I like this site. Check it out. http://donjon.bin.sh/

Yes, names can be tough, because you don't want them to sound fabricated, even though they are. @Michael: Thanks. That looks like a cool site. I've used this one before for generating fantasy names for a script: http://www.seventhsanctum.com/ Generating the names of medieval/fantasy characters can be tough since they tend to sound extremely made up, bordering on comical like "Starcheese" or something. Sites like these can help get you going with some ideas, and then you can maybe rearrange some letters in the names given to come up with something even better that suits the character. If you're trying to come up with an exotic name, not necessarily for a fantasy script, I also like sites that list baby names from countries other than the United States, because they can sound exotic to someone from the U.S. Icelandic names are the best. E.g., FrAAa, KIA'ngr, Valdis, Narfi and Dogg.

One more thing ... I'll also sometimes write down a cool name of someone I meet or hear about. The latest winning name I've encountered was that of a retinal specialist in Boston: Dr. Szilard Kiss--the James Bond movie practically writes itself. (Dr. Kiss, if you read this, I mean no offense--you've just got a cool name and I'm secretly jealous)

If I'm going for ordinary sounding names, I'll take the names of musicians I like (particularly guitar players or a band), and mix them up. For instance, I'll take a band like Genesis, and extract Tony Collins and Pete Hackett from the band members real names. I've found, in my limited experience, that the christian name reflects something about the characters' essential quality, and the surname reflects something about their social standing. For instance, Mike, John, Dave are strongly masculine first names, whereas I'd use a name like Simon or Warren for someone who's supposed to be more sensitive. Likewise, a surname like Hackett is likely to be working class, while Fripp or Rutherford are more likely to have aristocratic leanings. Of course, for a minor character, I'll often use the full name directly. There are quite a few Al Holdsworths in my scripts :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Blofeld Henry's father went to Eton with Ian Fleming, and was allegedly the inspiration for the Bond villain of the same name.

Social Security Administration keeps track of popular baby names by year, decade and state: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ All around great resource.

I like how a name can sometimes be a part of the movie itself, like the character named Michael Bolton in the comedy Office Space. Everyone kept commenting on it and it drove him nuts.

Pliny, that's hilarious. Will we see a Steve Squire or a Chris Howe in one of your scripts too? Or a Keith Wakeman and Rick Emerson, perhaps? :)

Not a big Yes fan, but I do have a Sir Giles Fripp :)

I found it really helpful to name characters after some of my friends or celebrities that have certain attributes. That way I can picture them more clearly as I'm writing. I have a rom-com where my two main characters are named Tom and Meg. That will most certainly change in the second draft, but for now it helps me quite a bit.

Awesome!

btw, it's not all prog. For African-American names I've used Motown acts, Earth, Wind & Fire, Maze & Parliament/Funkadelic. It even works for female names: I have a Jennifer Remler and an Emily Mitchell in my scripts. imho, it's nice to have an Easter Egg for those readers who are paying attention.

I've taken street names (via a friend), or names/references from my favorite show, Community. :) For example, a character in a short script is called Joey Brown. :)

Sometimes I go for a cultural or literary reference, but I try and start with the character and what they're telling me about their own person. And some I just make because they makes me giggle.

For a fantasy novel I took ordinary names and mutated them (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant_mutation): Agatha => Akatha Fiona => Veona Which seemed to work pretty well. For scripts ... not really sure I think I just play around with them until they feel right. Or steal them as a form of homage: my steampunk webseries (to be shot this year!) has a Talia Winter. (Yes the original from Babylon 5 is Talia Winters, so sue me ... or rather, don't. Please.)

Oh. Ignore that wikipedia reference - it's the wrong one. Different sort of consonant mutation.

I once forgot about a small screenwriting exercise for a class years ago. Throwing it together at the last minute, I used names from movie posters hanging in my apartment.

Hey, whatever works. As long as you don't use the characters' names. In that case you wind up with a buddy cop movie featuring "Han Solo" and "Hannibal Lector" on a stakeout.

I worth in Hotel Ops, so I see a thousand different names every day. I just choose the ones that are unique or spelled differently, write them down and when I need a name, I just open my little notebook.