How do you name your World? (Or nations, etc., for that matter...)

[Ascension]

I don't put a lot of thought into naming things, mainly because I'm not making my own personal world or anything like that. It's not personal. I do, however, put a lot of ear into names...they have to sound right. If I say it out loud and it sounds dumb then I change a letter here n there and see what it sounds like. I like my random places to have a musical flow to them. When I'm in a creative mood I try to evoke the other senses and when I'm feeling whimsical I like to tickle a rib. So I guess that you could say I like for things to sounds right and I rely on my current emotional state to evoke the names. The metanames (countries, continents, worlds) just pop into my head after I have done all of the other naming...that way it sort of grows or evolves and feels more natural. Oftentimes I'll say to myself that I want this place to sound Russian or Persian or whatever so I make up stuff that sounds that way.

When I do plan things out down to the tiniest detail I know exactly what the people dress like and think like, what they manufacture, what they import/export, what their religion is like, etc. so this makes things easier. For me, when I get stuck or feel non-creative then I'll hit a generator but I never take a word straight from the generator because of the above criteria. Gleitneklsd might come out of a generator but I play with it until I get something like Gleiten or Glettenskold, or if they be hobbits then it's something like Gibbenbotty, orcs would be Nightskull, English would be Glencurry. For me, it's all in the sound.

[zenram]

Well in my case i name the places of my world "Divero" mostly straight forward, there is a continent with the shape of a dragon so it is called Nogardrios wich is something like "Im a Dragon" in spanish and spelled backwards. There is a continent which has the shape of a dagger and is called Agad, again dagger in spanish and spelled backwards. XD

When the names dont like me i just add some "t", "r"; "th", so they sound a little more mysterious.

For natural features, towns and the like i just take the logical approach, if its in a pine forest its called evergreen and the like.

Of course, many cultures have their own languages so the places still have names like that but in their native language, or with the names of their heroes or gods.