Does it happen to make up certain names of characters or places only to find out they actually exist in real life?
Eg: I once named a fictional country Khaokhya and I saw a documentary saying there was actually a civilization existing in North America by this name.
In another story, I named a fictional warlord K'shesh.
When googling it just for fun, I found a user by the same name on a social network.
In another one, I named a female spy character PK only to find out it's a real name beared by real people.
It's getting frustrating, because I try making up unique fantasy names and it's sad.
I'd never ever make up a character called Spiderman and think I came up with it!:))
I even saw this happen with other works as well, where two games have a character named Talos(in Zeus:Master of Olympus it's a monster based on Greek mythology, and in Skyrim it's a heroic emperor worshipped as god by some people).
Funnily, I saw on TV an English prosecutor named Harry Potter. No kidding.
Why and how does it happen? How can you prevent this without having to name a character Kzxll'k just to be (almost)certain it has an unique name?:)
Yes. When I want to make up a new name or word I start with Google. Also if I want my name or title to come up top in a search I do the same thing, sometimes changing a single letter so if I ever want it to stand out in a search it will separate it from the rest.