does anyone else have trouble naming characters??

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by medioxcore, Apr 15, 2009.

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  1. love2listen

    love2listen New Member

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    I never use the same name more than once in a story, so if there are a lot of characters it can get hard. I dont really like reusing names, although there are a lot of Sarahs in my writing. :D

    The hardest was in my current story. Its a memoir, and what oh what to call the love of my life who broke my heart and affected me forever? I settled on Raphael, after the seventh archangel and patron saint of love, travelers, youth, and healing.
     
  2. medioxcore

    medioxcore New Member

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    man. you guys that don't have any trouble are lucky.

    for me, it's the hardest part.

    no names ever seem to fit.
     
  3. DvnMrtn

    DvnMrtn Active Member

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    I don't think names are overly important. I usually just pick the first name that comes to mind. Tim, Eric, Shaqeesha, Jordon, whatever. The only times I get picky with the names is if it serves a purpose to represent something.
     
  4. OneMoreNameless

    OneMoreNameless New Member

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    Ahem. Much like in real life, they don't have to. That's not how names work. All they are is a meaningless label for the purposes of communication given (effectively) randomly by their parents who don't can't know what that person would even be like to fit if it did matter.

    Please writers, stop needlessly stressing over this. It's not there's anything wrong with meaningful names if used occasionally, and if you particularly like a name by all means use that one, but this isn't something that matters to people reading your story. Nobody is going to put down a book because the two people they know called Dean have different personalities to your character Dean. All that matters and makes your character memorable is how well you write that character, not what you call them.*

    [/rant]

    * Disclaimer: Okay so being teased a child because of an old fashioned name, a character changing their own name for advertising purposes or a name contributing to deliberate gender ambiguity are a few examples where it could matter, but these are the exception rather than the rule and something you would have considered in advance.
     
  5. Neha

    Neha Beyond Infinity. Contributor

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    Actually I disagree with what OMN said about babies and names not mattering. I believe that a person's name "in most cases" tells a lot about a person's character. I do tarot, numerology, astrology, palmistry stuff, so I may be biased, but most of the assumptions and predictions I made to date have come true. That's usually how I make my first impression about a person. And I'm right in most cases...in fact my name--both my in usage name and my 'rasi' name, speak about me.

    But that was completely me, and completely off-topic. Ignore Me.
     
  6. OneMoreNameless

    OneMoreNameless New Member

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    No, that was on topic. For me to now call express my personal indifference and mild condescension towards those fields WOULD be off topic unless I could cleverly tie it in with the average reader, who would not possess knowledge from that field and therefore still be unaffected by character names or alternatively suggest that whatever hypothetically causes parents to often give appropriate names may well still apply to writers naming their characters by choosing whatever first comes to mind and therefore still nullifying, perhaps even more so due to the claim of coincidental names holding meaning, the need for writers to overly think about their characters names.

    Well that sentence turned out longer and more undecipherable than I anticipated.
     
  7. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

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    I do! I bought a book of baby names that included what each name means, so I use that to help me name my characters.

    Even with that, a lot of the time I'll get a few pages into the story and realize that the name I've chosen doesn't work at all...

    And in response to what OMN said about it not mattering to your readers what name you choose for your characters, sometimes choosing a name that fits isn't about pleasing the reader. Personally, when I'm writing about a character and his/her name doesn't work for me, it messes with my writing. I can't write a story about a girl named Lottie if that's not what her name is supposed to be.
     
  8. DvnMrtn

    DvnMrtn Active Member

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    I'm with OMN on this one
     
  9. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    i can almost guarantee that no one reading the thing will care about the 'meaning' you seem to think your names carry... imo, to work well in the story, the names should fit with the background of the character, not with any etymological connection...
     
  10. thegearheart

    thegearheart New Member

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    Camus would beg to differ. Why do you think the name of the main character in The Stranger was "Mersault?" I think a true coup comes when you get both a background match and some sort of foreshadowing into a single name.
     
  11. medioxcore

    medioxcore New Member

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    no no no.

    it's not that i am trying to put any sort of meaning or anything into these names. i don't care what the meaning behind the name is, and am certainly not straining myself to pick a name that my audience is going to love, when chances are, unless it's some super crazy name, they aren't going to think twice about it in the first place.

    all i'm saying is that FOR ME the names never sound right.

    and i hate it.
     
  12. OneMoreNameless

    OneMoreNameless New Member

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    There are better ways to foreshadow than convenient naming ...
     
  13. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Using double meanings within names is not really in vogue these days, but it isn't entirely dead either. Andrew Wiggin, better known as Ender in Orson Scott Card's novels, is an example where the name carries a double meaning.

    For the most part though, such names as Charles Dickens loved toi use inhis writing mostly come across as corny and heavy-handed to modern readers.

    Comedic pieces can get away with it somewhat more easily, but even there it can quickly become tedious.
     
  14. thegearheart

    thegearheart New Member

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    I would never suggest that you use a name as your only means of foreshadowing.

    Well, don't be heavy-handed. You can cloak your name in enough layers that it only comes out to the reader in the third or fourth reading. You can throw it in as a treat for some of the more worldly readers out there, who like to really digest a work. There's a difference between clumsily employing the tool and really using it efficiently.

    Of course, I've never done it, but I think it can be done well. It just requires a lot of imagination. Shakespeare, Poe, Oates, Hemmingway, Rand and others employed this technique, and as a modern reader, I've never found it heavy-handed.

    EDIT: Sorry! It sounds like the teeth are coming out here! Please try to read this in a calm and happy fashion.
     
  15. psyence53

    psyence53 New Member

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    I hate naming characters, no name ever seems adequate. I don't like using names of people I know either, which rules out a lot, but I might break that tendency because its far too restricting. Sometimes I think of the meaning, sometimes I use a complete opposite meaning name to the character, other's I just think what their parents were into, etc.

    But it's hard. Usually they end up working names.

    Examples - in one of my ideas, there is a female character called Nozomi, because she really is the hope in someone's life. In another, I called a female character Ellie because it seemed to match how I see her in my mind. She is the happiest I've been so far with a name. In that same story, the male character is called Ray. Like, a Ray of sunshine, but he is very depressed. In another I called a character Lexi because I liked the use of the letter 'x' but didnt like the name until someone said it sounded like "galaxy" and my story is sort of spacey (no its not a sci-fi). Another is currently called Connor, because of an Irish grandfather, but i'm not happy with it yet.

    It's interesting to read other people's experiences of naming, but I'm glad I'm not the only one with a problem. I have trouble writing unless I have a suitable name, or else the character doesn't feel real enough. I like unusual names, but my ideas are meant to reflect real people, I hope... grr.. :rolleyes:
     
  16. Obezyanka

    Obezyanka New Member

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    I got this tip from Australian young adult authoer John Marsden whom wrote a book on writing fiction.

    He had a paragraph on naming characters and what he has is a telephone book with the list of residential names, baby name books, Encyclopedias on ancient mythology and religion.

    Myself, I think of names from people I know. Oh and baby name books/websites. I used to hate going to the book store to pick up baby name books cause I was a teen and thought the person behind the counter would judge me. Why can't someone write a name origin book without the words or pictures with baby in the title or on the cover?

    I heard a charming name from my boyfriend "That would be a good name for a son "His Royal Highness James Willis" What do you think?" I head table.
     
  17. sophia_esteed

    sophia_esteed New Member

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    Well, a lot of people already answered, but oh well.
    Naming characters is also kinda my weak spot.
     
  18. xmollyx

    xmollyx New Member

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    I go to babynames.com, where I just browse names. Or, I use advanced search if I want a certain nationality or amount of syllables.
     
  19. Carthonn

    Carthonn Active Member

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    I see some of the greatest writers name their characters after people they look up to, who are friends and artists/writers (EX: Vonnegut - Kilgore Trout = Theodore Sturgen).

    I think that's a good idea. I feel like I would be disappointing the person I named my character off of if they turn out lame. Kind of forcing me to improve. Also it gives you a place to start at least.

    Oh I should add, I work in a law office with many files. I like to look through the file catalog and sometimes find interesting names. One I found was Krogmann, lol.
     
  20. burned_out

    burned_out New Member

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    It depends on my mood, mostly I just use names that pop into my head at the moment I need one, lol.

    If I can't think of a good one, I use a baby name book or website, or one of my friends names that I like. Its a bad habit, lol. I've actually used my own name without realizing it once or twice.

    Its pretty hard to come up with a good name sometimes. I'm almost never satisfied with my outcome, and I never get the chance to change the names, cause I'm always too busy to continue the story!
     
  21. Gallowglass

    Gallowglass Contributor Contributor

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    I use Gaelic names in my book. They have descriptions and patronymics. You could use descriptions and patronymics, as well.
     
  22. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    My protags just tell me their names. Just ask.
     
  23. madhoca

    madhoca Contributor Contributor

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    I find that once I've decided on the nationality, social background, appearance and age of the character it's pretty easy to 'know' their names. It's a bit harder finding names for fantasy characters, but that's where having a smattering of weird languages comes in handy...
     
  24. RomanticRose

    RomanticRose Active Member

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    Many of my characters come with a name. If they don't, my phone book collection fills in the gaps nicely.
     
  25. Emmy

    Emmy New Member

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    Names usually come to me easily. They pop right into my head, and fit.

    Now, if I try to change them into something more witty or unusual, then I run into a big problem. The two characters I'm writing about in my current project have been named a dozen different things for different stories, and I finally just went back the first name I thought of.

    For surnames, I use regional surname sites.

    Wow. I'm having deja vu. I could've sworn I replied to this thread...I hope I didn't miss it, and completely contradict my first post...

    ((((need sleep))))
     

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