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So, what if you want a name that's a bit more substantial? What if you don't want just want a name that sounds good? What if you want a name that has a meaning hidden behind its etymology for particularly keen readers to figure out? Well, you're in luck because I have a guide on naming just for you.
First, you want to pick which language you want your name to be in. I have a particular bias towards the French, Latin and Gaelic languages—something about them is just so enrapturing to me, but I encourage you to choose the language you want.
And, no, the language you choose does not have to be Japanese. A lot and, when I say a lot, I mean a good half or so of my characters do not have Japanese names and are not from Japan. Now, I have to admit that this is very unrealistic for so many foreign characters to me in such high concentration in one place. This is because Japan as a country is very homogenous, meaning there's not much variety in terms of racial or ethnic backgrounds.
However, Japan is starting to become home to many a diverse set of people and, going off the commonly accepted headcanon that the Japan we see in My Hero Academia is set at least fifty or so years in the future, I would think that the population would be a tad more diversified than it is in the present day.
Now that you've found a language, you must now research it. This may seem like a broad task, but I'm not saying to hop on Duolingo and learn your chosen language from top-to-bottom. To do that would be time-consuming and grossly unnecessary. What I'm saying is to Google some names in your given language.
You know those baby naming sites with those little tabs that drop down to show you the different language selections? Yeah, put those sites to good use and use them as a tool to name your baby. This is great for the European languages in particular and it was actually how I named many of my characters. I'll use these characters as an example since my friend was hounding me as to why my characters have such exotic names:
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