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Naming Characters, is it just me?
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For the rough draft I sometimes use a name generator, just to give the character some kind of name. As the story progresses, I figure out what their name should be. Sometimes I come up with names that sound good or are interesting. Sometimes I look for names with meanings that fit the particular character.
I've been creating a whole lot of fake companies for stories, just so real companies can't be upset at me for using them.
Sometimes I will pull a name at random. Other times, especially if I'm writing an older character, I'll use the Social Security Administration's website. They have a list of popular names by birth year. If I need to make up a name, I usually end up Googling to make sure it isn't something already in existence.
Well, I keep a list so I don't repaet names. I even try to research the meaning of the names, and these will then give hints as to the character's role. It's never about real people, so if someone coincidentally with that name sees themselves in my fictitious characters it's really not my fault.
:-)
Anthony wrote: "Do you use the name generator on the net?
I think the names are important. I don't like this part, because I feel it betrays my narrow background.
I worry (a little) about the real people wearin..."
Let the character come alive long enough and he'll usually give himself a name. I've been writing long enough to have used a number of names in my arsenal twice, usually if I've decided to scrap an old project and start again. But that's because the same personality is emerging again. For example, when I was fresh out of college, I published a short story with a little mouse character named Toby Baker. Nowadays, Toby Fairweather is the little kid who follows Jendra and Leon around in Forgotten Princess. Toby had always been both a tagalong and a comic relief, so it just seemed to transition well. I get too many character names in your mind as a writer and I risk mixing them up. For example, even though Amnesia has discovered her own name now, there are places where I still find myself calling her Amnesia. And when I find it, I scream in horror, but the mind does funny things.
Rob wrote: "Why worry about real people?"I'm not worried about real people, but notorious people. There is an author who wrote an entire series about a character with my name. Big deal. However, If I decided to write romantic comedy about a woman named Jennifer Lopez who is torn between the flashy billionaire Harry Potter and the boyishly handsome Charles Manson, people are probably going to shy away from it. Now, those are extreme and well known examples, but the same principle applies. I don't want to alienate an entire market because my main character has the same name as the regional serial killer and I certainly do not want to be sued if they carry the same name as a character in a popular book/movie/tv show that I'm not familiar with.
Christina wrote: " I certainly do not want to be sued if they carry the same name as a character in a popular book/movie/tv show that I'm not familiar with. "Exactly! I wonder if the disclaimer is enough to cover me, if someone decides that I am making a cynical stab at them. Can I say, "I'd never heard of Obama before today?"
I like using anagrams and things like that.
Like Christina, I don't worry about ordinary people. I'd worry more about famous ones.I think it's just funny to see your neighbors' names in a story. It happened to me while I was watching a TV show I adore. Both my neighbor and his wife's name were mentioned. I mean, in the show there were two vampire lovers by the exact names and surnames. My hubby and I had a good laugh. We teased our neighbors about being vampires. No harm done. And no, they don't have common popular names either, so with all the books written, it's bound to happen.
I do the google thing when I'm coming up with alien races and names. It is very important to me that I use an original word for those.
C'mon, Charles, it's not that hard. My alien race the Bobsmiths have an original name. :P
See I would take that and name the race Sobithms or something. :D And they would be based on some dude I knew IRL named Bob Smith. :D
I forgot to add that it's true: Google is your friend. After googling my general's name, I found out there was an actual living general with the same name. That didn't work for me. Same name= fine, but add same rank? not so much anymore.
I guess it was a name destined to be general. :P
Mod
I'm not worried about real people, but notorious people. There is an author who wrote an entire series about a character with my name. Big deal. However, ..."
That sounds like a best seller Christina! As for names, I honestly don't care. But then again I usually don't care what people think about me anyways... Most the time I use my own mind for them, Though I will admit named humans is a lot easier.
Mod
When I write I use a very specific kind of naming rule. It is called the 'Do Not Name Characters Like Robert Jordan Does in The Wheel of Time' method. :)
After I noticed three main characters had sneaked into my series with a name that started with 'P' and two with 'M' I knew it was time to rethink what I was doing.
I got out the spreadsheet and started a new page. Many names got changed, and I ended up liking them more.
Now no main characters start with the same letter of the alphabet. The names are all varied and sound different when read and have different 'feels' to them (except the twins that have similar names on purpose). It helped the second group of Beta readers track the characters better.
I really don't think it hurts to keep track of how you are naming characters. It also does not hurt to read them out loud to yourself so they sound and feel different. Make out a list and see which letter you are abusing? Are you a J person or an A person? :D
Side Note: It doesn't hurt to google your realistic names and made up companies. The last thing you want is for your book's protagonist to have the same name as a notorious drug smuggler/ventriloquist or reference a nice date at a restaurant that in reality accidentally killed employees and covered it up by selling them in cobbler!
Why, C.B.? what's wrong with having Moraine, Egwene, Elayne, all in one book? I don't see the problem.
Mod
^-^ I cannot see a problem with those names at all!
C.B. wrote: "Now no main characters start with the same letter of the alphabet. I do the same thing--try to make sure all my main characters start with different letters of the alphabet, just because it confuses me as a reader. I usually look up surnames online for whatever culture my character is, or is based on, but with first names I just try to vary the length and use what feels right. Sometimes, it takes me several chapters to realize a name's not working for me. I'd never considered googling my character or place names, but I think it's a great idea.
My next book is about a poor boy from the projects who's discovered by a big-time promoter and becomes a huge Rock star. I'm thinking of giving him some off-the-wall name, like Elvis Presley. Does this sound at all like a believable scenario?
What a horrible name for a Rock Star, Ken! I fully expect the book to flop.
I usually feel a little weird when it comes to naming my characters, but usually for a myriad of reasons. This name reminds me too much of a character from this book/movie/show. That name is the name of an actor I'm not fond of. And I do squirm a little at the thought of naming a character after someone I know, mostly because I worry that the person might read a little too much into it. "I'm pretty sure you named the character after me because you hate me and that's why you killed them off." (Although considering the people I know, it would be said in a joking manner).
I usually save the character naming for last, in part to avoid this discomfort for as long as possible, but mostly because I like to get a feel for the character before sticking them with any old title. I'll usually go to baby naming sites since they offer names from around the world, plus their origin and meaning.
In the case of my fantasy novels, though, I just say a bunch of gibberish until I stumble onto something that sounds cool ;) I love fantasy.
Melissa, I also use baby naming sites from time to time; it's a pretty decent way to find a good name.
I used over half of my collegues last names from work in my books
Morris
Morris
Iffix wrote: "Melissa, I also use baby naming sites from time to time; it's a pretty decent way to find a good name."It's really nice. Although I do feel a little weird, sometimes, looking up baby names for a twenty to thirty something year old character who may or may not have the power to kill you with their mind.
Melissa wrote: "I usually save the character naming for last, in part to avoid this discomfort for as long as possible, but mostly because I like to get a feel for the character before sticking them with any old title. I'll usually go to baby naming sites since they offer names from around the world, plus their origin and meaning...."I don't know how you can do that. If I don't have the name ready, or at least what I think it will be in the final stage, I freeze and can't write. I have to have (or to think I have) the right name, or as close to it as possible.
I'm not a fan of baby names, but I do like the websites that have graphics for how popular a name was in so or so year. It makes it easy. For example, if I need a 200 year old name for a vampire, I search these years. It doesn't feel as awkward that way. :P
For alien names, I just make my own. I set some rules first and then the fun begins. (Rules such as it can't have an 'O' in it, or it has to have only 3 letters etc.)
For people, I'm typically able to come up with my own names. I've had a list of potential names I've been building on for several years, so whenever I need a new name, I just look for one on the list.When it comes to companies and whatnot, I do sometimes use name generators. If I find one I like, I Google it to make sure it's not something that actually exists, and if it does exist, I either go back and find something else or I tweak the spelling until it's different enough. I have a drug in my current story named xanix (and I believe I got it from a generator) but I didn't realize Xanax was a real medication so I may go back and change mine to something else.
@Melissa, I see nothing wrong with a 30-year-old sociopathic telepath named Susie. :P But when in doubt, you can also search for popular names by year.
Mod
"You will all learn to fear the wrath of the mistress of murder. Tremble puny mortals as you gaze upon the perfection that only a God of pure hatred could have made. Worship me humanity, and bring me your sacrifices for I am the dreaded Suzie! Bwahahahahaha!!!"
Totally works!
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.Long may my villainous sophont battleships Boris and Natasha reign supreme(ly evil!)
I tend to look for iambs and push them together until I get something snappy that doesn't sound like a Douglas Adams politician. If it sounds good, is shorter than three syllables, and fits the feel of the character, I'm good with it.
I also try to include at least one Western trope name, or a woman named Charlie who owns a shotgun in anything I write longer than 30k words.
Long live the intergalactic Pigman, Rooster Dukeburn, and his sidekick the two foot high reptilian, Elian Merigold Baroomba Jooplie "call me Earl," the Fourth.
The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon is a great book. It provides lists of male and female names used in different regions of the world and their historical meanings.It also gives surnames and the correct prefixes to use with them.
The reverse lookup lists common characteristics and then the names that derive from those characteristics.
And, it has the top ten U.S. baby names from 1880 to 2003 (my copy is the 2nd edition; there may be more a current, updated edition now).
It is a useful writing reference book to have handy.
I find that books that have characters with meaningful, appropriate names add an extra layer of complexity and intrigue.
C.B. wrote: "Iffix wrote: "@Melissa, I see nothing wrong with a 30-year-old sociopathic telepath named Susie. :P But when in doubt, you can also search for popular names by year.""You will all learn to fear t..."
I guess it can totally fit depending on who you're asking. My hubby would definitely agree with Sue or Susan for a psychopath name. In fact he knew one named Sue. And I'm not joking. :)
Mod
Perhaps Sue was just upset that his father named him that? :)
C.B. wrote: "G.G. wrote: "I guess it can totally fit depending on who you're asking. My hubby would definitely agree with Sue or Susan for a psychopath name. In fact he knew one named Sue. And I'm not joking. :..."i plead the fifth. I don't want her story on the Internet. She knows where we live.
I'm obsessive about new. I look at baby name websites to find ones that fit with cultural backgrounds and meanings for my fantasy series
Iffix wrote: "@Melissa, I see nothing wrong with a 30-year-old sociopathic telepath named Susie. :P But when in doubt, you can also search for popular names by year."Well, it's more the scrolling through these cutesy baby name sites with baby images and baby themes and all the baby trappings, trying to find a name for a powerful and scary adult. It's like scrolling through pictures of kittens and puppies being adorable while listening to Rob Zombie. My brain can't quite compute it.
G.G. wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I usually save the character naming for last, in part to avoid this discomfort for as long as possible, but mostly because I like to get a feel for the character before sticking the..."Heh, yeah, I'm the complete opposite. I need the character's personality before I can give them a name. In fact, it's usually the character that comes first before there's even a coherent story.
But I think it's also because there's no guarantee that the idea I come up with will be written, and since I hate using a name twice for two different stories, I like to wait until I'm actually ready to write the story before giving the character a name.
Melissa wrote: "Iffix wrote: "@Melissa, I see nothing wrong with a 30-year-old sociopathic telepath named Susie. :P But when in doubt, you can also search for popular names by year."Well, it's more the scrolling..."
See, my brain can't compute why anyone would listen to Rob Zombie. (Respectfully denied.)
There's also (random google search) EVIL BABY NAMES! (Good for all the evil babies out there who puke too often and fill their fresh changed diapers and feed their baby food to the floor.)
We think names are very important and need to fit the character. So we don't use a name generator. We make up names, we combine names, and many, if not most of our names, are probably some real person. Since a name cannot be copyrighted, I doubt anyone can sue because your character and movie character and some real person share a name. If the name is at all common -- and most of ours are (Phillip Lawrence, for example) -- there are many people with it. So we don't spend time searching the internet to see what names bring up, unless there is some specific reason -- usually checking on variant spellings. Obviously, there is little point in picking names that are strongly associated with famous people, unless you have some specific intent in mind. In the US (at least), public figures are pretty much fair game: they essentially cannot sue for any fictional use, even if it's clearly intended to be them. (And if the try, you get the Streisand effect.) But unless you are writing satire, doing will probably just turn off some readers, as Christina points out.
We also like really long names, especially when they can be shortened to a single syllable. We like one-syllable names.
I usually google all my character names, but just last week a beta-reader pointed out that one of the kingdoms in my story was called Kelvar, which is the name Tolkien uses for his fauna in the Simarillion.Dang!
When I googled it, the "Tolkien Wiki" was the first search result that came up immediately. Of course I will now rename the country.
I also googled 'Breon', which popped up as the last name of some people, and an australian company that makes security systems. Since my kingdom of Breon protects the rest of the continent from an evil invasion, I thought it was fitting and left it at that. But Kelvar needs to change.
Mod
Micheal Bolton from Office Space, and Brittany S. Pierce from Glee would be the prime examples of using a famous name ironically.
I use a name generator sometimes, if I'm stuck for a name or need an ethnic name, and often I modify the name I get from it. Or sometimes a name will just come to me. Most of the names in my first novel were names I came up with before there were name generators. I needed a name for a Pakistani character, and so I asked a Pakistani visitor to give me one. I used the first name he gave me, and altered the last name.
I give my characters working names just as the books have working titles for a while. Once they develop their personas and how they appear to others, their names should express this. For example, in “The Gardens of Ailana” we meet an insensitive truck-driving lout of a woman named Marsha. Those who see her as manly unconsciously tend to call her Marsh. - In the same novel we meet Paulette. Troubled by a cruel Southern fundamentalist upbringing she hides behind a sense of humor to deflect anyone trying to look too closely at the ugliness she carries inside her. In one of the opening scenes she explains her name to someone: “What can I say? My mom liked old movies and new testaments. Don’t ask. It’s a long and sordid story.”In “Entertaining Naked People” we meet the narrator’s very strange girlfriend: “Charli was tiny, high energy, and socially unfettered. She serenaded me in belches as she drove. I called her Hummingburp.”
A book is at its very best only when every word counts. This most certainly includes the names of the characters.
I find names important and I usually have no issue in creating good names for my characters. I make it a process and think really hard before deciding on the right name. In the case of my latest novel I had to look at lists of Chinese names which was definitely a lot more complex then usual. I don't like using generic or common names as you want to make your characters stand out and the first way to do that is by giving them a very unique name.
I went through the same thing with one of the main protagonists in "The Mourning After". His father had no use for religion, rushing through grace at the table like he couldn't wait to spit it out. He was proud of being Irish though, and felt that somehow condemned him to being Catholic. So we knew he was Irish, but didn't want any TOO comically common name like O'Brien. So this became the only time I have ever used a word list for a character. I found him an Irish name to match his persona: Unusual, poetic, somewhat classy but not oppressively so. - And thus Denis became Denis TIERNEY. I figured in the back of some people's minds would be the actress Gene Tierney. They may not be able to recall it, but for some reason they might find themselves identifying some of her characteristics with Denis.
I've never used a name generator. One just pops in my head when I think of a character's personality. It usually sticks but I have been known to change my mind.
Sometimes even if you can think of a good name it's good to use a name generator. That way you can either use what it gives you for other characters or maybe it helps you come up and mesh and better name.
I've never used a name generator as my characters usually name themselves although for a couple I've wanted an unusual/uncommon surname so I've used Google to look at lists of names.
My protagonist's name, was what my mom was going to name me if I was a girl. All other names I think in terms of root nationality. I go to the foreign name sites a lot because I use international characters. I know the character already so when I see the name on the list it just pops out.
I think the names are important. I don't like this part, because I feel it betrays my narrow background.
I worry (a little) about the real people wearing the names that I hit on.
I googled "Enorpa" (my fictitious company) to ensure that there was no company with that name.
Is it just me?