Comments on: Naming names: how to give characters names

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:37:07 +0000

I wrtie spec fiction so I have the advantage of making up names and using unique names. When I wrote my very first rough draft I had two names that I really didnt like and about halfway through the MS I went back and changed them using the find and replace feature. Years later I found one of the old names in the middleof the MS I couldnt believe it!

I pick up name books at the used book stores and thrift shops and use them alot. I have one that has a Japanese name section and it has saved my life this round.

I think, like our writing, the right name just feels right when we see it.

By: Trisha Puddle

Trisha Puddle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:47:46 +0000

Hi, Jordan. Sometimes it’s really hard to find a name that’s not the same as a famous person. One of the regular characters in my series of Molly Gumnut books has the same name as a famous actress in New Zeeland. When I originally Googled the name for this character, nothing came up, but now it does. I’m not published yet, but I don’t want to change it now. My critique group and readers (Including children) have grown used to her name. They love to hate her. (She’s a nasty, sarcastic, but funny eight-year old.) She’s nothing like the famous actress, the actress has dark hair and my character is blond and blue-eyed and her name is Angela Bloomfield. ?

What do you think? Should I change it? Or keep it?

Thanks, this is a great topic.

Trish.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:09:44 +0000

@Katie—That’s awesome. I seldom make up names before I have characters, but I think it could work either way.

@Lori—Personally, I don’t often go for unusual names unless it fits the genre, but sometimes I’ll go for uncommon names.

@Eileen—Comments were off? Oh, shoot. Fixed!

@Trisha—I’ve been very picky about my last names. It took me a couple weeks to pick out this latest characters’ surname specifically because I didn’t want his last name to send a message, or even be interpretable. Finally I realized I just needed a fairly common last name, so I started at the top of the surname frequency list and looked till I found a common/no message/nondescriptive last name that didn’t already have someone famous associated with it (esp in combination with the first name I stumbled upon after I decided I didn’t like my original choice).

@CKHB—Another good example! Thanks for the resources, Carrie!

By: CKHB

CKHB — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:53:12 +0000

“What’s in a name?” is the tag line for my current novel, so this is a big deal to me. Names and their meanings — and names as identity — are themes throughout the story. And I can’t stand it when authors use inappropriately “current” names for characters born years before. If you’ve got a character born in 1976, I assure you that she’s much more likely to be a Heather than a Madison. If the character NEEDS to be “Madison,” then you better you drop a line about how her parents were ahead of the curve.

I also like behindthename.com, last-names.net, and

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx

By: Trisha Puddle

Trisha Puddle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:30:17 +0000

Hi, Jordan, thanks for the tips.

I love naming characters. It took me two years to find the right surname for the MC in the series of children’s books I’m working on. I knew what first name I wanted to call her, but every surname I Googled was taken. Then I found a surname that fit her perfectly. She love chewing bubble gum and animals and lives in Australia. She’s the only one with this name in the world according to the internet. Then I added her middle name and I knew that was it. She’s eight-year-old Molly Mavis Gumnut and she rules my world at the moment.

I thought of the name Gumnut because I had named an injured butcher bird Gumnut. When we released him after his injured wing had healed, he brought a little gumnut and left it on the windowsill as a present. I think it was meant as a bribe for his favorite snack.

I try to pick surnames to suit the personality of the character.