamlet has a small train station, they’re often called a “whistle-stop.” (Examples: Blackwater, Missouri. Whitwell-on-the-Hill, England)
Village - a small community of 1,000 people or fewer, likely to have a church or a few, a post office, a market, and possibly a few businesses. (Examples: Highbury in Jane Austen’s Emma. Hogsmeade in Harry Potter)
Town - a larger community of people, typically with the standard services/businesses, as well as schools and parks, often clustered around a town square/downtown/main street area. (Small town: 1,000 - 5,000, Town: 5,000 - 10,000, Large Town: 10,000 to 100,000) Larger towns may have shopping centers, malls, movie theaters, entertainment venues, etc. (Example: Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls)
City - a sprawling community with a robust center and a wide variety of businesses and services. Ranging in size from 100,000 (small) to just under one-million (huge.) Larger cities often include suburbs and towns. (Examples: Waco, Texas. Miami, Florida. Manchester, England. Okayama, Japan)
Metropolis - a very large city and its suburbs, of between one-million and three-million people, typically made up of several smaller cities and towns that have expanded into one another. (Examples: San Diego, California. Birmingham, England. Chicago, Illinois)
Conurbation - a group of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that have expanded into one another to create an enormous, polycentric urban area, with anywhere from three-million to ten-million people. (Examples: Los Angeles, California. London, England. New York, New York. Tokyo, Japan)
Megalopolis - a group of conurbations clustered together, with a total population of more than ten-million. (Examples: Sao Paulo, Brazil (12 million), Moscow, Russia (13 million), Beijing, China (18 million), Shanghai, China (24 million)
4) Geography
Words like gulch, butte,and bayou tend to be regional terms. You probably wouldn’t find Berle’s Bayou in Idaho, or Windy Butte in Rhode Island.Words like mount, cape, and valley are dependent upon terrain. Most of the time, you won’t have a town named “mount” something unless there are hills or mountains nearby. You wouldn’t use “cape” unless the town was on a cape, which requires a large body of water.
5) History
Is there a historical person or event that your town might be named after? The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield is ironically named after its founder, Jebediah Springfield. Chattanooga, Tennessee is named after the Cherokee town that was there first. Nargothrond, in The Lord of the Rings, is an Elvish town with an Elvish name.
6) Combination of Words
- person name + geographical term = Smithfield, Smith Creek
- group name + geographical term = Pioneer Valley, Settlers’ Ridge
- descriptive word + geographical term = Mystic Falls, Smoky Hill
- person name + settlement type = Smithton, Claraville
- landmark + settlement type = Bridgton, Beaconville
Word Lists:
Types of Settlements
Geographical Features
Place Words
Common Suffixes
Other Descriptors
And remember, if all else fails, you can look to real areas/places for inspiration. Often they can help you figure out a believable naming convention for a particular type of area. :)
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