🏷️ How to name your world

Naming things in worldbuilding is difficult, especially when it comes to the most important name of all - the name of your world.

Whether you're naming your project setting or the actual planet itself, it feels like a daunting task to get it right and make a name that fits the vibe of your world.

Here's what I've learnt that consistently works well for me (and you don't need to invent a conlang to do it)!

📝 How to name your world (10 steps):

1. Decide if you want your world to have a single or short name, such as Melior, or if you want your setting to have more of a title, like Journals of Yesteryear.
2. Start writing down key concepts that relate to your world. Consider your world's genre, tone, and recurring themes.
3. Look at the influences and inspirations of your world and write down words or sounds that are associated with these.
4. Explore synonyms of these words and mark any that feel inspiring.
5. Pick a few words or sounds that you like and try different spellings by swapping consonants and vowels. Smush words together, explore multiple variants and note down any you like the sound of.
6. Also try to write things backwards or make an anagram by jumbling them up to see if it sparks any ideas!
7. If you want to have a longer setting title rather than one word, consider starting with an acronym and making the words fit those letters.
8. You can also translate words into other languages to find ideas, but be mindful of what connections you're making to real world cultures.
9. Once you've got a list of ideas, refine them further and narrow down the list. Ask for feedback on your world name and what it reminds them of to see if your name conveys the right tone. Ask a few people to pronounce it because they might say it differently than you intended! Adjust spellings if necessary.
10. Check them in a search engine to see if they're already in use by someone else, or if your world name has a meaning in another language or is used as slang that you didn't know about! 😅

🤔 Questions to ask yourself about your world

Here's some questions I explore when coming up with a new world name:

• What is your world about?
• What genre is it, does it have any subgenres?
• Where does it fall on the setting alignment chart and what emotions does it evoke?
• What are the setting's recurring themes?
• What has inspired and influenced your world?
• What are the names of some franchises, games, books, or films that are similar in genre or tone to your world?

🗑️ Rule out ideas you don't like

Sometimes it's easier to start with what you don't want!
Perhaps you don't want your world name to end in a certain letter, or maybe you want to exclude certain consonants, vowels, or sounds.

😱 Considerations checklist

Once you've got a few names that you're fond of, it's super important to check things first before you start using it everywhere so you don't run into any embarrassment, sensitivity issues, or even legal issues.

What to check for:

• What's the definition of the word? What does it mean in other languages?
• Is the world name already in use?
• Is the name a registered company, trademark, website domain, or part of an existing franchise / intellectual property?
• How easy is it to pronounce?
• How do different people say it?
• Is it memorable?
• Does it sound like it belongs to your world's genre(s) without it sounding stereotypical?

Where to check:

• Search: web results
  Google | DuckDuckGo | Wikipedia | Reddit
  Check what results come up when you search your new world name.
  Does the search engine try to correct the spelling of your name? Will that suggested word be an issue? Will people mishear or misremember your world name as this? Also consider checking Wikipedia for different results.
• Search engine: image results
  Image search gives a different view of what else might be related to your new world name. Check the sources of images to find any further relations if you're concerned about any.
• Search engine: map
  Google Maps
  Use the map search with your world name to see if any place names, landmarks, or businesses pop up.
• Language translation
  DeepL | BulkTranslator.com
  Run a few different spellings of your world name through a translator and test it in different languages.
• Definitions
  Wiktionary | Urban Dictionary
  If a definition hasn't come up in your search engine results yet, check Wiktionary and Urban Dictionary to see if your world name has any other meanings. Wiktionary will search for historical uses of the word as well as modern slang. Take Urban Dictionary with a grain of salt, as some phrases are used more widely than others.
• Domains & Usernames (Optional)
  Namechk.com
  This may only be worth doing if you're considering setting up a website or social media accounts for your world. Don't despair if the name is taken because you can use alternatives or variations on your world name.

🏷️ How I came up with the names for my worlds

Melior

When creating Melior I had clear in my mind that it would be my long-term hobby project of a dark fantasy world. I'd got stuck in a loop of creating small projects and switching between them, so I wanted this one to be a place where I improve and develop my skills over time.

I started by listing a bunch of words relating to both "improvement" and "dark fantasy" and started moving letters around or writing words backwards to get ideas, but that wasn't working so I started to look up synonyms instead.
That's where I was reminded of the word ameliorate - to make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better.

I played around with some variants of this word like: Meliora, Meiora, Melora, Amelor, but ultimately stuck with the middle part, Melior, to keep more of its meaning identifiable.

Journals of Yesteryear

When I was coming up with the concept of Journals of Yesteryear, I knew that I wanted to make a more optimistic-leaning, heroic fantasy world!

I have massive inspirations and influences from The Elder Scrolls and The Legend of Zelda for the adventurous themes of this world and I started exploring name ideas starting with the letter Z. I came up with Zendu and really really liked it but I couldn't shake how similar it looked and sounded to Zelda, so I re-used it to be the name of the continent in my setting instead.

Back to the drawing board, I explored words relating to light and happiness and kept coming back to joy. I wondered how I could use it as an acronym and what the letters JOY could stand for whilst also relating to a heroic fantasy setting. I almost settled with Journey of Yonder, but decided to go with Journals of Yesteryear to fit the relaxed vibe and intrigue of the past better.