Naming Characters

[Helen]

I've posted a blog "What do you do when your hero just won't tell you his name?" I'd like to hear if others have had similar experiences and how you've handled it. http://helencjohannes.blogspot.com/

[Nancy]

Sleep on it. The subconscious mind does wonderful things when you let it. It won't always be obvious -- sometimes you'll dream about something entirely unrelated -- but then doyng! You know that's it.

[R.A.]

I named my character Rima more as a place marker than anything. I didn't intend to keep it. But the character and the name kind of grew together. Anyway, if you think about it, how many people get to chose a name that 'fits' them? Most of us are so tied to our upbringing that we simply keep the names we're given at birth, even if we wouldn't have chosen them for ourselves. Maybe you can just open up a baby book and pick the third one on the page, or something. If you hate it later you can always change it. I hope you find this helpful or at least entertaining.

[Laurel]

I actually go to online baby name sites to find the right names for my characters to match up a core trait about that character with a name that reflects those qualities and resonates to my ears.

So my characters are named by meaning. If I can find a double meaning from two different languages, all the better.

For example: my planet Beinan went through about twelve different names (places are characters too!) until the double meaning (depending on pronunciation) came to me.

Spoken as Bei Nan, it means "north south" in Chinese. But spoken as Bein - An, it means "beautiful" (Tolkien Elvish) "peace" (Chinese).

Central character Anlei is Chinese for "peaceful tears."

I think you get the idea.

Mine are very meaning-centric.

[Brenda]

Yes, names are very important. It is worth putting an important one into Google, just to see what kicks up. It would be annoying, if a famous porn star in Belize has the same name as your hero.

[Laurel]

Brenda wrote: "Yes, names are very important. It is worth putting an important one into Google, just to see what kicks up. It would be annoying, if a famous porn star in Belize has the same name as your hero."


One way I've avoided that is by taking one part of a name or word that is real and then adding a few letters to it that sound interesting.

[L.C.]

I have a great tip for authors. The Social Security department has a section on their website for most popular baby names by year! My writing group said the names in my book were too dated. I had Timmy, Trixie, etc. So I went to http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/
and look for popular names the years my characters were born. Then Timmy became Dylan and Trixie became Chloe. Really updated the story.

Fun resource.

[Justin]

I have a knack for coming up with names but putting the right ones together or using the right ones all comes down to precise thinking.

[Laurel]

Since I write medieval science fiction, people expect unusual names. So I tend to look up Celtic and Anglo-Saxon names to help me with that -- along with my Chinese-English cidian (dictionary; three years graduate study of Chinese and all it helps me with is naming people, places, and objects) -- and of course, Tolkien Elvish.

Both Corann (central male character in my first book) and Aisling (love interest to Lord Knight Elendir in my second book) are Irish names.

Just googled Aisling -- I had no idea it was a very popular name in Ireland in 2005! Wow!

[Janelovering]

I'd just add - make sure that your names are easily pronouncable (or at least look as if they are). Some of the Celtic names (Conchobhar, for example), make the reader stumble as they try to say them to themselves as they read. I have a friend who won't read any novels set overseas, because she can't pronounce the names! Readers need to be absorbed into the story, anything that makes them stop and try to work out how to pronounce it, pulls them out of the story.

[Martin]

I have a four hundred sided die I toss onto my desk at the beginning of every new story I craft. Whatever name it lands on, regardless of absurdity, is what the character being explored will be called.

If, by virtue of the die toss, the ultra serious, ultra deadly, ultra hard hitting super agent in my sci-fi tale ends up being called Shaneequah, then damnit, he's gonna be called Shaneequah.

Hey, don't hate the name, hate the player, right? Exception: any purportedly deadly agents named Shaneequah.

[Helen]

These are all great suggestions. I have the baby book with ancient and modern versions, but I hadn't heard about the Social Security site. Trying to create a spelling that reflects the way I hear the name is often the most difficult part for the fantasy names I use. Celtic and German are my main inspirations.

When I wrote the blog about the hero of BLOODSTONE, my fantasy romance that releases Oct. 28 on Amazon, I had a different problem. He was literally refusing to be named. As I continued writing and learning about him, I found out the reason--and it was key to his character and the central conflict in the story.

Has a name ever unlocked that much for you?

[Laurel]

Janelovering wrote: "I'd just add - make sure that your names are easily pronouncable (or at least look as if they are). Some of the Celtic names (Conchobhar, for example), make the reader stumble as they try to say th..."

What is "easily pronounceable" varies from reader to reader. For example, I suck at pronouncing Latin -- even though I end up singing a lot of it with my background in medieval music. But most of the other singers I know, they find Latin a complete piece of cake. By contrast, I studied Chinese language for three years in graduate school -- Chinese being spoken by more people in the world either as a native language or trade language than any other. So when I see something in pinyin or when a reader in Asia sees something in pinyin, there's an instant connection to it.

Reality is that readers come from all sorts of linguistic and cultural backgrounds; there is no predicting where in the world a reader might be from or living and this is a good thing; we want our books to be read by a variety of people.

So I really don't name based on my perception of what will or will not be intuitive to someone; IMHO trying to do so is a losing game.

Instead, I name from dozens of languages, real and fictional. People will decide how they want to say it in their heads. It may be right, it may be wrong, but does that really matter?

[Martyn]

I have a lot of Dutch character names. I did change one last name from Quaedflieghe into Vermeer, because the first name was just alphabet soup. However, if people cannot pronounce Manfred Kiekendief, Bram Merleyn or Katla Sieltjes, they should brush up on their Dutch... :)

[G.G.]

Some people will have problems with even the simplest names. I had a friend who read Death Gate Cycle and we talked about it often. Every time she would mention the protagonist, who had an easy name, she would mess it up. She was calling him Halpo instead of Haplo. So really, when you think about it, no matter how you name them, people's mind will see one thing and keep it through out the story.

[Martyn]

As an aside, don't give names that will confuse the reader. There can only be one Will(iam)/Bill in the story. Be wary of bland names like Dave or David, because if you have a David and a Peter, the two are bound to be confused.

Don't be too creative with names either. Quetzalcoatl only sounds good on paper, as does Shub Niggurath, and Nyarlathothep. Even short names like Cthulu can trip people up. So, unless you're writing Lovecraftian horror, keep the names of your characters short and sweet.

Be aware that many names will project an immediate image in people's minds. If you give a young woman a name like Berenice, people will wonder if she's named after her great-grandmother.

[Laurel]

Martyn wrote: "As an aside, don't give names that will confuse the reader. There can only be one Will(iam)/Bill in the story. Be wary of bland names like Dave or David, because if you have a David and a Peter, th..."


I actually do have the same names on some of my characters. My books are multi-generational. My second book, "Ghosts of the Past" spans four generations and takes place three generations after the first book.

People name their children after parents, grandparents, and so on. Heck, if I recall, Prince William and Princess Catherine named their son "George" after Queen Elizabeth II's father. Henry VIII's mother was Elizabeth of York -- so of course he named his second daughter Elizabeth (I).

To be credible, I have a few characters named for their ancestors, both immediate and further back. Do I think people are overly confused by this? Not really.

[Martyn]

Laurel wrote: "I actually do have the same names on some of my characters. My books are multi-generational. My second book, "Ghosts of the Past" spans four generations and takes place three generations after the first book."

As long as you call grandfather William and grandson Billy, I don't think readers get confused. Call them both Will and you might confuse readers.

Laurel wrote: "Do I think people are overly confused by this? Not really."

The trouble is, if I hadn't received feedback by readers on some issues, I wouldn't have thought anything I wrote would ever by confusing.

[Laurel]

Martyn wrote: "Laurel wrote: "I actually do have the same names on some of my characters. My books are multi-generational. My second book, "Ghosts of the Past" spans four generations and takes place three generat..."

I think whether or not something is confusing depends on the situation. If you have two major characters, father and son, and both are named George, then yes, I can see some confusion. The people I know where they are named after their parents, often one is called "junior" or some sort of diminutive is used for the younger. Example of that would be father is Laurence and son is Larry -- even though both are legally Laurence.

In my books, there is a larger separation of time. The Corann of book one is long dead by the time the Corann of book two is born. So as long as you realize where in time you are, I don't think that is confusing.

[Brenda]

Laurel wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Yes, names are very important. It is worth putting an important one into Google, just to see what kicks up. It would be annoying, if a famous porn star in Belize has the same name as..."

Google on it anyway. I have no idea what language they speak in Belize, but it may mean something there.

[Brenda]

Remember that real life (the kings of England) and fiction do not have to track. Just because there were 6 or 7 Georges in the royal family does not mean that your novel can have that number of similarly-named guys. Give your reader a break!
If you have read Tolstoy or Dostoyevski you know how hard it is when many characters have similar names, and then nicknames or diminutives on top of that. You need a chart to keep it all straight. He was of course writing historicals; but if you don't have to do it, don't!

[Laurel]

Brenda wrote: "Remember that real life (the kings of England) and fiction do not have to track. Just because there were 6 or 7 Georges in the royal family does not mean that your novel can have that number of sim..."

Brenda: I write medieval fiction. So yes, I do have to follow history.

That established, my feudal nobles are not nearly as intertwined as the historical ones. I went through just the Tudor dynasty with a friend who is also a medieval history person. I think my books are about 1/20th as complicated as you see in the historical Tudor dynasty.

[R.A.]

Martin wrote: "I have a four hundred sided die I toss onto my desk at the beginning of every new story I craft. Whatever name it lands on, regardless of absurdity, is what the character being explored will be cal..."

I like your style.

[R.A.]

In general, I agree with avoiding similar sounding names in fiction. In the book I'm working on now, however, I do have some characters with similar names because of the culture they are in. I think as long as the characters are real enough to the reader, they will keep them straight. Beta readers have been okay with it, anyway. My problem is when I'm reading something and the secondary characters have similar names. I lose track of who is who.

[Brenda]

I think someone calculated once that the majority of men in medieval England had one of about five names (Thomas, Richard, Edward, Henry, and I forget.) Anyway, the way the populace worked it out was nicknames. Ned, Ted, Ed, Eddy, Woody and then it's on to Longshanks, Jughead, Farter and Dopey.

[Helen]

Marie, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes you as the author learn so much about the character from that struggle to name him or her.

[R.A.]

Brenda wrote: "I think someone calculated once that the majority of men in medieval England had one of about five names (Thomas, Richard, Edward, Henry, and I forget.) Anyway, the way the populace worked it out w..."

That sounds like Russia.

[Lynda]

I once read a book in which the main character's name was Allison, and her daughter's name was Alyssa. Why?? That was what I kept asking as I continually had to remind myself which person I was reading about in a given chapter. Of all the names to choose from, the author used two extremely similar ones. It wasn't as if she had so many characters that all the good names were taken, either; there were about five people in the entire book.

In fact, as I think back to that particular novel, I recall the main character was so absolutely unlikable that I didn't want to see her name in any form by the time I got halfway through.

[Kelly]

My last book I actually used names that fit the meaning of what role they played in the book. For example. I used Hannah for a girl who had the ability to heal, but only at the cost of her own health. Her name meant "Grace of God" and that's an underlying theme.

[Jenelle]

Helen wrote: "I've posted a blog "What do you do when your hero just won't tell you his name?" I'd like to hear if others have had similar experiences and how you've handled it. http://helencjohannes.blogspot.com/"

I've not had any characters not tell me their names. I have the opposite problem, actually, a character told me his name was "Marik." And I didn't like it. However, by the time I finished writing the book, his name had grown on me and I couldn't think of a beter one... and of course, that made him all smug and superior, and now there's no living with him.

(I'm not crazy... I don't think)

As far as my process for coming up with character names, I go into that in my own blog post here: http://jenelleschmidt.com/names/

[Jordan]

Helen wrote: "I've posted a blog "What do you do when your hero just won't tell you his name?" I'd like to hear if others have had similar experiences and how you've handled it. http://helencjohannes.blogspot.com/"

I've been known to make overt threats. "If you don't tell me your name, I will assign you one, and I guarantee you won't like it." Invariably, they are forthcoming in fairly short order.

It's interesting to me that so many of us work this way, that we see our characters as coming to us with their stories.

I've found names in the strangest places. One of the horses in Sword of Hemlock is named Dersea. Kind of a neat name, until you realize that I was staring blankly at the cover of my son's old copy of Microsoft Undersea Adventure trying to think of her name, and the un-DERSEA adventure jumped out at me. Kinda sucks all the magic right out of it, doesn't it? Fortunately, she's not an important horse in the story. :-)

[John]

I give all my characters the same name. It's confusing for the reader but makes writing the book much easier.


John





http://amzn.to/122cnyF

[Brenda]

The hero of my current WIP is named Jack. I don't even like the name. But he insisted on it, and what's a poor author to do.

[Jordan]

I had a character barge in recently and simply announce that her name was Mithyan, and she is supposed to be in book 3. It took some coaxing to get her to tell me WHY she is in book 3, but she finally did, and yes, she belongs there. But that was a little disturbing...