Inspiration for Fantasy Names
For inventing names of continents try using the names that reflect the culture, history, landscape, or mythology. You can also use names of discoverers, or descriptors of the continent’s position in the world. Consider how easy the names are to pronounce when reading.
Look at names of real countries in the region where you are setting your fictional country, and try to match the pattern. For example, there are several real countries in south Asia with names ending in “-stan”, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kazakhstan.
Constructing Fantasy Worlds
You don’t have to have a constructed language to have a legitimate fantasy world. Use real-life as inspiration for your fantasy world. Observe how other cultures live, how they interact with their environments and each other. Define the setting and create inhabitants.
Tips for Naming
Here are some tips that will help you name continents:
- Brainstorm and make a list of ideas related to the continent’s special features.
- Choose the name you like most that suits the continent.
- Many names are rooted in the landscape.
- Ask yourself what grows there, what animals live there, or if there are notable features like cliffs or waterfalls.
Using Name Generators
Be consistent. Nothing ruins a serious fantasy map more than mismatched names. Easy pronunciation makes names memorable. Appearance and story shape names. Pay attention around you for ideas. Focus on what a land represents. Look up related words for origins. Efficiency and creativity align. Name generators swiftly provide options to perfectly catch mystical essence.
Personal Experiences in Naming
I’ve used "Silaris" for ten years from childhood created fantasy language. Though much changed, it still fits.
The Origins of Continent Names
The continents as we know them now are an integral part of our geographical understanding of our world. As important as geographical boundaries are for national and cultural identity, so do names count in our conception of who we are and where we come from.
The Romans discovered a land opposite the Mediterranean and named it Africa, which can be translated to mean “land of the Afri” or “Afer”. The name began expanding when several Libyan provinces were added. Though “Australia” was used unofficially for years, it wasn’t officially adopted until 1817.
The idea of naming continents came about during the exploration age in the 16th and 17th centuries when people explored, drew maps, and divided the world into blocks called continents. Asia, which covers 29.9% of Earth’s land, may come from the Greek word the historian Herodotus used to refer to the Persian Empire. Europe was likely named after Europa, one of Zeus’ lovers in Greek mythology who he abducted and took to Crete.
The continents as we know them now were named and conceptualized by Europeans through exploration and colonization starting in the 16th century.