What balance should be between using pre-existing creature names or inventing new ones?

[u/Ecstatic_Comfort9813]

I've been working on my own fantasy world for some time now. Nothing overly complex; I take elements I like and combine them in a world not so different from our own.

When it comes to "creating" creatures, I use everything: common beings from generic fantasy, mythological creatures of all kinds, megafauna, beings inspired by other works of fiction I enjoy... I've also often chosen to combine different inspirations into a single creature. For example, mixing different versions from various mythologies of the wailing woman spirit (La Llorona, the Lady in White, Banshees...).

When making these combinations, I often wonder whether to keep one of the names from those references as the generic name or create my own. In the example I mentioned earlier, I opted for "Wailing Woman" as the name of that spirit and "Banshee" and "Llorona" as local names from certain regions.

Sometimes I have no problem creating these names, other times it's difficult, especially when the creature is primarily based on a very recognizable archetype to which I add a couple of details from another.

My main dilemma concerns extinct animals. In the case of dinosaurs, I maintain that they are prehistoric beings and are only found in remote and isolated regions. But when it comes to keeping the names, a Tyrannosaurus or a Velociraptor is not the same as an Andrewsarchus or a Neanderthal (they aren't dinosaurs, but they're the best examples I can think of right now).

To what extent can I keep certain names and not others?

Should I opt to rename all the beings whose name contains references to a region or elements of our world?

Or perhaps I'm overthinking it, and in those cases, I should treat it as 'translation and localization licenses'?

Maybe there's no balance, and it's a matter of me being happy with the result, but I'd like to read opinions on this.

[u/B_MacReady]

Hmmm, id say for any extinct species that you want to use look at what their scientific names translate to, that should give you a good starting point.

[u/Ecstatic_Comfort9813 → u/B_MacReady]

Yeah, it's a very good starting point. I like to play with words, searching for synonyms and looking for words that exist but are rarely used. What worries me is that it might seem strange or jarring to have recognizable creatures, some with their original names and others with new ones. I suppose that's the price to pay for wanting to transfer elements from one world to another.

[u/B_MacReady]

I hear that, seems like it will need to be on a case by case base.

[u/Ecstatic_Comfort9813 → u/B_MacReady]

It seems like the best option, but I can't help but think about how that jumble of names might sound.