as Cyprus said, it's a personal, spiritual thing. people tend to incorporate colour, or an animal in their witches name [see Silver Ravenwolf] a method some people use is the numerology method, but even thin it can be tricky. basically the number of your real name has to be the same as your witches name. you write a chart like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
a b c d e f g h i
j k l m n o p q r
s t u v w x y z
from that you would determine your number from 1-9. we'll go with river which would be 9+9+4+5+9. you would then add this up until you get a number from 1-9. [9+9+4+5+9=36, 3+6=9] so your witches name should equal 9. [for example "fox" 6+6+6=36, 3+6=9 that would work as your magick/witches name] in the end though, you should be happy with the name, so if something comes to your mind and you really like it, then it's fine too.
I found something online to the effect of that chart, except it was kind of like a quiz, and when I got my name I felt like it was and wasn't my name. It said "Calicifer Nightshade" Was my name. I felt that "Calicifer" was correct, but there was something not right with the name "Nightshade". So does that mean that you don't always have to have a last name for a magickal name?
some do some don't my one friend and covenmate choose the name 'Fasterwolf' when he entered the craft almost 10 years ago. about 8 years ago he chose Jasper so i don't think it really matters. an ex covenmate just went with 'GreenFae' while another had this long name [can't remember she told me it had to include a bunch of stuff and it was long like 'purplevalley moonbeam tigerwolf' or something] as long as you feel connected that's really all that matters.
while i don't disclose my magickal name i used the neumeralogical method and came up with two, though i only use the last name.
i'm still fitting in and I don't have a witch/wizard name yet but everything the people have said about the name thing is right so trust these people and you'll be fine :):)
I went with Tomcat, because I love cats, and I'm a boy. So I went with a male "warrior" cat name.Tomcat felt right. That or eagle eye but tomcat won out