List your characters' names.

Haven't got all of the last names figured out yet.

Blue Ferris

Soldier (mental state somewhere between a drug effect and a split personality)​

Mark Freeman
Marcus Freeman
Taya
Faith
Alyssa Sherman
Melissa Sherman
Dawson Sherman
Braxton Sherman
Teal Branford
Sammael
APAP
Pinkerton

 

I posted on this thread awhile back when my novel was still called Free Souls and I've been dying to get back on with my latest/final list of characters. Now that I'm done with the big rewrite of the book I've rechristened The Single Eye, here goes:

(BTW, characters in brackets [name] are referred to, but don't actually appear and/or speak)

Alexandra Marie “Sandy” Beichten, architect; female protagonist

Roderick Beichten, father (deceased-- alive at time of Prologue)
[Karen Fleming Beichten, mother]

[Grandma and Grandpa Fleming, Karen’s parents (deceased)]​

[Dr. Mark Beichten, physician, elder brother]

[Melanie Beichten, Mark’s wife]​

[Larry Beichten, airline pilot, elder brother]​

Carole Peabody Fenton, lawyer, friend ever since childhood

George Fenton, lawyer, Carole’s husband
Robbie Fenton, Carole’s son​

[Pat, a friend from high school]

[The Rev. Dr. Alec Wallace, childhood pastor (deceased)]
[Mrs. Trumbell, childhood choir director (deceased)]
[The Rev. Dr. Kennerdene, present-day pastor]

Jeff Chesters, former college crush; architect turned Hardt terrorist operative (see below)
[Marvin Jansovic, environmental equipment rep, former college boyfriend]
[Werner Edelstein, musician, former college boyfriend]
[Bradley Welborn, computer geek, one-time date]

“The man in the apartment below her,” neighbor
[Mrs. Lopez, neighbor]

​

Eric Edward Baumann, architect; male protagonist

[The Rev. Mr. Norbert Erickson “Norrie” Baumann, pastor and missionary, father]

[Mrs. Rheinhold, a parishioner]​

Adela Schmidt Baumann, mother

[Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt, her parents (deceased)]​

[Ruth Adelaide “Addie” Baumann, elder sister (deceased)]
[Gretchen Louise “Lou-Lou” Baumann, elder sister (deceased)]
Paul Dietrick Baumann, accountant, younger brother

Sophie Lang, Paul’s fiancée
[Stevie, childhood friend of Paul]
​

Leah Matthews, trendy shop owner, soon-to-be former girlfriend
Lisa, a waitress
[Miles Pinter, fellow architect and friend]
[The Allisons, friends]
[Jen and Allen Watkins, friends]

Chuck Stiegel, Eric's business lawyer

​

(Sandy and Eric’s common friends, clients, and employees):

DeeDee and [Sol] Weisman, clients
[Louann] and Jameson McCullough, clients and friends

Jim McCullough, their son; Eric’s part time employee
Elaine McCullough, their daughter
Megan McCullough, their daughter
[Varnell Gates, Jameson's employee]
[Les Whittaker, Jameson's employee]​

Sheila and Jacob Ryerson, clients and friends

Annette, their maid​

Sam Delkirk, Jacob’s business partner; client
Stella and [Stanley] Eisenbaum, clients
[Mr. Millerson, client]
[Theophilus “Phil” Duggins, prospective client]

Roxanne, his secretary
​

[Reg Byfield, fellow architect]
Mike Laurence, fellow architect
[Rosie Crenshaw, fabric rep and Mike’s fiancée]

Bill Worthington, general contractor

Ruth Parrish, employee

[Harley Parrish, her husband]​

Neil Hughes, employee
[Homer Tahatan, would-be employee]

​

Nick Hardt, born Cole Rutherford, real estate entrepreneur turned white supremacist terrorist; antagonist

[Eileen Dozier Rutherford, wife (deceased)]

Mack Dozier, her brother
Ed Dozier, her brother​

[Wava McCool, maternal grandmother (deceased)]

[John Joseph Bennett, her father (deceased)]
[Ephraim Bennett, her uncle (deceased)]
​

[(Mr.) Ventnor, arsonist, Hardt operative]
(Mr.) Pratt, Hardt operative
Dr. Ivan Turner, nuclear physicist, Hardt operative
[Ralph Blankenship, foot soldier]

[Nelda Blankenship, his wife]​

[Jonas Greene, assassin, Hardt operative]
A good many terrorist lieutenants, guards, torchbearers, lackeys, minions, operatives, foot soldiers, etc.

Al McNair, a rival

​

Public safety officials

Various city firemen
Various city policemen, detectives, etc.

An emergency room physician

Ken Rutherford, sheriff of Payne County; Cole’s brother

Lila Rose, Payne County dispatcher​

John Sturgis, sheriff of McAllister County

Junie, McAllister County dispatcher​

Various county deputies, state troopers, etc.​

 

I found that interesting to read. I never thought about listing 'characters' who don't appear or speak, but who are merely mentioned. I'll go back over my own novel and see if I have lots of those. I don't think I do, but I might surprise myself! Are the ethnic connections of your names important?

 

I'm selecting surnames for my second novel, and have run into a challenge. The novel is set in 1886, and part of the novel will take place in Boston, of that period. I am trying to cook up surnames that sound as if they are 'Boston Brahmin' families (I need two of these) but I can't risk picking actual Boston Brahmin family names! This is a work of fiction, and I don't want anybody going 'hey that's my family, and that didn't happen!' I've got a list as long as your arm of potential candidates, but now I have to back check them to make sure they aren't real. Fun. Actually, it IS fun, and I'm unearthing lots of other details I can use in my story. The joys of research.

 

I love this list! You already sound like Terry Pratchett. I'm particularly fond of Clinkertoon Hankerchief! Have any of your characters got 'middle' names? I see a few of them have nicknames.

 

Names of the characters in my super hero parody, the Dumb Blonde Avengers:

Sue Veneer
Norma Leigh Lucid
Kerry Oki
Charity Case
Anna Stetic
Ginger Vitus
Brandy Anne Koch
Tanya Hyde
Barb Dwyer
Sal Minella
Hugh Jass
Jack Hoff
Robin Banks

 

Now that im on book 3 i should change this

the main characters remain mostly the same, with the addition of Lorai (now called Iaro) becoming a main character alongside Esmari Irontooth and Zari, who get introduced late in book 2. Lori Togarbaec has been a character right the way through, she isn't quite a main character but she isn't entirely a secondary character, although she will be crucial to a plot point later in this book and the beginning of the next book.

a character named Tyr appeared and disappeared within the second books (through mistrust and other such things) Arkalo and Jaksa got killed within the previous book as well, taking them out the list

Also, quite a huge plot point involving Caspiar Seolran's sister/Lori's mother - Alaya Togarbaec will be happening later in this book as well, where she becomes quite a central character.

*Note* Jaksa and Zari both don't have surnames, this is because they both have held at some point (Zari still does) high military positions in one of the countries within the plot line, they have to strike out their surnames when they get to this point as its part of the norms of society

 

Yes, the ethnic connections are key. I tried to consider the historic settlement patterns in my imaginary city and its region as I selected names. And given that the antagonist is motivated by ethnic and religious prejudice, it was important to show the ordinary people his hatred is directed against.

I was surprised, myself, at how many key players don't actually have scenes or lines. "So-and-so called and said . . . " "Whatsisname needs us to . . . " "Oh, gosh, this happened to Whosit . . . " ---there's a lot of that, given the nature of the story.

 

I came up with the name "Blaine Coddington" for the Boston Brahmin boyfriend my FMC turned out not to have, even in the big backstory section I cut out. You can use it or some form thereof if you like . . .

I know most if not all of the Separatists (Pilgrims) came from East Anglia. Not sure about the Puritan founders of Boston. If you could research those origins and pick appropriate UK names that are not shared by actual BB families, that should do the job.

 

i started The Colour of Magic on the plane home from Prague, its amazing!

 

Is that your first Terry Pratchett? If so ...you are in for one heck of a long-term treat. Fortunately he is a prolific author.

 

I'm on it. It's very important that at least one of these families in my story has a WASP-y type of name. It's going to be a bit of a contentious part of an important sub-plot, and the 'family's' actions are not praiseworthy. So I really really don't want to call them by the name of some actual, long-established Boston family! Fortunately I have good sources for Bostonian names from that period, so I hope I won't goof.

 

yes it is, I thought it best to start with that series

 

Most people like the Night Watch series best, but they're all good. So many great characters, and what's wonderful, many of them reappear in other books as well.

 

cool seems we are going off on a tangent a little here!

 

So ....what did you say your characters' names were again...?

 

For which series? my current one, the one on hold or the one i'm planning?

 

Which ones do you like the best? The ones you're actually working with, or the 'potentials?'

 

well i like all of them (else why would i even be considering them?) my current one ive listed on several occasions (as it keeps bloody changing!) the other two i haven't... the one im planning has a TON of characters! (i mean seriously,, there's 56 of them! O.O) and the one I've put on hold has a lot, but nowhere near the one thats being planned

 

Hey, whatever it takes to populate your world.

 

Thanks! I've included all the middle names I've come up with thus far (which is none ... ). There will probably be a few more in there by the time I'm finished with the project. Given that I'm relatively unlikely to mention every character's middle name in-story, I'm probably not going to devise middle names for most of them, though I may end up using names of characters that don't make the cut as middle names for other characters. At the moment this project is essentially a "name sink" for all the silly names I come up with that I don't currently need elsewhere, so I may end up including them in other projects entirely. Here are some of my character names I haven't mentioned in this thread yet:

Martin Jenkins
Archerus Peurce
Petski Boyens
Mulligan Williams
Invimmal "Invi" Game
Brandon Ptaszynski
Peter Lande
Stephen Sones
Eoghan O’Flaherty
Billy the Chemists’ Son
Rosie Palms
King Argon II, son of Argentina Turner
Fsh the Eye-Less Fish
Baboom the Baboon
Howard York
Leopold Schimmelpenninck
Gangjeon Bit-na
Aaqilah Burhan
Keo Phu
Li Fung
Wakwa Magora
Jennifer Cooper
King Lantroc
Queen Ild
Prince Cradul
Prince Erdhar
Prince Hocmuo
Prince Dackew
Prime Duke Jilk Waters
Duke Pent Waters
King Waldur
Queen Veldora
Prince Faldahan
the River Giant
Buyrc, the town crier
Darrcqueh, the evil overlord
Jackett "Jack" Wright
Anaconda Deaths
Catie Ellie Selina Harper
Gregory Andrew "Greg" Anderson
Logan Luke "Liptir" Eagan
Mark Freshwater
Andrew "Andy" Mortensen
Adam Mortensen
Jonathan "Jon" Freshwater
Douglas "Doug" Freshwater
Eleanor "Ellen" Freshwater
Mary Stowe
Aaron the Aardvark, the human supervillain
Ali "Bag-Dad" Khazraj
"Professor Cold-Blood"
"Doctor Ten-Brain"
"Interbellum Man"
Konrad the Wreckmeister AKA the Human Wrecking Ball AKA Comrade Konrad
"Commander Commando"
"Mister Middlesex"
"Puking4U Kid"
Richard the Ball Boy
"the Impersonator"
Simon “Quatreyes” “Quat” Reyes
John "the Hebrew-speaking man from the Hebrides" Hamilton
Brian "Britain" Jones
Brian, Man of Darkness
"Chairman"
"Kant Man"
Mariella the Instant Dance Instructor
Melody the Method Actress
Captain Jason Christian Maryland
Colonel Tomaon Tyrael Blyste
Mark Stentt
Helen Walty
Brian Hudson
Mirimand Jeffs
Sue E. Side
Simon Jeremy Engelbrecht Brickwall

As you can see, the characters are fairly ... disparate (and I seem to have a particular affinity towards the names Brian and Mark).

 

What fun! These are actually great names. They would stick, or at least most of them would.

 

I made these characters mostly in pairs.

Dillon Morningstar (Male Lead) (Demon)
Eiko Hinode (Female Lead) (Kitsune)

Nathaniel (Guardian Angel)
Andrea (Shy Chaos Witch)

Chance? (Lucky Human)
Hitomi (Airship Tsukimogami)

Alice Liddell (Daughter of Calliope)
March (The Mad March Hare)
Declan (Golem Mad Hatter)

 

Seeing the sizes of some of those lists doesn't make me feel so bad for posting this list for the series "Quoth The Raven" that is currently in its planning stages, and ive seperated it out into houses.

Cybril

Lord Jerimi Cybril (Father)
Lady Riana Cybril (Mother)
Lady Serah Cybril
Lord Isara Cybril
Lord Vesania Cybril
Lady Zara Cybril


Dracona

Lord Warrell Dracona (Father)
Lady Wisteria Dracona (Mother)
Lord Wyvern Dracona
Lord Bonamassa Dracona
Lady Asha Dracona
Lord Paine Dracona
Lord Reks Dracona

Pheonix

The Ever Faithful King: Lorda Rheanglor Phoenix
The Ever Faithful Queen: Damis Ariane Pheonix
Lordi Blackstar Pheonix
Dama Arianna Pheonix
Lordi Rhean Pheonix
Lordi Gilheim Pheonix
Dama Arya Pheonix
Lordi Storm Pheonix
Dama Yui Pheonix

Hybria

Lord Hywel Hybria (Father)
Lady Wolfen-Lee Hybria (Mother)
Lady Sephra Hybria
Lord Jawain Hybria

Morphosi

Lord Dahshiel Morphosi (Father)
Lady Emeri Morphosi (Mother)
Lord Karsten Morphosi
Lord Marquez Morphosi
Lady Snow Morphosi
Lord Wyatt Morphosi
Lord Atlas Morphosi
Lady Regan Morphosi.

Ulstrix

Lord Beaulieu Ulstrix (Father)
Lady Gaia Ulstrix (Mother)
Lady Ilaria Ulstrix
Lady Juniper Ulstrix
Lady Holly-Mae Ulstrix
Lord Jareth-Riyan Ulstrix
Lord Valentino Ulstrix

Noumenon

Lord Chrisovalntino Noumenon (Father)
Lady Aubriella Noumenon (Mother)
Lady Adrienne Noumenon
Lord Paisley Noumenon
Lord Tameriane Noumenon
Lady Morwena Noumenon
Lady Beatrix Noumenon

Xerix

Lord Sayyid Xerix (Father)
Lady Bellatrixx Xerix (Mother)
Lord Jarren Xerix
Lord Leander Xerix
Lord Kelsey Xerix
Lady Emereld Xerix
Lord Simmion Xerix

The Raven

 

Some of you people are writing hugely complicated stories, obviously! We have some Tolstoys on this forum!