u/NovoxNova

I'd like to open with I'm a hobbyist so I'm not really trying to go too in depth/do too much research, and I'd like to ask to please keep that in mind! Also english isn't my first language so there might be some mistakes

Like the title says- how do I avoid having names sound too western? Specifically in characters. I'm working on high fantasy settings that doesn't necessarily take place in a setting where it would be appropriate. However, I'm having trouble with naming characters that sound like they've got blonde hair and blue eyes (lmao) or sometimes the setting would be in a "tribal"-ish(wording?) setting and of course trying to find a name for those are difficult.

I do utilize tools like name generators on occasion, but those can only do so much! Especially with surnames. I've looked at both fiction and non-fiction name generators but a lot of them just sound too western/just squish two English words together and call it a day (Hargrave, Thorne, Wildheart, Shadowfang) even though I've tried looking for names in different regions!

I've also watched many youtube videos on how to name characters, but they're more of the same advice (what fits your character, what fits the theme, the meaning, etc etc) that doesn't exactly answer my question.

What can I do to that can help me come up with names that WOULD fit in a fantasy setting but doesn't have the pitfalls of my characters sounding like they're some random white person?

I would also like to ask the same question when it comes to naming geography like towns and countries and such.

Thank you in advance!

I'm not the one who remembers the show, a friend mentioned it to me and we both spent hours looking for it to no avail. Also first time poster. Formatting might suck

The details:

• The protagonists are two children, one boy and one girl. Not teenagers or kids that's 1000 years old- actual kids
• The boy is older apparently
• They lived in a small town apparently
• They went through a tunnel (might be train tunnel) and when they came out the other side, they were in a different world
• Apparently this other world was WEIRD and not typical fantasy stuff with goblins, but it was weird
• They emphasized how the anime is super vibrant like they felt like "were on mushrooms or something" because of how vibrant and colorful it was
• The anime can't be anywhere later than the late 2010's since they said they were a kid when they watched it, but it can be older. But they said the artstyle was pretty modern

Factors to consider:

• My friends memory is shit, so some details might be wrong
• They don't remember any other detail like what the protags look like (or if the kids even are the protags) or the plot
• They watched it when they were a kid on youtube when we used to watch anime from a tiny window at the corner of the screen so details really might be wrong from what they remember