# how many names did J.R.R Tolkien invent



## morgoth145 (Jul 22, 2012)

so i have started reading the silmarillion for the second time, and a question came to mind. how many names, which includes character and place names from all Middle Earth books, did J.R.R Tolkien invent/create?
any approximate answers you might have are very much welcome!


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## HLGStrider (Jul 22, 2012)

The only way I could think to answer this would be to grab my Robert Foster's guide to Tolkien and count all the entries (not counting those who share names like Aragorn I and II etc), and that would take forever.


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## Starbrow (Jul 23, 2012)

Counting all those names sounds like a treatment for insomnia.


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## morgoth145 (Jul 23, 2012)

perhaps a rough estimate could be made?


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## HLGStrider (Jul 23, 2012)

Is this for a specific purpose? Like if you are writing a book report you could safely say something like, "he invented hundreds of names" and be accurate but vague. If you feel like taking some time to do the research but don't own a copy of the book I mentioned, you could try doing something similar with Tolkien wiki. http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

If you notice it says it has 4,101 pages (on the main page of the link I just provided), you can guess that the majority of these are place and person names so that gives you some idea, but anything more accurate than that is a timely project that I personally don't feel like doing.


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