i couldn't vote, either. i don't write original characters too often, but when i need one, i tend to be one of those people who just kinda sits back and goes "okay, what name fits this person?" sometimes i'll have to fret about it for a while, or leave it off until later and let my subconcious work it out. i don't use phone books, numerology, any other kind of superstition, baby naming books, or anything else, really.
often, i'll try to make do with just a first name, if i can get away with it. if not, i'll just make up a last name. if nothing pops quickly to mind, i'll randomly pick something generic, usually, unless the character calls for something else.
for the characters i've created for roleplaying games, the situation is a little different. there, i usually try to come up with something vaguely amusing (tho unfortunately not always memorable). i don't worry about it sounding "normal" or anything. i've played a wandering samurai named benni hanna, a blind pirate dog with a seeing eye monkey named rex (darn, forget his last name), a jamaican superhero who went by "supamon" (aka "the jamaican of tomorrow" aka "the man of steel drums" .. don't even remember what i threw together for his other identity), and a childishly created batman/iron man amalgam ("technoghost" aka "the guardian angel of the damned") whose name (kevin kenny) i chose to be both aliterative in the marvel comics tradition and composed of 2 first names in the DC comics tradition (also, mrs kenny was my high school guidance councellor), among others.
again, with those, i just kind of sat back and thought for a while about what would be appropriate for the character. <shrug>
Paul
