During the time I was creating my character profiles, I decided that it was about time to give my characters and islands names, so I could stop referring to them as 'Crew member 1' and 'Island 1'

However, this is easier said than done, especially for me, as naming characters has always been something I've found difficult.
During my experimentation last project I found the task of naming my character difficult, but even before this I knew that it was a weakness of mine.
While playing games (more specifically RPGs) where you name yourself/another character, I struggle and normally end up resorting to a name generator, which I don't really want to use for this project, as I want my characters names to have meaning and relevance behind them.
And so, because of this, I decided to look into different processes for naming characters.

Naming process 1 - Historical Inspiration:
My first initial plan was to look into the types of names that were popular or common during the pirate era (16/1700s) as well as the names of famous pirates and then also names that were popular during the Victorian era (the 1800s). My reason for this being my starting point was because the pirate and steampunk themes are going to be apparent in our game, so the names that were using during their respective eras could be effective (although steampunk is fictional, it still makes use of a Victorian elements, which is why I decided to make use of the Victorian era).

Hopefully, this will provide me with a better understanding of the names that people had in this time, as well as providing me with possible ideas for my own characters.

According to the website 'The Way of the Pirates (2019),' some names of famous pirates of the 16th and 17th centuries were as follows.

16th and 17th Century Famous Pirates

•Anne Bonny

•Bartholomew Roberts

•Benjamin Hornigold

•Blackbeard

•Calico Jack

•Charles Vane

•Chueng Po Tsai

•Edward England

•Edward Low

•Grace O’Malley

•Henry Every

•Howell Davis

•Mary Read

•Paulsgrave Williams

•Samuel Bellamy

•Stead Bonnet

•Thomas Tew

•Turgut Reis

•William Kidd

•Ching Shih

•Christopher Contend

•Christopher Moody

•Emanuel Wynn

•Peter Easton

•Richard Worley

•Sayyida al Hurra

Of course, there are a lot more pirates then listed above, but to start with this is a decent amount.

After reading through the various different names, I realised that there is a manga/anime series about pirates that have made use of a similar naming process, of taking influence from names of actual pirates that existed (by using their first names). This series is 'One Piece'.

One Piece (Eiichiro Oda, 1997)
The simple outline of this story is that the protagonist, Luffy, wishes to set out on a journey across the seas to find the 'One Piece' and be known throughout the world as the Pirate King/King of the Pirates. The world makes use of/includes  a number of fantasy elements, such as unique world settings (which I plan to research into further if I can find the time) and special powers which are obtained by eating items known as devil fruits (the abilities of these has ranged throughout the series to giving the power to make the users body rubber, to making their body lava and even to obtaining features of an animal/creature such as a dinosaur or even a dragon.
However, the main area I wanted to focus on to do with this series is the names of some of the characters that have appeared throughout the long story.

There are a number of somewhat important characters that have been named after actual pirates that existed in real life.

Blackbeard - Edward Teach / Marshall. D. Teach.
One example is one of the more villainous characters of the series, Blackbeard, whose real name in the series is Marshall. D. Teach. This character has a bit more of a straightforward or well-known link than some of the other characters as he makes use of the real-life counterparts name and nickname. 
The name of this character has taken heavy inspiration from a pirate known, also as, Blackbeard, with the real name of Edward Teach.

It could also be argued that these characters are linked by more than just their names. The characters of Blackbeard that is shown in the anime/manga has the story being as follows:

 

He joined the crew of one of the more larger pirates, being the Whitebeard pirates, and then upon one of the crew members finding the specific devil fruit he had been searching for, killed the man and fled the crew to form his own powerful crew and shake the world of pirates. In the process of forming his crew, he also makes an alliance with the Navy (in the series there are characters known as 'Warlords' who work with the Navy, and in return aren't hunted down and thrown into prison). Although Blackbeard only does this to break into their prison and acquire powerful pirates for his crew.

Going back to the real Blackbeard, it is said that he also had a change of sides, in the form of turning from a privateer, to a pirate.

"Born Edward Thatch, the real-life privateer turned pirate began his life on the sea in service of Queen Anne of England in the latter half of the 17th century." (The Daily Fandom, 2018)

"He turned to piracy in 1713 and wreaked havoc along North America’s Atlantic coast for several years." (The Daily Fandom, 2018)

Because of this, it could be argued that the fictional version of the character in this series had more influence than just the real life Blackbeard's name, but also some influence from the events he carried out (the whole changing sides).

Samuel Bellamy / Bellamy the Hyena
Another character who has taken a noticeable influence from a real-life pirate is a character within the series known as Bellamy the Hyena.

This is a character who became a pirate to impress someone (this someone being another pirate leader in the series known as Doflamingo) with hopes of joining their crew/family. Although he is eventually noticed by Doflamingo, he ends up being used and never really getting to fulfill his dream (mainly due to the fact that the protagonist defeats Doflamingo in an epic battle).

The real-life inspiration for this character was likely a pirate known as Samuel Bellamy. The more noticeable inspiration would be the name Bellamy being used for the fictional character, but there's even more to it.
The story of Samuel Bellamy was as follows:

"His decision to take up piracy was brought on by his desire to amass enough wealth to marry his lover Maria Hallett.​" (The Daily Fandom, 2018)
"He found enough precious metal and ivory aboard the ship to retire from piracy and at last marry young Maria Hallett. He started for Massachusetts, Hallet’s home, but the ship tragically sank during the return voyage." (The Daily Fandom, 2018)

The link between the two characters stories is that they both decided to become a pirate with the aims of carrying out their dreams (fictional Bellamy being to get noticed and the real Bellamy to obtain wealth to marry the one he loved). However, by becoming pirates to carry out both of their dreams, they end up meeting their downfall (fictional Bellamy - ends up being used, real-life Bellamy - ship sinks).

Evaluation of Research
After carrying out this research piece, I have found one method at how the concepts of characters can be formed, and how they can also be named.
The series One Piece (Eiichiro Oda, 1999) makes use of the names of real-life pirates as inspiration for the characters of the series. Many characters of the series have the names of actual famous pirates, but then there's also a large number of characters with new names that don't have links to existing (historical) pirates. Additionally, it is apparent that the write, Oda, has taken inspiration from some of the life stories of the people he's used as inspiration, as the events that occur involving his fictional characters are comparable to the events that their real-life counterpart experienced in their lives.

This might be a good method that I could use when naming my characters, however I feel as though this would have been a better idea to use if I was still in the character creation phase, as I could use another element of the real-life pirate (such as an event of their life) linking to my own character.
Because of this, I plan to continue looking into different possible routes that I could take for naming characters, but for now, at least, this is something to bear in mind for future writing (could be useful when writing the additional character for the side story/quests of our game?).

Naming Process 2 - Using a Character Story and their Personality
One naming process I found and looked into during the last project was the process that the ‘League of Legends’ narrative team uses to name their characters (in the game referred to as champions).

“Naming really begins once the general direction for a champion’s art, fantasy, and personality are decided.” (Nikki Brown, 2018).
This is likely a similar approach to what I’ll be doing, as I am currently developing my characters (and their profile templates) so I have a general idea or concept for each of my characters, such as their personality and backstory.

“Story sketches are the narrative version of concept art—writers create short stories about the new champion to explore and define their personality.” (Nikki Brown, 2018).
Creating short stories for my own characters would have been a good idea to create for this section of my project, but at this point in time I know for a fact that if I was to create one it would be rushed (as I have quite a few tasks to carry out to meet the pre-production deadline).
However, this doesn’t mean that I don’t plan to create short stories for my own characters, as this will be an effective task that I could do for the production section of the project.

“What do you call a champion who doesn’t have a name? One thing writers try to avoid—both in story sketches and beyond—is giving the champion a temporary name because sometimes it becomes permanent.” (Nikki Brown, 2018).
When writing my character concepts and profile templates, I also followed this tip by referring to the character by the role they have in the game (e.g. crew member 2).

Another process that the narrative team follows while naming their characters/champions is by setting goals and guidelines for the names that they create.
“There are some universal rules that apply to most names, such as that names should be pretty easy to say (Illaoi was an exception).” (Nikki Brown, 2018). This being another element that I will need to bear in mind, as since my audience is 7-12, I will need to take into note that some may find certain words or names more difficult to pronounce, meaning that going for unique but simple names could be a good approach.
The team also set goals which are used to make the name of the character have some sort of relevance to the character themselves, such as a name sounding more/less feminine, or sounding more/less like a noble name. This could be a good process to follow as the names created would hopefully reflect the character more than names that was used just because they were common in a time period of our world that is similar to the period of time that our game/story world makes use of.

The article also suggests to create a list of potential names for my characters.
“Once the goals are set, narrative writers come up with a list of potential names.” (Nikki Brown, 2018).
Although, these lists won’t be anything too extravagant as I have other tasks that I need to carry out meaning I have a lot less time to look through names and make the lists themselves.  
“Baby name books and websites are often a good place to start, but the names that make it on the list usually don’t come directly from a book.” (Nikki Brown, 2018).

The final part of the naming process is localization. During this section of the development, they send a list of the current names to the different company teams around the world to check if the name has any negative meanings in other languages, or sounds similar to something negative (such as swears).
If I was to try and do this for my characters names, it would likely be difficult as I know limited people who speak other languages, and just using the internet may not be that efficient.

Evaluation of Research
After looking into the process that the narrative team for League of Legends (2009) uses when creating and naming their characters, I have some possible ideas for additional tasks I can carry out for this project, as well as some possible naming processes I can use to name my characters.

Before naming their characters/champions, they create a short story to show off the character and get a better idea of them as a character/their personality. Once this has been carried out they set goals and guidelines that they want to follow (which normally consist of traits or characteristics of the character) and then start coming up with names. the article also states that they often use books and websites listing baby names as a starting point.
When naming my characters, I will likely use existing names instead of coming up with completely new and unique names, as this would take me a large amount of time which I know I won't have (if I'm to name my character before production begins).

The last process that the team carries out is localization. This is a process I think I will likely not need to carry out, as the names I plan to use will likely be existing names, which shouldn't have alternate meanings. Although this is something I plan to bear in mind when selecting names (try to find as many meanings of the names as possible just to make sure there are no negative meanings or suggestions).

Naming Process 3 - The 7 Rules
An article, by ‘Guest Column’, on the website ‘Writers Digest’ (2012) states seven rules that should be followed when giving your characters names. The rules that the article states follow are shown below:

1. “Check root meanings”
Rule one states to check the root meanings of the names as naming a character a name that means a specific trait makes more sense than just calling them the trait itself.
“It’s better to call a character Caleb, which means “faithful” or “faithful dog,” than to overkill it by naming him Loyal or Goodman—unless you want that for comic/ironic purposes.” Guest Column (2012).
This in itself is a naming process, as a character can be named using the meanings of the names. So if a character is strong, they could be named with a name that means of suggests this.

2. “Get your era right”
The next rule is to make sure that the era that the name originates from is correct for the story it is being used in, as if a name from a distinguishable period/era is used in a different period, there could be confusion.

3. “Speak the out loud”
This rule is stated since some books become audiobooks, which means the names of the characters will be said aloud by someone of than the listener and because of this certain names might be a bit more difficult to hear properly, as there could be different versions.
“A perfectly good name on paper, such as Adam Messina, may sound unclear aloud: Adam Essina? Adah Messina?” Guest Column (2012).

4. “Manage your crew appropriately”
In the fourth rule, it states that it’s a good idea to give the different character different starting initials. I agree and disagree with this to certain extents, as there are a number of characters in the same story who have the same first name initial (such as Harry and Hermione from the well-known series ‘Harry Potter’). Although I do agree with the rule to the extent that the majority of the characters should make use of a different name initial.

5. “Use alliterative initials”
Rule 5 states that important characters or characters that require some special attention can make use of alliterative initials (e.g. Severus Snape).
This could be carried out for my characters, but this depends on whether the characters will be referred to with their first names and surnames throughout the story.

6. “Think it through”
Rule 6 states that you’ll often find that crimes or dramas make use of fewer names with middle names or initials, since the more detail a name goes into, the more likely it is to be the same as an existing person out in the world. And depending on the character being portrayed in the story, the real-life individual might not be too happy with how their name is portraying such a character, leading to them complaining or suing.

7. “Check ‘em again”
Rule 7 states to check the name you’ve gone with again, just to make sure it is relevant to the character you’ve given it to (such as the setting or meaning is appropriate to the character).

Evaluation of Research
This section of research has given me a few more additional areas that I should bear in mind when naming my characters.
The main area of help that this has provided me with is how one-way characters can be named. This way is by using a name that has meaning and then linking it to a specific character.

Naming my Characters
Now I had an idea of how I was going to approach the naming process for my characters, I began searching for different websites that listed different names that were popular during the golden age of pirates (due to the pirate theme of our game), and during the Victorian era (since we plan to make use of the steampunk theme which is heavily linked to the Victorian elements).

This section of research mainly consisted of me looking through lists of names, and then searching the meaning of the name. Soon after I moved onto some other websites that listed both the names and their meanings making the process faster.

Once I found a name that I felt was fitting for my characters, I listed them down, stating the name and what the link with the character could be. Once I had a list of names, I condensed the list down so each character had a list of around three to four names.

Name Concepts and Links
 

Protagonist:
Caleb – meaning “devotion” (AptParenting, 2018), with the link being to the character's devotion to carrying out his mothers wish/his objective.

Acer(/Ace) – meaning  “number one or the best” (The Bump, 2018). Link here being number one, with the views that this character is the main character of the story. English origin.

Ace – meaning “one, unity” (NameBerry, Date Unknown) , which I believe is one of the better links I could make, as the meaning of one suggests that the character is of importance to the story, which is correct as he’s the Protagonist, and ‘unity’ being effective as he brings together a group of unrelated people. Latin origin?
 

Mother:
Amelia - meaning “to survive, industrious” (AptParenting, 2018), which although she dies, could still work as she tries gives her life for the survival of her son, but she also lives on in the hearts of those who cared for her. Popular name during the Victorian origin era.

Agatha – meaning “good woman” (Mom Junction, 2018), which could link to the character in the story her husband is missing and has been for a number of years, but she still stays true to him and doesn’t try to find another partner.

Alexandra – meaning “defender” (Mom Junction, 2018), which could link to this character as she gives her life to protect (defend) her son, the protagonist.
 

Father:
Hugh – meaning “intelligent” (AptParenting, 2018), linking to this character being one of the smarter individuals in this story. According to AptParenting, German, English, Irish origin.

Hugo – Latin variant of 'Hugh’ meaning “mind, intellect” (NameBerry, 2014) , with the link to my character being that he posses more intellect than the average person and any other character that’s important to the main story.
 

Sidekick:
Octavia – meaning “eighth” (Baby Center, 2018), with the link being that octopus have eight tentacles. Latin origin.

Opi (pronounced oh-pi) – being a shorted version of the word octopus (could work if the protagonist is the one to name this character).

Crew Member 1 / Ship Navigator:
Ezra – meaning “Helper” (AptParenting, 2018), which could be suited to this character since he extends his hand (not literally) to help the protagonist.

Leopold /Leo – meaning “brave, bold”, linking to his braveness of sailing the seas, even after experiencing danger during the story. German origin.

Leonard/Leo/Leon – meaning “brave people” (NameBerry, 2014) , with the link to the character being his braveness (personality) and willingness to help the protagonist, his friend, through thick and thin. German origin.

Kenji – meaning “intelligent second son: strong and vigorous” in Japanese. This could work as this character is like a brother to the protagonist (bond they’ve formed over the years), which could reflect the second son meaning.

Crew Member 2 / Doctor:
Asa – meaning “healer” (AptParenting, 2018), which would be an effective link as this character is a surgeon/doctor. Popular during the Victorian era.

Galen – meaning “calm or healer” (Mom Junction, 2018), which the link once again being the character's profession of a doctor and wanting to heal others who are sick.

William – meaning “protection” (SheKnows, 2014), with the link still being the character's occupation, but taking the different approach of the link of protection is that as a doctor he ‘defends’ people by preventing/curing illness (protects people from death itself).
 

Crew Member 3 / Gunner:
Gertrude – meaning “strength” (Victorian Era, Date Unknown), which could link to this character as they have the strength to want to fight back against the antagonist, even after having lost those close to her.

Audrey – meaning “nobility and strength” (Mom Junction, 2018), with the link to the character once again being her strength as a character (strong-willed).

Hilda – meaning “fighter” (AptParenting, 2018), which links to her motives of wanting to fight and defeat the antagonist. Victorian origin. Popular name during the Victorian origin era.

Ruby – Literally meaning “red” (AptParenting, 2018), which would be a nice and simple link to the characters hair colour of red/orange (common hair colour of those from the volcanic island?).

Garnet – meaning “dark red” (Victorian Era, Date Unknown), and once again linking to characters visuals (hair colour).

During this, I decided not to name the antagonist in the same way, as the approach I'm taking to the antagonist is that he's more of a monster than a being with human intelligence, and therefore I don't really want him to have a name that gives the impression of a human, but instead a name that suggests he's more of a monster of myth or legend (within our stories world).

Additional Name Research for Character Ethnicity:
As our game is set in a world that is somewhat relatable to earth with humans as the characters, it would be a good idea to give the characters existing ethnicities that they as characters are similar or comparable to.

I have already decided that the protagonist will be comparable to white British ethnicity. Because of this, I feel as it’s fitting for most of the characters from the first island to make use of this as an influential ethnicity. This means that some of the more main characters will also make use of this ethnicity, such as the protagonist's mother, father and even the first crew member.

I feel that it would be a good idea to link my levels to locations to places in real life, and therefore linking aspects of my characters (such as their ethnicity)  to those places could be a good idea.

The next island with characters (that’s in the game) is the third island which has the theme of ice and snow. Because of this, I want to try and link this level and its characters to a real-life location with similar conditions (cold, snowy, icy, etc.).

3rd Island/Level:

The next island with characters (that’s in the game) is the third island which has the theme of ice and snow. Because of this, I want to try and link this level and its characters to a real-life location with similar conditions (cold, snowy, icy, etc.).

Possible existing country influences:
Antarctica
Russia
Greenland/Iceland
Canada
Mongolia

After briefly looking into these areas, I decided to look further into Russia in terms of the names my characters could have.
 

Research into Russian names and their meanings (as the original names are now unfitting):

Alyosha – Meaning “One who helps people” (Belly Ballot, 2017), link to my character being that he’s a doctor, and his aim is to help others (as that’s what doctors do). Derivative of Alexander, which means “Helper of the people”

Alexei – international variation of Alyosha, same meaning?

Lyosha – Also meaning “One who helps people” (Belly Ballot, 2017), with the link being the same as the previous name.

Artem – Meaning “Healthy, sound, wholesome” (Babble,  2019)

Sacha – Meaning “Defender of man” (Babble,  2019)

Shurik – Meaning “Defender of man” (Babble,  2019)
 

Ivan – Meaning “God is gracious” (MomJunction, 2018)
 

Current decisions are the names Alexander or Shurik. Alexander, as it’s meaning somewhat, has a link to the character itself, but is also the derivative form of the Russian name Alyosha (either name could be used).
However, Alexander has the same starting initial as two of my other characters, meaning I might try going for a name that doesn’t begin with ‘A’. 
Then Shurik, as I like how the meaning could link to the character's personality and occupation.

5th Island/Level:
The next level/island with characters is the 5th island, which makes use of a volcanic theme. Because of this, I want to try and link the location to an area in real life that’s somewhat similar. For this, I searched up areas of the world that have volcanic features (whether active or inactive)

Possible existing country influences:
Japan
Philippines
Ecuador
Italy

After briefly looking into these areas, I decided to look further into Italy and Japan in terms of the names my characters could have.

Research into Italian names and their meanings (as the original names of my character are now unfitting):

Rossa – Meaning “Red” (Behindthename, 2018) in Italian. Link to my character is the colour of her hair.

Rubina – Meaning "ruby“ (Behindthename, 2018). Link to my character being, once again, the hair colour.

Rosa – Meaning “Rose” (babynameguide.com). Link to my character being, being the same as the previous names.

​

Research into Japanese names and their meanings (as the original names of my character are now unfitting):

Akako – Meaning “Red” (adoption.com, 2019). Link to my character is her hair colour.

Akane – Meaning “Brilliant red” (adoption.com, 2019). Link once again being to hair colour, but the word ‘brilliant’ signifying some sort of difference.
 

Azami – Meaning “Thistle flower” (adoption.com, 2019). The link to my character being a bit more ambitious and unique here. The word ‘thistle’ representing the somewhat negative traits of the character (being how she’s sometimes fierce), but then the ‘flower’ representing the caring/kind part of her personality?

After looking into these different names, I'm stuck deciding between naming the character 'Rosa', 'Akane', 'Azami' or the original idea being 'Ruby'.
 

Other Possibilities:

Ruby, Scarlet