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ThirdEcho โ Naruto OC Tutorial - The Name
Published: 2012-02-24 21:01:17 +0000 UTC; Views: 19834; Favourites: 304; Downloads: 278
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Description
I'm not doing this to be a blow-hard, but due to popular request by several deviants I have now begun my "Naruto OC Tutorial" series.Why did they ask me? My Naruto OC "Aki Hyuuga" has gotten me a lot of notes and an "ok" amount of comments/favorites due to her strength in design and over-all character. Basically, she's what a lot of Naruto OCs are not, which is strong and believable. Or something. Whatever.
What makes a strong character is exactly what I was talking about in the first bit of this: you've gotta get in the creator's head. Your character should be (as close as you can) like something the series creator would make himself. I found her notes in the early Naruto mangas very helpful for creation... if you know what to do with the knowledge.
University Undergrad student thinks TOO much, it's a curse, not a blessing.
Katakana chart (for first names): [link]
Hiragana chart (for family names): [link]
The reason I'm so capable at analyzing style is because of the practice I get as a Liberal Arts university student, who's studying "social history" (like media). Yes, it's quite boring. I'm happy to use my skills to help others!!! <3
Other Naruto OC Maker Tutorials:
Related content
Comments: 195
No, not at all. The name "Meela" is awful for an OC to begin with. :/
Also, only two names, not three. They do not take on 2 last names nor are middle names EVER used.
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how does...."Kawainu Shizenyasha" sound? ...I changed my OCs name.
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Rather than write you a huge paragraph, like I just did, and deleted it, I'm just going to say this: "inuyasha" can be seen, there's WAY too many effing syllables, it's hard to say (which makes it starkly unrealistic for this series and in Japanese in general) and... it's kinda awful. 
No. Just no.
(I can't do these nicer than this or they turn into wordy novels. Sorry, I feel bad, but I'd hate to be a liar.)
Re-read all of the tutorial. :/
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*p.s don't worry I'm not mad*
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The names gotta go together in my opinion. Both names are awful. :/ All I can say is that you need a short and simple first name. I'd say with probably two syllables to make the last name less distracting. My recommendation would be doing it starting in a consonant and ending in a vowel (which isn't hard with Japanese phonetics). And, by God, not a clichรฉ one (aka, something over-used).
I'm a hard one to please. Of the crap ton of people who ask about names, I have seen a handful of people with passable names by my standards. I suppose that's more OCs in general, but thaaaaat's just me. Those people with good names usually rock my socks.
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;_; ok...but I need something that fits my OC's face and stuff....I don't want something that clashes..
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Find some and ask me. I get a lot of requests and it's tough to do research for everyone. I'll be here once you find some.
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Do you think Tsukiakari Saaka is good name for a female?
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I think "tsukiakari" is too long for a Japanese surname... and I'd probably leave just one "a" in the name "Saaka" because I've never seen anyone in Japan with a double consonant in their name.
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YO!
I have a question please!
How would I change a word like "aisonoii" (affable) into a girl's name?
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I don't remember ๆๆณใฎ่ฏใ (aisonoii) being a word. It's two words and a particle, making it a phrase. You can't change that into a name without it being weird as fuck. It literally means "the goodness of the loving thoughts".
If you want a name for a friendly or gentile character, pick a name that has a gentile connotation, like that of a flower, yet making it not horribly clichรฉ. Use "hana" or "[a white flower... too tired to fucking remember]" and I'll smack you.
Sorry if this is harsh, I haven't slept in literally 3 days. I don't know how to do anything other than this ATM. I promise I'll sleep now. Fun fact: someone who hasn't slept for +48 hours has the same decision making ability as a person whose blood alcohol level is 0.5%. 0.5% is just 0.1% under likely killing someone. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY. You learned something random that I learned today.
Fucking university and its... institutions.
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Ahaaa xD
Thanks I just went to free dictionary.com and put in "affable" and that was just one of the words that came up!
Sorry bout that I didn't know it was phrase and not a word xD derp oh well!
I'll make my question more general, how exactly would I take a word and change the ending to a name by adding -ko, -mi, -e, or -yo?
You should go to sleep then! Das not good for you to not sleep!
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You don't.
If it's a name, it's a name. If it's not, it's not. Sometimes words can be used for names, but it's kind of rare.
To add endings, you need to understand how kanji works, that's something you need to actually sit down and study for far more than a day to understand it at all. One thing that can be done for a girl's name is to add "ko" which is the kanji ๅญ, meaning child... but it's also an instant way to make a name sound really boring or clichรฉ in many cases.
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Coooooolio !
thanks for teh info
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Does this name sound ok for a boy?
Matsuo (ๆพๅฐ) Takeshi (ๆญฆ)
(I'm trying to say 'Little Pine' with Matsuo)
Thanks
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Yes, but Takeshi is probably the most cliche boys name out there...
"Matsuo" means TALL pine. The "o" means tall, not "small".ใThe trouble with existing surnames is that you can only write it so many ways, regretfully, the character for "small" doesn't work in names. Being small is "negative" in Japan, so they would no use it in a name.
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Right, thanks 
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Naoki.... isn't that a girl's name?
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Is it? I thought it was unisex?
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I usually only heard it for girls in Japan. Maybe it is. Names there go in trends.
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You're probably right. How about Kin (ๆฌฝ)?
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There is already a Naruto character named "Kin" in the story, Kin Tsuchi (the female otonin in the Sound Three). It would be a bad idea to make an OC as such.
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Forgot about her...Daiki (ๅคงๆจน)?
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Very much used OC name in general...
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Fumio (ๆ้)? Tamotsu(ไฟ)?
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Really, anything with "fumi" is for women...
Tamotsu is a surname.
Please stop this back and forth. Do your own research and THEN get back to me. :/
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Do you have any opinions on the following
Amano, Miori, Airi and Chi?
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Amano: It's a slightly strange and old male Japanese name. Good for a grandfather or middle-aged father-type character.
Miori: It's not a bad name and it's rarely used, but anyone who's big on Naruto OC RPG on DA pretty might attribute that to Shiori92's OC, Miori. But I don't RP, so I'll stand by it being a pretty good name on that front.
Airi: I personally don't like it due to the over-use I feel it has, but that's pretty much an opinion I'm alone on. It's cute, so people like to use it.
Chi: Generally a poor female OC name due to it's over use in about every single category, OC, Canon or otherwise.
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But I meant Amano for a girl, or something.
And I am most probably not going to RP in DeviantArt, so I think it's alright.
And what about Miki, Kanade, Eri and Mai?
I'm sorry for the whole lot of names D:
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...welp, it's an old Japanese name for a man. It's never used for women. :/ It's a weird name for a girl.
Miki, Eri and Mai are common names for girls in Japan now (I actually have friends by all those names). Mai isn't the best for an OC because of the over use (same for Mei) for OCs and IRL. Miki and Eri are fine names because they're simple and memorable. Out of personal taste I don't like the name Miki, but again, that's personal taste entirely. I really like the name Eri regardless. My friend's name is Sumire Eri (surname, first name). It's funny because of Sumire. What is "ire" backwards? :3 That's my findings/opinions/etc.
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Do you know any name that means "Bird" or "sun"...or something like that? ^^
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"Tori" means bird, but again, it doesn't sound Japanese (even though it is), because it's an English name. Sun is "hi".... so it's a little short for a name. *shrug*
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ah, ok. Thanks, anyway .3.
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What do you think about Kojima, Hitari, Aoi and Haneko? All for girls.
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If you want sugar coated reasons/opinions, discontinue reading.
Kojima is a straight up no-no. Not only is it solely a surname, the meaning of "small island" would be for boys (koji is also a male name).
Hitari is a company in the UK and screams the name "Atari" at the top of its lungs at me. It's also not a name... which can sometimes be okay... but maybe not this time. Personally, I really don't like it, there are too many irrelevant connotations in the meaning for me.
Aoi ... You know there's a character in Naruto named "Aoi", right? That's the hugest NO of all the names you gave me. Aoi is also a very over-done Naruto OC name. Sues it right up.
Haneko Personally, I don't like it, but it's hardly used and is an actual name. So it's probably the better one of the choices. The key to making this work is picking correct kanji, that you didn't get from Google Translate, and working out the character from the name's meaning. If you pick the kanji for "cat", I will hit you. For serious.
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Do you have some better idea for variations of Kojima, Hitari and Haneko? I wont change name for Aoi because I named them four years ago and at that time I didnt know "Aoi" ( And I forgot him after end of his filler. And I love blue. I hope you understand my english.)
For Haneko I want pick tha kanji for "cat" because she has cats DNA.
And I forgot to Shimizu. She is Kojimas twin.
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Aoi was a critical character in one of the Naruto arcs. He stole a treasured lightening blade from the Leaf. :/ That would be the name I would change more than all of them. :/
Don't. Pick. The. Kanji. For. Cat. Jesus Christ.
I do not have "variations". You need to make characters with more depth, originality and legitimate, well-created back stories before I can even attempt to help you go out and pick names for you. It can be done, but it leaves legitimate work by you to be done.
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Can I send you Kojimas story, Hitaris and Hanekos charakters to the message?
And what is bad at kanji "cat" in name? grammar?
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I really don't have time to read it... for you to give me enough info, I'd need your development notes/ideas/reasons, too.
I was highlighting NOT to use that kanji. It's way to clichรฉ.
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Dont worry, it is short because I am very bad at English
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Hm, How about
Amaya, Hinote, and Keitaro?
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Amaya is not awful, but "aya" is a really common syllable. I personally think that finding a suitable surname would be difficult (female name).
Hinote reminds me to much of Hinata and would make a poor choice for the sole reason that if it were a real character, that's immediately who the audience will think of (male name).
Keitaro isn't awful. I picture a young male character (no surname due to the length) that's very happy and friendly, like Naruto.
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Actually when i started it i did not knew anything about names and surnames
And now 120 pages and 3 years later... i think i am gonna need help for the names. I did not expect names to be that important for fiction, simply because i've seen so many that were ... idk.. american?
And to change the first names is too late now. I am used to them a bit too much, so i am happy that they somewhat fit. But i haven't used the surnames that much.
So can you help me with them, please.
I noticed that Hinote sounds a lot like Hinata after page 50 
Keitaro is their sensei. He kind of fits the descreption though. But he needs to have a surname, because there is stuff happening with his family.
And Amaya surname for now is Dachi... which i saw somewhere... but i am not sure if it works. Or is it a name at all
God i know nothing about Japanese names
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Taro is passable. Hmm... you could find away around it....
Most people know nothing about Japanese names or culture, especially the people into mainly anime.
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True. It's culture very far away from us. It's funny that at first it felt normal for me Japan to have our type of nameing.. like 3 names etc (Sure never gave my character 3 names. Because i never saw Kisghimoto do it
And i started to think about the Japanese names. Didn't found much though, so this is a great tutorial. Thank you for it
It is also a fact that i did not take this fic seriously untill i got that far.And I started translateing it on english. So now i am trying again.
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I don't think they really have a systematic way of choosing names in Japan. My friend Kana said they usually choose for 2 common, but different reasons (not listed in order of importance): meaning or kanji appearance (for aesthetic reasons). My friend Kana's name actually has no meaning, the kanji just look nice (even though each kanji has meaning, her name does not). It's rather strange.
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