What’s in a Name?
Recently, my cuddle buddy Dave asked about naming characters and what strategies, resources, etc people use to name their characters. I remembered posting something in the past about naming characters and went in search of the post.
I finally found You Can Call Me Deadly Whispers from way back in October, but I was disappointed to find I hadn’t expanded on the importance of naming your characters the right names as much as I could have.
I said:
Picking that just right character name can be a real struggle because names can convey personality as well as giving the reader a loose image of what the character looks like. Think of the name Marcus for a little bit. Get a picture of him in your head… Now think of Lou. Not the same people at all, are they?
To expand upon that point a little, it is important when naming your main character that the name not only sound right, but the meaning not be completely opposite to the character’s personality.
Now, you could go ahead and name your main hero something that means “coward” or “fern leaf,” but you might come have a reader like me - someone who likes to look up name meanings. It’s going to bother me if your big, muscle-bound Adonis is named Erwin. Or Frankincense. (Unless you’re writing a humor. By all means, go ahead. And no insult to those who have those names.) Those are not the names that are going to inspire me to think of a big hunky hunk of a man.
Sometimes characters insist on being named one thing when you start out. Take Oslo from yesterday’s post for instance. He took the name Oslo and made it his name. Will I change it? Likely.
(For those of you who don’t know, Oslo is the capital of Norway.) Sometimes you have to overrule your characters’ wants.
There’s also the problem of naming a wizard Tom Cruise. Go ahead and do it, but I’m not sure even your mom is going to have an easy time with that gem.
Name your characters (at least your mains) like you’d name your child - you want to know the meaning, you want to know what kind of image the name inspires, and you want to know all the possible nicknames.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Did you see my whole discussion with Wylie Kinson about character names? That’s how my character of Walter came about. You should go peek; does my Walter fit your mental image of a Walter? Can a Walter be a rock star?
June 7th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
My characters often acquire names of their own designs. However, most of my characters have switched names at least once in the years I’ve been with them. I do pay some attention to what the names mean, but for me, it’s a more instinctive feel of what I imagine, say, a “Nicholas” to look, sound, and act like.
June 7th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
That cuddle buddy Dave would be me then
I’ve always had real trouble naming my characters, it doesn’t come naturally to me, and they always end up sounding cheesy and false.
I’ve got some great advice from Jaime, and Gillian though, and am not going to force it any longer, instead I’ll let the main characters choose their own names as the story unfolds around them
June 9th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Like Kate, I like to research meanings of names, but also see if the looks and personality I have in mind fit with the names I think of.
Very interesting topic
W.
June 10th, 2007 at 2:45 am
All - sorry for the late replies.
Susan - Could you send me a link, please?
I think the choosing of character names is definitely a balance of fitting the personality, breaking concepts - as I assume is what Susan is talking about, and sometimes putting your foot down with stubborn characters.
Sometimes I have too many “a” names in a story or something like that, and I have to change things because I can’t have big characters all with names like Alan, Alissa, Alex, Alice…
There is the element of working name diversity into your work as well.