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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40571
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I like to be semi-subversive in that most characters have non-meaningful names for the plot and anything _out-of-universe,_ but they should mean something _in-universe._ Namely, they should fit the cultures and social status of the character.

As with the example of Harry Potter, JK Rowling sets up two sets of lives; muggles and wizards. With muggles, they generally have generic British names, and in the Dursleys' case, they go for something that sounds particularly low-class and unremarkable.

Contrast this with the wizarding families' names, which have a clear bent towards the fantastical and empathic. Malfoy sounds like it's evil (Mal), Slytherin is an obvious pun on slithering, Weasley sounds... well, weaselly. Therefore, in-universe, there's a clear distinction between the down-to-earth surnames like Potter, Granger, and Dursley, and the over-the-top wizard families.

In terms of how it works, separate the sounds of fictional surnames and think about how it makes you feel. I'll admit, there have been times where I've created characters and given them a blatantly meaningful name (that fits with the world), and honestly, it can be fun. Examples:

- Landon Shearwater: A taciturn king that acts as stable, unmoving ground with which the decadent, oftentimes idiotic royal court and kingdom swirls around. He is land, on sheer water. Landon Shearwater. He also governs from a coastal city, so his name being associated with a seabird has an in-universe reason.
- Kel'nas Sinhelios: A gloomy high elven lord whose family has died one by one around him. He is highly religious and poetic as a response to his many tragedies. His first name is a pun on elo (Hebrew for God) while his surname is a pun on sans helios, or 'without the sun'. In other words, a religious man whose sun has abandoned him.
- Ma of Manabhuk: An embodiment of the deadly sin Sloth, whose primary abilities involve inducing deadly, suicidal amounts of apathy within people. 'Ma ma' is Japanese for 'so-so' or 'whatever', the verbal equivalent of apathy.

Depending on the region of the world you're writing, you can get really creative; as long as it's part of the lexicon of the cultures you've created, it should work. A name, like everything, has a context. In ancient Israel, Gomer would be considered a feminine name. In the here and now it sounds like a bootleg version of the main character of the Simpsons.

Think about these things, and maybe the answer will come to you. Or maybe I've just rambled for no reason. We'll see.

Original score: 2