Thoughts on Character Names

For fiction set in the present, I use a common name for whatever period or region I am writing about. I spend very little time choosing a name. I usually go to Google and type in something like “most common boy names 1955” or whatever year the character was born, and then choose from the list. The reason I choose quickly is because I like to let the character own the name. Think of the common first name Michael. Now add the common surnames Myers, Corleone, or Scott. These three names evoke three very different images of a man created by the characters themselves.

In Euphoria-Z, Tug is the nickname that Abel Tugerson goes by. The nickname really says the most about him, evoking the image of a tugboat or a chronic masturbator who tugs a lot. I named him Abel Tugerson without thought and as his character evolved, the nickname emerged. I then rewrote the introduction of his character, introducing him as Tug from the beginning.

“Abel Tugerson, Tug to everyone and anyone since he could remember, stood in the bed of a beat-to-shit pickup truck as it rolled slowly down the 101. The truck was covered in rotten flesh and putrid streaks of gore.”

Of course, there are stories where research and thought is required such as a sci-fi novel with an alien race or where the character’s name might be part of the fiction, but mostly I just get it done so I can write.