Crocodile Name Generator

Start at the place someone first saw the crocodile

Generate a few crocodile names and try them in a line spoken beside a fictional landing. Ord Glider could work for the animal someone recognized by the bend where it passed, and Ganges Tooth might suit a crocodile illustrated in a story set on that river. Try each with a detail that a speaker would mention. The name can belong to a picture, a river story, or the animal that a character is talking about now.

Give a longer title somewhere to live

Primal Sentinel might appear under a drawing of a crocodile beside a ruined gate. The full name can also be the title of a story a character reads. If another character uses a shorter form, put both on the same page the first time. Someone can read the long title, and someone else can point to the crocodile in the picture and repeat the part they remember. Then you can use the short form again without a second explanation.

Keep two crocodiles clear in the reader’s mind

If you need two names, say them in the order the characters use them. Ord Glider and Serrated Typhon give a pair of speakers different rhythms. Add an action near each name. One person can mark a bend on a map while the other turns over an illustration that shows a distinct snout. Read both lines without their headings. If it is hard to remember which animal is which, try changing one name or give one speaker a different object to point to.

Test the name on a picture with no animal in it

Keep two options and try each as a caption for a stretch of empty water. A branch, a landing, or an old boat could be the link to the earlier picture where the crocodile appeared. Read the name underneath and check what you remember about the animal. You could also have a character mention the name while telling someone about the same stretch of river. Choose the form that makes the earlier scene easiest to recall and sounds like something that character would say.

If both options work, put them in the same person’s first line about the crocodile. A quiet name that barely interrupts the sentence can be a better fit for that scene than the title you would put on a book.