How do sci-fi writers invent names like Spock, Neytiri, or Muad'Dib?

It's not random. They use a few tricks:

1. Make a rule. Pick sounds that culture likes. Harsh K,G,R for warriors (Klingon), soft vowels for mystics (Vulcan). Stick to it.
2. Sound = meaning. Our brains hear big/dangerous in low, hard sounds - Vader, Zod. Small/clever in high, soft sounds - Yoda, E.T.
3. Steal and twist. Myth, history, real languages. Lucas got Vader from Dutch for "father". Cameron built Na'vi from Polynesian.
4. Start with character. A depressed robot shouldn't sound heroic. Hence: Marvin the Paranoid Android.

For movies, there's one extra test: Can an actor SHOUT it in battle?
KHAAAN! works. Xx'chlpth doesn't.

What's the best sci-fi character name you've ever heard?

Footnote - The Star Wars Naming Myth - take 3 letters of your first name + 3 letters of your birth town = your Star Wars name

Nope — that's a myth!

The "take 3 letters of your first name + 3 letters of your birth town = your Star Wars name" thing is just a playground/internet game. Lucasfilm never used it.

If they had, Mark Hamill born in Concord would be "MarCon" — not Luke Skywalker.

How George Lucas REALLY did it:

• Phone books and maps — Skywalker was in there
• Friends' names — Biggs Darklighter was a school friend
• How it sounds — Vader = dark / invader, Sidious = insidious
• Happy accidents — R2-D2 came from an editor shouting "Reel 2, Dialog 2!"

The 3-letter formula is fun for a party, but not how Star Wars was built.

/s