All about those names!

[Chelsey]

Ayoola means “Joy of Success” and Korede means “Bring Joy”—how does this reflect their relationship?

[Kelly]

Korede's role is to 'bring joy' to her family-often to her own detriment. She is expected to help her sister be happy, to be successful, as a bride, a beloved member of the community, and, though her family doesn't know it, to bring joy for her entire family by keeping Ayoola from being jailed for murder.
She cooks meals for her sister's suitors, goes to weddings just so her sister can be seen and find a good man to marry, and generally acts as sister's caretaker, dealing with every issue Ayoola's selfishness, refusal to learn, and serial-killer tendencies cause.

Ayoola, on the other hand, is expected to become happy through her successes; her family has no doubt that she will be successful, and that she will find joy through it (like she did after her success with her first kill-her father). Her mother's convinced she'll find the right man and suddenly decide to learn how to cook or find happiness through wealth/love. She "still talks about Ayoola as if she were a child, rather than a woman who rarely hears the word 'no.'" All of Ayoola's whims seem catered to, and no one beside Korede notice her desire to do exactly has she pleases at all times. Korede's been taught to help her sister succeed, and she turns out to be all too good at it.

[Chelsey]

I defiantly think you are right - naming a character Bring Joy can immediately mandate that character to a service role in the family.

I just love it when authors do the work and hide hidden meaning in their works through names.

Although sometimes it becomes too blunt. I think a nice hinting at a characteristic is the way to go. Otherwise, I feel like it can become kind of flat and lazy.

Can anyone think of an example of it being too blunt? Like a character named Prudence who is overtly practical.

[Kelly]

Chelsey wrote: "I defiantly think you are right - naming a character Bring Joy can immediately mandate that character to a service role in the family.

I just love it when authors do the work and hide hidden mean..."

Before I lists these, just know that I absolutely loved that Roald Dahl did this, but Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull. Eight-year-old you knows EXACTLY who the villain is and revels in that knowledge. Also, Dickens once named a character 'Aged Parent,' which is a bit too on the nose, even for him.