What's in a Name?

Creative Commons photo by RecycleThis Some people may wonder where writers come up with the names of their characters. I’m not nearly clever enough to have allegorical names like in Pilgrim’s Progress, and names don’t just pop into my head (this guy’s a jerk, his name will be Milhous MacGillycuddy III, or she’s an sweet ingenue named Katrina).

Back in the olden days when a phone book was delivered to your house every year, I would use this ultra-scientific method of picking a first name and last name from different sections and then making sure the names mostly went together (Katrina MacGillycuddy, the Russo-Irish assassin with a heart of gold? Probably not.).

Nowadays, this method has entered the internet age. If you’re my friend on social media, you can pretty much guarantee I’ve at least considered your name for a character, particularly when I decide the one I had picked just isn't working or the character’s best friend doesn’t have a name but really should.

The fun part is when I intentionally pick a name to honor someone special in my life. Whether it was one of my outstanding students, or a friend or relative, your can rest assured the guy behind the counter at the burger place or the woman who’s taking pictures for the paper probably didn’t get his or her name at random. Will the person ever read the book and discover the literary “Easter egg”? Maybe, or maybe not.
 
Not knowing is part of what makes the creative process so fun.