How do you name your World? (Or nations, etc., for that matter...)

[Cee69]

I personally, use a mix of fantasy and existing. Sometimes I form the fantasy from the existing.

Given that I map mostly for stories and other projects I'm working on, my places have a whole history and what not. So, for example, when I'm working on a story that uses ancient Greece as a base, then some things can be tracked back to that time/world. Also, I think about what I name things. Whether that's a city, a building or an entire world. It needs to have meaning in my opinion.

For my world 'Kentro' (set in a fantasy galaxy), I looked up the word "center" or "middle". This is a world directly from the Greek language, given that I used ancient Greek as a base for this world. Kentro literally means center. I used that word because the inhabitants of that world really think everything revolves around them. They consider themselves to be the center of the galaxy.
Sometimes though, I just look up words with a certain meaning and brainstorm next on a fantasy word.

Currently I'm working on a world with several races, so the names will have different origins. Based on what background I give the creatures. For example, if I base a Dwarf society on old Germanic society, I will dive into that history and get my inspiration for everything related to my Dwarves from that time of our history.

I will never stop using my own imagination, but I will make sure that things don't get mixed up. Even a fantasy word must <i>sound</i> like it comes from the same language as the others. Whether that's a made up language or not, whether it's a fantasy word or not.

As for the order of naming things:
I don't really name things in a specific order, really but I usually start with the inhabitants of the world. Given that they in the end named their world, if you want to have a plausible story. If I use several races, there'll perhaps be several words for the same thing.
After that, I tend to run from big to small and back again. First the most important things/places/objects in the world and then work to the smaller, less important things.

Sorry for the long post, and I hope it's all clear :'D
~Cee

[AuthorParmain]

Names are interesting things. Consider the names you've given to objects and locations in your local life. Things don't get Names. People and living creatures do. In our culture Names are things reserved for souled individuals(what we also call animacy) whereas names are things you call things. This is why you can wiggle your toes in the earth and contemplate the future of Earth. This also helps illustrate that language is cultural.

How do I names things? Well, which culture is naming this object, and how do they classify it? Is it a magic True Name or is it just a label?

With labels I start with the culture that will name the object, then I determine how the object fits into their world philosophy. After that I name the object using phonetics that the culture would likely use. I also try to avoid anything that sounds too cool. (Things like Deathstar, Bloodfeast, and Nemesis are right out, as are most biblical references.)

With True Names I like to go the complete opposite and base it entirely on what sounds cool, though I avoid faux Latin like an accursed copy of Twilight bound in tortured flesh of Justin Bieber. Faux Greek on the other hand....