List your characters' names.

Major characters:

1.) Joel (last name currently unknown, by me and by the character)
2.) Margarita (as above)
3.) Tomasayas Muzio
4.) Urchin (no last name)

Minor:

1.) Father Time
2.) Mother Nature
3.) Death
4.) Lord Chaos

Very minor characters currently in the story:

1.) Doom
2.) Gloom

 

Major Characters
Anna and Hannah Roberts (twins)
Mitch Sanders

Others
Deangelo Ferraro
Antonio Mancini
Dante Mancini
Nicoli Mancini
Stefano Mancini
Giovani Santoro
Elizabetta "Liz" Carbone
Tom Kendall
Teresa Headrick
Kamilla Bozovic
Armin Bozovic

...just to name a few.

 

Brunt Thunderchuck

Ok Ok joking but I never knew how important a name was until i read a very good book, but with names that seemed confusing. So i had to keep going back to key scenes to remember who they were, as the names were a bit out there. So I would say yeah they sound awesome, but limit the weird names to maybe a key character so they remain distinct.

 

Are we listing random character names collectively, or the cast of one story we are working on here? I do not quite get it

 

Satyakama Jabala (Main Character)
Dattatreya Avadhuta (Protagonist)
Janaka Videha (King, somewhat Antagonist)
Hemachuda Maya (MC's love interest)

All (real) Sanskrit names.

 

This is the cast of characters from the story I'm working on for Nanowrite
Phineas - Mc
Orman - his twin
Helene a.k.a Honey - Orman's financee/Phineas's conquest a woman who loves being tug-o-warred over.
Mr. Dark - ex army general ( and villain )
Dr. K - scientist
Scarparro - ? haven't pegged him yet right now he's a shadowy figure.
Trevor - good friend

 

The original poster didn't really specify. In my case, I just used one book. I am sure there would be some members of the forum with way too many to list if it encompassed all their books.

 

I thought it would be characters from things we are working on now.

 

These are just from the first book in The Starshade's Legacy. If i tried listing them all from every book.... well...

Major:
Keitsumah -Sister of Ardoway ninth Starshade
Batos- son of Arrcafah twin brother of Bibindoe grandson of Gunthran

Minor (Secondary):
Arrcafah -father of Batos and Bibindoe (Shifter)
Ardoway- brother of keitsumah (Imirri)
Gunthran -grandfather of Batos and Bibindoe father of Celestia (Imirri)
Tohishaa- fake name for Celestia (Imirri)
Daedra- first Starshade (not going to list the other six....) (Imirri)
Bibindoe -twin brother of Batos grandson of Gunthran (Shifter/Imirri)
Daxiim (Shifter)
Ghoul (Shifter)
Timmeus- son of Elzeikk (Shifter)
Eiro (Human)
Gh'aadra- brother of Y'ana (Imirri)
Y'ana- sister of Gh'aadra (Imirri)
Axon (Shifter)
Celestia -mother of Batos and Bibindoe eigth Starshade (Imirri)
Xepheroth- dark spirit posessing Arrcafah
Zebennon- Dark spirit possessing Bibindoe
Elzeikk- father of Timmeus (Shifter)

Other:
Winter
Spring
Adaephus -source of Imirri race
Canus- source of Shifter race
Ellion- source of human race

 

Well, if it is from current works, this is the cast of my novelette. The others have a ridiculously large cast of minor characters.

Main:
Felus
Leanne

Minor:
Lisella (Cousin)
Lisette (Younger Sister)
Elena (Nursemaid)
Reyson (Father)

I tend to avoid surnames.

 

Scarlet Sapphire (Main Character)
Vincent Sparks (MC's 'husband' *snort, snort*) <-- don't ask =.='
Char Cerulean (MC's adoptive cousin)
Rem Heartright (MC's mother's friend)
Noah Light (MC's Adviser )
Elric Sapphire (MC's brother)

Minor

Eve Sapphire (MC's mother)
Jason Sapphire (MC's father)
Alphonse Blueoak (Rem's love interest / knight / adviser)
James Knightly (The Evil Dude / Adviser)
Charlie Cerulean (Char's Father)
Gale Navy (MC's adoptive father)
Ella Navy (MC's adoptive mother)

And that's about all of 'em for now. I haven't actually posted my story on here yet but these are the characters!

 

Major characters (present day):

Kevin Farrell
Rosa Tonelero

Supporting characters (present day):

Claire Farrell
Bill Farrell
Lazaro Tonelero
Haydee Tonelero
Maria Garcia
Mrs. Lambert
Sr. Bernadette
Fr. Hidalgo
Blair Hunter

Historical characters:

Too many too list

 

I am with minstrel, I would not bother to take those names in. My eyes would go over them, I would concentrate on the story and I know then, at some point, I would have lost the plot because I wouldn't know who is who and I would either have to go back or forget about the book, feeling irritated. Then again, fantasy names in Game of Thrones hasn't hurt the series!
In the end, you cannot please everyone.....

 

Character lists... no good for me. They are far too often subject to change for them to be wholly reliable for me to do. Many of my characters don't even have surnames yet, because I haven't even thought that far. So it would seem dumb for me to even list my characters here.

 

Do you change your characters' names regularly? Without knowing what you write, fellow novelists in my critiquing group and myself have found that it's really difficult to do that in a novel, because eventually the character just 'owns' that name. I'm tempted to change one of my main five characters first names because most of my characters first names are all two syllables which I've realised could get boring, but mentally it's amazingly difficult to do so...

 

Thanks for this post! I didnt even think to name the minors in my story. I just started writing.

 

Charlotte "Lottie" Judd
Andria "Ria" Leon
Evangeline Salem
Desmond "Des" Harlow
Ian O'Reilly
Dante Westerman
Lucas Mason
Bay Wilde
Eli Farron
Andrew Wilde
Jacqueline Rosier
Imogen "Immy" Rees
James Rahal
Silas Rahal
Seti Rahal
Lyle Emerson
Bailey Black
Piper Hawthorne
Valarie Hurst
Ethan (still needs surname)
Lucian Kim
Richelle "Ricki" (still needs surname)

All MCs, all from various different stories.

 

Yeah, I do frequently change character names, especially if I start hearing said name over and over in real life, or the names have become associated with a well-known character in established fiction. Though the character lists are difficult for me in real life because I often change the stories, and I have a tendency of cutting characters off the list if they are minor characters. I work only with major characters. If they do nothing for the plot, they get cut.

I have so many mangled lists because I frequently cut.

 

I disagree. I don't think most high fantasy readers want a knight named Jim smith, because its easy to pronounce, killing the dragon and saving the princess. The right name transports you to that world. Readers are smart people they can deal with tough names.

The tough names below are from a fantasy book that did ok.

Tar-Ancalim,
Ghân-buri-G
Inzilbeth
Khamûl
Calmacil
Calimehtar
Finduilas of Dol Amroth
Ecthelion of the Fountain
Azaghâl
Carcharoth
Hyarmendacil I
Fredegar Bolger
Eärendil of Gondor
Galadriel

 

Yes, @Threaver , but with the exception of Galadriel, does anyone remember who they were?

 

I remember Fred Bolger. (Fatty, I believe was his nickname!)

 

Let's see ...

Jószi (Yeo-zhee) Tatyaghi (later anglicised to "Joe.") - he's one of my two MCs
Jenő (Yenn-oo) Tatyaghi (later anglicised to "Jerry Tatum.")
Rob Buchanan
Jessie Buchanan - she's the other of my two MCs
Mhairi Buchanan
John (Iain) Buchanan
Caroline Carver
Ann Carver
Caleb Carver
Jimmy Carver
Dr Alexander Ramsay
Margaret Ramsay
Kepler Coleman
Bud Pryor
Lin Stirling
Frank Hightower
Shorty Merrick
Lee Huffmeyer
Pearce Wade
Mary Ellen Wade
Beulah Chamberlain
Minnie Becklin
Ritchie Wade
Hank
Gilman
Mose
Abe
Ned

My novel, Brothers, is set in Montana in 1886, hence the ethnic mixture of names. And yes, it passes the Bechtel test, despite the preponderance of male characters! The main setting is a ranch, and the people who work there are all men.

Many of these characters' names evolved as the story unfolded. Sometimes, for minor characters, I just chose a name at random while writing. Sometimes these names stuck, sometimes not. Trick is, of course, if you change a name midway through you need to go back and ring the changes throughout. Thank goodness for the 'search and replace' tool in my wordprocessing programme!

 

Lets see:

My two protagonists:

Tomas Vale
Uli Skarsen

The rest:

Morys Obelyn
Isolda Denys
Symon Strange
Raff Draper
Jon Denys
Denton Teeg
Ivo Atlee
Yezekael Per Mael Deniel
Will Proctor
Joy Proctor
Daisy Millar
Aya Ak Azza
Irya Ak Azza
Nirta Ak Azza
Ori and Ari Ak Azza (The Twins.)

And those who go by nicks, or whose full names are unknown:

Canker Bill
Bosun
Spotted Dick
Flynn
The First Mate

 

I love these names. They're odd, but memorable, and not generic fantasy at all. Some are short, some are long, some have gravitas, some are almost silly. I'm sure you can do a lot with the people carrying these names!

 

Ta, Jan.

Of the six more elaborate names, they are elaborate for a reason. The Ak Azzas for example. This is not a family name, but a name freed slaves from Alhadia give themselves. Deniel, is loosely based on an old Breton name, and he too is a foreigner only he was born in Varikslande. Will Proctor's name gets mentioned rarely, and generally only by his nearest and dearest. He is simply known as the Landlord.

I'm really happy with my protagonists names, in fact, I haven't had to do any settling. I knew most their names before I knew the ins and outs of their characters. My personal favourite is Denton Teeg. It came to me in flash when one of my characters describes him as having a 'smile like a rabid dog,' hence the DENTon, and the two E's in Teeg. I smile to myself every time I read it... silly, but what the hell, I doubt that occurs to most people when confronted by the name. It fits him so well, I can get away with a little self indulgence and humour at his expense.


An odd point to note about @jannert's wonderful Tatyaghi brothers. Despite their names initially feeling a little bit uncomfortable, because they were foreign to me during the opening section of the book, even when I now read 'Joe' and 'Jerry', I still hear 'Yeo-zhee' and 'Yenn-oo' in my head.