Feedback on fictional writing

When writing fiction, more so fictional fantasy, I find it difficult to create names of cities, countries, etc. Creating names of characters usually comes a little more easier for me. So my question to my fellow writers is. What inspiration or motivation do you use when creating fictional city or country names?

Now do you think giving names to your fictional world is necessary? Sometimes I read books and I feel that the names authors give their worlds, cities, characters, etc just sound lame. It's almost like they didn't put towards any effort in creating their ideas.

I've come to a point in one of my writing projects that names are a absolute must in order for my series to make sense. So for sometime I've been struggling with creating names of countries that are not taken or familiar. But yet I wanted the names to try and resemble the countries they belonged to. 

I believe depending on the type of fictional writing you're doing the names can be crucial, especially in my current project, but I just want feedback. Hearing other peoples motivations and ideas are always helpful. Much appreciated. Cheers.