Character Name Suggestions?

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by rayemalice, Jul 21, 2010.

  1. rainy

    rainy New Member

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    I'm sure Harry Potter would agree :)

    Though definition of "usual names" may vary greatly here. My note is more to the people who have a trio of friends named Lumincia, Arquadia, and Xaarc but the story takes place in a 2003 highschool. Unless their parents were friends who had decided to name their children based on a random pulling of Scrabble letters, I'd drop the read just on realism alone. I see it in amateur writings online way, way too often. In real books, you get Harry (Potter), Bobbi (Tommyknockers), and Edward (Twilight, anyone?). Though an oddly named peer or two to mix it up isn't a bad thing.

    Unless of course the fictional world warrants a Bilbo and a Frodo.

    It's about what fits the story--and the character.
     
  2. Mr What

    Mr What New Member

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    I respectfully disagree. You could name a character Shiva Big Tits and if the writing was rubbish you'd still forget about her. Characters are memorable for their... um... character. Holden Caufield is not that remarkable a name. But he's one of the most memorable and transcendent characters of reasonably recent literature. Madame Defarge is memorable not for her name but her unexpected viciousness and blood lust. Patrick Bateman. Clarissa Dalloway... I could list more. A character doesn't need to have a unique name to be memorable.

    Characters are memorable when they are fleshed out, with well developed, well conceived character arcs and conflicts that are placed within the frame of an equally well conceived, well developed and well written story.

    So unless you have twelve Peters, twelve Pauls and twelve Marys in your story, I don't think names matter all that much be they pedestrian or otherwise.

    Just my opinion on the matter.

    ETA:
    Heh. This was what I trying to get at.
     
  3. rainy

    rainy New Member

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    I think I misread you, Cog. Were you refering to using the same names in the same story?? Agreed then, that would be atrocious.
     
  4. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Not even just the same name. Be careful of names that are too similar. Glenn and Ken, or Greg and Craig, or Mike and Mack. You might not even notice at first, but when you are proofreading, make sure your characters aren't blurring together due to naming or other similarities. At least if it's merely a name similarity, it is easily fixed.

    I've had to rename characters for this reason.
     
  5. Taylee91

    Taylee91 Carpe Diem Contributor

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    Yes, definitely. Names that begin with the same letter or sound? Eek!
     
  6. rainy

    rainy New Member

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    Yeah, those are good points that go for more than just characters too. Fictional city names, creature names, or what have you.
     
  7. Norm

    Norm New Member

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    I like to imagine who my character reminds me of that I know from my life. Give them that person's name, but changed around a little bit.
     
  8. Aurora Borealis

    Aurora Borealis New Member

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    I think the importance of a character's name depends on the character themselves.

    For example, when I write funny short stories, often I just use plan-jane names; I once wrote about poor old Raplh and Linda who had thirteen children, and the set up was so absurd that I felt plain names were needed to make it more realistic. However, sometimes I feel a character's name is essential to them and can spend days and sometimes weeks trying to decide. Sometimes you choose a name that doesn't quite "feel" right, and for some reason that makes me hold back on my character. It's weird!

    For some reason I want to name the girl "Red", as it is kind of kooky and mysterious like her, and also her hair colour. The fact that she is blind makes it kind of ironic. For the guy, just read names from newspapers, magazines, baby names etc and something will jump out! Best of luck! Aurora B.x
     
  9. Aurora Borealis

    Aurora Borealis New Member

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    I find creating characters so difficult! If I haven't planned a story, normally I just write and they develop themselves. However, at the moment I have a fully formed novel in my head and it feels like the characters are only secondary, and that I'm trying to make them fit in with the story line :-s

    I just don't know how to take them from bog-standard, two dimensional characters on a page to real living people....?!
     
  10. nhope

    nhope Member Reviewer

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    Usually I pick a name I love for the mc and write the story around it. Weird maybe, but it works for me.

    For all the other names I bought a baby names book that includes a brief history and time the name was popular. It comes in pretty handy when I'm stuck.
     
  11. Shiba

    Shiba New Member

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    For the boy I'm thinking Jim, though I guess any common name would suit him. I just thought a J would fit him best as the first letter of his name... letters are weird like that.

    I generally go onto the internet and find a list of names from the nationality my character is, and then just pick one that sounds cool and has a nice meaning.
     
  12. Tessie

    Tessie Contributor Contributor

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    I've wrestled with this question for a long time. I use to think there was a special formula of deciding names, but I've come to realize: it makes not difference whatsoever. It's completely your decision.
    The prospect of that, however, can feel alarming; and even though you try to pick names, they sound awful or so common that they appear uninteresting.

    You should just pick the names you want or the ones that sound pleasing to your ear. Like Cog said earlier, watch the credit lines of a movie or go online to name etymology websites (I find these very handy and informative).

    So if you want a real list of suggestions from me, just PM. I have a whole laundry list of names, both male and female.

    Good luck!
     
  13. B-Gas

    B-Gas New Member

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    This is something that old stories didn't bother with. Just look at the Arthurian character list. Galahad and Galehaut are seperate entities, as are Gareth and Gaherys, there are four seperate Elaines (one of whom is a rapist and one of whom is a suicidal romantic), and the two swords are called Caliburn and Excalibur. Good god the confusion is like nobody's business.
     
  14. Alexandra_Riera

    Alexandra_Riera New Member

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    when in trouble, I write the names with 3 capital Xs and then when I finish the story I go and get a list of baby names and choose one from there - I'm terrible at names and at titles.
     
  15. Three

    Three New Member

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    I'd stay away from deliberately weird or invented names. (Like Kaivan or Silandrial.) Some people don't mind them, but others can get really distracted. Stick with more traditional names just to avoid that problem. By the same token, you don't have to be limited to John and Caitlyn. There's an enormous amount of classic names, including those not used very often, to fit any character.

    This is what I mean. My main characters are Simon, Victoria, Kaleb, Johnathan, Ezekiel and Adrina. Ezekiel is a little odd, but he comes from a different time period, and his name needed to reflect that. I could have sworn Adrina was a real name but by the time she grew into it I figured out that I'd apparently invented it. The point is, it doesn't sound invented. And Adrina should be a name. :p

    Of course, there's always an exception that proves the rule. I read a really good book about a Petra once without problem. To be fair the author did acknowledge that it was a weird name, and explained that it was passed through generation. Because it was important to the family, it didn't seem so unnatural for the main character have such a weird name.

    Usually I look at a whole bunch of names, and my characters will jump on one and refuse to let it go. Baby name books help, or googling names by their ethnic group if it's important. I see the girl as something like Niobe, but it's worth noting that everyone who's posted sees her name differently. What we think her name should be doesn't matter nearly as much as what you think (or what she does).

    @ Aurora Borealis: You're in the right place. Start a thread, that's what we're here for. :)
     
  16. MissPomegranate

    MissPomegranate New Member

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    I'm not sure how much effort you want to put into this naming thing, but you could always looks up popular names for approximately when the character was born, because name popularity changes every year. It could add some realism, if you want to go through that extra work.

    If you want to use names that represent a character, don't make it too obvious. If your character has purple eyes, for example, don't say "Her name was Violet because she had purple eyes. She also loved to wear purple, because it was also her name. She wore a violet necklace everywhere, because she loved her name, Violet."

    Personally, I like choosing names that aren't usually thought of, but still heard of. For example, one of my characters is named Olive. It's a name not everyone thinks of, but I know three people with that name, or a variation (Olivia) so it doesn't seem incredibly random.
     
  17. Lothgar

    Lothgar New Member

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    On the assumption that your characters are set in the normal world (as opposed to being set on an alien or fantasy world setting), any name would work. Honestly, you are writing this story, pick the names that you personally like and give them to your characters. You can always change them later if you think of ones you like better. :)

    There is something I noticed about your character description that I found puzzling.

    A good looking teenage boy who isn't interested in the girls that swarm around him?

    It has been a long time since I was a teenage boy, but I seem to recall bubbling hormones, growth spurts and the emotional development that came along with puberty. Interest in girls was involuntarily high on the list.

    Is there some reason he isn't interested, or is his reason something to do with the plot structure of your story?

    Not really a criticism, but I'm just curious.
     
  18. fisherprice1

    fisherprice1 New Member

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    I like the name "Dexter" Highly uncommon.
     
  19. Shinn

    Shinn Banned

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    In my script, I've used common names that come from certain countries, i.e. Achlys Black, the female English-Greek PMC.
     
  20. cryssfox

    cryssfox New Member

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    I really like matching my characters' names to their traits. I'm very selective with their names and I spend a long time working them out.
    For example, in my first book my two main characters are called Sera and Lani. Not terribly uncommon names (Sera is an odd spelling but a common sound and Lani is one of the most popular Hawai'ian names) but their full names reveal a little more. Sera is short for Seraphine, a Hebrew name meaning keeper of the fire. Lani is short for Nalani, Hawai'ian for serenity of the skies. So now you know a little something about these two characters, but the meanings of the names are obscure enough that it won't pester you as a reader.
    I use online baby naming sites to help select names.
     
  21. KittyGoesRawr

    KittyGoesRawr New Member

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    Get a book of baby names. :3
     
  22. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    Just be careful not to make the names TOO fitting, otherwise it'll be cliche.

    If you need a fancier name, something like Victoria or Elizabeth or Olivia or Abigail would be a good fit.
    If you want a strong, tomboy-ish name, something like Syndey or Jordan would be better.

    What you DON'T want to do is give a goth girl the name Raven, or a hunter the name Hunter, or give them some ultra-exotic sounding name that's not fitting with their culture. This is trying too hard.
     
  23. mummymunt

    mummymunt New Member

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    Character Names

    I always have a great deal of trouble choosing names for my characters for some reason. Does anyone else have this problem? Also, how important is a character's name, in your most humble opinion?
     
  24. Tessie

    Tessie Contributor Contributor

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    Hi, mummymunt, I've wrestled with this question for a long time. I use to think there was a special formula for deciding names, but I've come to realize it makes not difference whatsoever. It's completely your decision.

    You should just pick the names that sound pleasing to your ear. Like Cog said earlier, watch the credit lines of a movie or go online to name etymology websites (I find these very inspirational).

    So if you want a real list of suggestions from me, just PM. I have a whole laundry list of names, both male and female, and a couple of sites.
     
  25. Trilby

    Trilby Contributor Contributor

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    For surnames I look in the telephone directory.

    I can usualy think up a christian name.
     

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