Names of earldoms

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:06 am Post subject: Names of earldoms

Hello!

Came across this site bumming around actually doing research for a little project of mine and am very glad I did. Have already found a great many things I need to fix in my writing.

Ran into something that has me confused however on the topics of earls and what exactly to name them. Does one just make something up that sounds good? Or can one go through a list of earldoms and pick one to use that's now extinct?

List of Earldoms on Wiki

For example - in Pride & Prejudice, we have Colonel Fitzwilliam, younger son of the Earl of ---

I would rather not have my characters be the children of the Earl of Blankety-blank, but I'm at a bit of a loss on how to go about this subject. I'd like to introduce my character as Lady Madeline Stonefeld, daughter of the Earl of (fill in the blank) and not just leave it hanging there.

Thank you!

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:13 pm Post subject:

I was leaning towards that, just wasn't sure if one could pull of the other.

I spent most of the morning yesterday bouncing between various place names and the list of Earldoms to make sure I wasn't picking something already done...and then I made a Lord that I haven't given a location to for the new idea that I started on. irre

He doesn't seem to mind just yet since he's a secondary main. I'm about ready to shoot myself though for making the main man a German count...that or I'm going to have to drop the usual 'von' put before a surname on such titled gentlemen. Makes the habit of addressing a man by his last name a bit of a chore.

One of these days I might actually finish something... verlegen

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:03 pm Post subject:

I love making up names and titles! I usually pick somewhat obscure place names, maybe modify them a little and then use that, depending on what sounds best with the first name.

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:23 pm Post subject:

My "world building" generally consists of half a day (or a few hours at least) gathering a list of names to use, then I just start writing from there going off the general idea I have in my head for what I want to do. Unless I'm attempting original fantasy - which I never finish because coming up with all the little details ends up being more fun (or work depending) and I burn out on the project.

I don't even let myself go back and fix things until the second draft...where I end up changing so much I end up with a completely different story by the time I've finished. This got me through two "half novels" during NaNoWriMo last year (over 100,000 words between them both and neither is finished yet) and I've just kept up with writing that way.

Means I end up with a rather large amount of awful drivel, but I figure getting something on the screen is the major hurdle. Everything else takes care of itself after that. Course, I say that and I hardly ever share my writing with anyone... Embarassed

Viscountess of the Manor Joined: 20 Sep 2006 Posts: 1100

Nora Roberts always says she can fix a bad page, but she can't fix a blank one.
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-Kalen
w/a Isobel Carr
Ripe for Pleasure, May 2011
Book 1: The League of Second Sons
www.isobelcarr.com

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:05 am Post subject:

Thanks everybody. Very Happy

I'm not too sure my husband likes the fact that I've come across more books to buy...but I did box up nearly half a shelf on our wall-o-books to take to the hospital's book drive for the children's ward. So filling it up with new historical romance shouldn't be too bad. fies

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:21 am Post subject:

Forgot to post these earlier - Use these two sites for when I'm too lazy to head to the bookshelf (or as the current case may be - I can't actually get to the bookshelf thanks to a few remodeling projects going on)

http://www.behindthename.com

http://surnames.behindthename.com

Gives a pretty decent history on most names like when they were first used or regions they were more popular in, as well as noting which ones are considered "modern".