Tips for Creating (Your Own) Neopets Names

But what’s this?! You haven’t even chosen a name for your Neopet yet? And I thought you were responsible! But do not fear, for I am here! By using the tips below to help, I’m sure you can create a perfectly suiting name for your new Neopet. So let’s get started.

- Use the strangest letter combo you can think of. Chances are, the stranger the name, the bigger chance of the name not being taken. But don’t overdo it. A name cannot be a name if it doesn’t have any vowels. You know you’ve overdone it when you have a name that looks like this: Xlkjzw. This isn’t even a word; it’s just a jumble of consonants. So please, use those odd letters, but don’t make a mess.

- Try to stay away from using names of characters. Someone has probably read the same book or seen the same movie that you took the name from. (Or read the same Neopedia/Neopian Times article) Just thinking that someone hasn’t used the same name is foolish. But if you’re lucky, the name isn’t taken. But that’s rare so avoid the hassle and just don’t use character names.

- Don’t use real names, period. These are usually the first names to be taken. Back when Neopets was created, the easy names were taken. Let’s say a girl named Becky joined Neopets two years back and she created a pet that she named Becky. Then someone joined recently called Becky also and wants to create a pet named Becky, but the name is taken. Get my drift? Just don’t use real names. (Unless you have an off-the-wall name that is no way in this world taken.)

- Substituting letters for other letters could give you a good name. Let’s say you have a name like Slain, but it’s already taken. So you can substitute a ‘y’ for the ‘i’. This makes the name Slayn. More original but it still sounds the same. The letters ‘i’, ‘e’ and ‘y’ can all substitute each other and still make the name sound basically the same. By experimenting you can find other letters that can substitute each other.

- A thesaurus can be your best friend and a big help when trying to create names. Try looking up a word that you like (or that describes the wanted personality for your pet) in a thesaurus. So, for example you look up the word ‘happy’ in the thesaurus and you could come up with content, pleased, glad, joyful, cheerful, and ecstatic. Keep in mind though, that these words might be taken. (But I’m not saying to use that word; I personally think it’d be kind of lame… I mean… A pet named Happy?! Or some version of it?! -gets weird glare from a few readers- Er… I mean… Heh heh… Er… Back to the tips!)

- Unnecessary numbers and underscores are the downfall of a good name. Names like ‘cutie_chk_935’ or ‘akgdsf9010’ are names that make good name hunters cringe. Unless the number or underscore serves a specific purpose, it would be better to keep from using them. If your pet is a robot, with a name like CP092, then the numbers fit your pet and make a good name. Or if an underscore separates two names like Red_Baron, it’s decent; kind of like having a first and middle name. But otherwise, it might save your pet from being humiliated, stay away from numbers and underscores when creating a name.

- Sometimes randomness is the best name creator. Just open up a typing program and let your fingers fly. But be sure to press the space bar about once every fifty letters or else you’ll end up with a long line of gibberish. You may get something like this ‘nakepfojalkmoino’. Add some spaces here and there and you could come up with ‘Nakep’, ‘Fojalk’ and ‘Moino’. Voila, you now have three new names.

- Double letters can be a big help. This is a way of changing a name that may already be taken, but making it so that it still sounds the same. So, example time; perhaps while thinking to create your pet you come up with the name Valanil (which is the name of my Lupe), but you see that Valanil is already taken (by me of course). Now what? Your dream name is already taken! Well using double letters can give you an untaken name. You could add one more ‘i’ to Valanil so that it’s Valaniil. Or maybe adding another ‘n’? Valannil. But again, too much of a good thing makes a bad thing, so don’t take double letters over the edge. What do I mean by ‘over the edge’? A name like this: Vaallaanniill. That just makes my eyes spin. So repeat after me, “Too much of a good thing makes a bad thing.” Ok, onward!

- We all know how diverse a culture Neopets is. And if you don’t, maybe it’s time to see how many different languages are buzzing around Neopia. So many people from all over the globe log onto Neopets, each speaking a language that you might not know. Now this can help. Sure, your desired name, let’s say Happy, is taken. But it’s taken in the English language. Aha! Now do you see where I’m going with this? If a name it taken in English, why not see if it’s taken in Spanish? Or French? Or Italian? Or Portuguese? Or Chinese? How about Russian? Is it taken in German? OK, I think I’ve proven my point. There are more than 100 different languages in the world, I’m sure your word isn’t taken in ALL of them.

There you have it, folks, some tips to help you create a nice name for your new Neopet. So, now that you have picked out your pet's gender, color, species, any awards, his/her flower garden, Petpet, Petpetpet and Paint Brush color… You can now name your pet whatever name you make. I would like to be the first to congratulate you, so… Congratulations! You have successfully named your future pet! What’s next? Get out there and make that new pet! He (or she) will be the envy of your neighbors with his (or her) amazing name. I’ve helped you all I can, so now, the only thing left is to wish you good luck with naming any pets that come your way. So now I must go, happy naming in the future!