Names...what do you do?

I love writing names . I don't know why but names are one of my favourite part of writing, specifically because you can really give the name a character, instead of the character a name... if that makes any sense. Like, I'll just give them a random name that I don't even care for much, then it becomes so apart of the character that the name itself is something.... awesome. You know what I mean?

I guess my general love of name writing is a little ridiculous anyways xD.

Some people take forever thinking about a name for their character, but that's not necessarily because they can't think of any -it's because as writers, we all want the perfect for our characters. If you make the character first -which I think most people do -then it's harder to find the name. Then again, a person's opinion about what type of name is for a nerd, nobody, bad boy, etc., is always different.
I usually think about my character's personality before I give them a name, but sometimes I just string two names together and then develope the character's personality based on what I named them. [shrugs]: It just depends.

For me? I just choose the names that I think suit them. If that character sounds like a Bob, I name him Bob. I tend to go away from 'meaningful' names because, well, just because my name is also the name of a teenage witch doesn't mean that I'll be a witch too.

I love baby name books. I keep them one my laptop at all times. (For writing and naming my numerous Sims babies). That way, I'm never at a loss for names. If its a nothing, almost nonexistant character, then I flip to a random page and pick the first name that sounds right. If its a major character and I don't already have a name (I usually create characters based on names) I flip to random pages of the book, read three to five outloud, and flip again until I find something just right.
Last names I have a major problem with. Thank the lord for Google and Top 100 lists.