Katherine's Posts,  Writing

Last Name Ideas for Writers (+ survey for my Redbubble shop)

June 2, 2023 / 16 Comments

Hi, readers! I’m back with another list of name ideas for writers! This time it’s a list of last names! I admit, it’s not as long as the other name lists because it’s the most recent one I’ve started. But even though it’s not as long, I wanted to share it with you anyway. (And it has a lot of unique names this time too!! At least in my opinion, anyway. XD)

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A

Allenden

B

Beam, Becket, Berkeley, Biggs

C

Carmelson, Carnegie, Carroway, Chappelle, Corbett (Hehe, of course I had to stick Delano’s last name on the list!😉), Cyprus

D

Dolan (Yes, this was on the boy’s name list as well. But apparently it’s also an Irish surname, so I thought that was cool!), Dooley, Dover

E

Easley, Eastwood, Eckard

F

Fagerland, Fairfield, Fleet

G

Ganey, Gatewood, Gatlin, Graen, Griggs, Groff

H

Hallyburton, Huff, Huggins

J

Jenkins

K

Katz

L

Langley, Lattimore, Ledger, Lumpkins

M

Matthews, Morley

N

Neff, Noller

P

Paddock, Penfield

R

Remington, Ridgecrest, Rocke, Rockefeller, Rodgers

S

Shackleton, Sharpe, Shrimpton, Spade, Spiller, Steele, Steinbeck

T

Turkle

W

Watkins, Willowmore

******

*Note: when I add names to my personal list, I’ll update this post as well.

For a fun piece of information, “Carmelson” is probably the only name on the list you are not as likely to hear anywhere else. I did a search on all these names to see which ones I made up and which ones I had heard from somewhere else (since I couldn’t remember where most of them came from, lol). While most names came up with surname origins or famous people (even names I had thought I had made up at the time I wrote them down), “Carmelson” came up with the “Twitches” (whatever that is XD) fandom page. Oh, and “Willowmore” came up with a place rather than as a last name. (But I think “Willowmore” still sounds good as a surname, so I kept it on the list. XD)

Also, when it comes to last names, I have the tendency to use names of real objects and stuff for character last names, such as “cornstalk” and “hallway.” They work for humorous last names especially. XP Oh, and color words work for last names as well! So those are some additional ideas for coming up with last names.

My Redbubble shop survey:

Before we end this post, I wanted to share with you the survey that is mentioned in this post’s title. I’m planning on starting a shop on Redbubble, so I put together a survey to get ideas on what types of designs to create. If you could take a few moments to fill that out, I would greatly appreciate it.<3 You can click here for the link to the survey. Thank you in advance!

What are some of your favorite last names? What is your favorite one from this list? Do you like using silly last names such as “cornstalk”? I can’t wait to hear from you!

~ Katherine Perry

16 Comments

  • Virginia Henderson

    June 2, 2023 at 10:32 pm Reply

    Great list! Coming up with last names always stump me. All I can ever think of are names like Smith and Jones.

    If it’s the same Twitches as the one I’m thinking of, it was a Disney Channel original movie back in the early 2000s.

    • Katherine

      June 3, 2023 at 1:41 pm Reply

      Thank you! Ah, I know, right?! I have the hardest time with last names, so that’s why I started making a list. XD

      Oh, ok. Thank you for letting me know what Twitches is! I was really wondering about that, haha.😄 Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard of that movie, but I’ve never seen it. Is it any good?

  • Jasmine Green

    June 17, 2023 at 5:04 pm Reply

    Yes! I can verify that Dolan is a surname. I know a family with that last name and it would make sense that it’s Irish because their son is such a cute little redhead! Also, I thought my last name made it on the list (😏), but then took a closer look and realized it was “Graen” and not “Green”. 😂 I think it’s really cool! How do you pronounce it though?
    I love Willowmore (maybe because I love willows in general 💁‍♀️) and I don’t think I’ve used random objects as last names… I do, however, write “blah-blah” in as a character’s name when I haven’t come up with one for them yet! 😂

    • Katherine

      July 25, 2023 at 2:32 pm Reply

      Hi, Jasmine!!! Thank you for stopping by!! How’s it going?

      Oh, good!! I’m glad to know that I was right about the Dolan surname.😉 Aww, how sweet!!! Hahahahaha I should have had Green on the list, though. It’s a great last name!!😉 Thank you! I think it’s pronounced as gray-en.
      Thank you! (Ooh, cool! Willows are very pretty trees!!) I’ve done the random object last name thing a few times. It can get pretty silly.😆Haha, that’s a great idea on what to put down for a character name until you come up with one! I’m normally just write “insert name,” lol.😂

  • Maggie

    July 17, 2023 at 7:06 am Reply

    “Cornstalk” and “hallway,” haha I love that! I typically select my characters’ last names at random, intending to go back and refine the character in a second draft. In fact, in the last novel I was working on (a cowboy romance), I accidentally gave the 4 main characters first names that start with ‘C,’ lol! Which helps illustrate my point. While the names went together nicely, test readers let me know they were consistenly confusing the characters, and I myself was doing the same thing when I read my own writing!
    My favorite last names from your list were Fairfield and Willowmore!

    • Katherine

      August 18, 2023 at 11:33 am Reply

      Haha, thank you! Cool! I bet it’s pretty fun to select the names randomly! 😉 When you select the names at random, do you more often like the name you chose or not? (Oooh, a cowboy romance sounds fun!!!) Lol, that’s happened to me before. XD Tis a pity that having characters with the same first letter can get confusing in books. So when you renamed the characters, did you choose at random again or went searching for a name?
      Nice! Those are unique-sounding names, aren’t they?! 😉
      Thank you for reading and commenting!

  • Isabelle Yoshida

    December 17, 2024 at 2:17 pm Reply

    I look up surnames that help describe the characters like Aloysius. With German and Latin roots, it means famous warrior, so I gave it to the family of one of the strongest warriors in my story. I also use some that sound right with the character’s first name like Elizabeth Sparrow. Sometimes I use words that sound cool as last names like Void. Once, one of the characters had to do with shapeshifting and I found a word that meant human-animal shifting in mythology. One of my favorite characters is supposed to be descended from Nicholas Flamel, so I kept the last name in order to show that. I also go through old yearbooks at my old school and even at my current one and find last names that way. More recently, I’ve asked other people if they were characters, what would their name be? I got the surnames Thornwood, Caddell, and Warwind that way.
    I liked Fairfield, Eckard, and Willowmore.

    • Katherine

      December 19, 2024 at 4:48 pm Reply

      Hi, Isabelle! That’s such a great idea to look for names that describe the characters! Ah, yes, I love it when the last name sounds nice when spoken with the first name!! Many times, I’ll choose surnames based on that. Oooh, that’s cool you have a character descended from Nicholas Flamel, and using the same last name to show your character’s lineage to Nicholas Flamel sounds like a smart idea! Ooh, and going through yearbooks sounds like a great way to find last names as well! I really enjoy sitting through the credits at the end of a movie to find names. Those surnames you got recently sound so cool and perfect for fictional characters!
      I love all the different ways you choose last names! They sound like such fun methods!! Thank you so much for reading and commenting and sharing all that with me!😁
      Aw, thank you!

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