I need some help. I have a 5 book series called Gemini starting release probably late July or early August. The book has an aggressive insect species and I need a good name for the leader.
One of my reviewers thinks the character needs a better name and I agree. Please give me suggestions on a name for the leader of an insect planet who is a very aggressive military leader. My only point is, the insect language is melodic.
I’m guessing this is either an English translation or simply a name applied to the leader by a human, so it might depend on what the human thinks of the insect guys. If the humans don’t like them, they might call the leader The Cockroach or Cootie or Roach Face.
Too bad they aren’t female, because it seems the aggressive insects are always female. If the leader has a tendency to eat the heads of his mates, he could be called The Mantis.
There is kind of an interesting race of insects in World of Warcraft called the Mantid. The Mantid leaders have groovy names like Kaz’tik the Manipulator. They even have a species of bug beasts named the Kunchong. One particular Kunchong was named Kovok. Granted, you won’t want to replicate these names, but exploring the various Mantid and Klaxxi names might give you some ideas.
I would agree with using strong consonants and sounds such as K, X, Z, and putting them together in non-English ways such as the above Klaxxi or Kaz’tik. Like he also said, it would depend on where the name comes from–human or insect. If the insects named themselves, and they have a melodic language, then still strong consonants but softer overall sound, like Kunchong from above. Good luck!
Great comments. The name is what he calls himself. One species hears from a captured insect what the other species leader’s name is. In the other names, I’ve tried to stay away from hard consonants, but hey; this guy is the top of the heap so maybe he wants a different name. We’ll have to think it over.
Koth van Brate
Going with the K theme from other comments, Brate is a spin off on invertebrate and van makes anyone sound powerful.
I love thinking of names. They’re probably rubbish at first but I just keep going until I’ve narrowed down to match the character or the character lets me know. Good luck 🙂