I know it's been done countless of times before, but for some reason everyone seems to have problems with it. I happen to be talking about naming characters. During the weekend, I was up trying to come up with a name for this character in a new story I'm writing, and it's all been quite unsuccessful really. Here's a picture of what I thought her to look like: (picture removed by minstrel) I planned on making her like this simple-minded, beautiful fun-loving young girl with the innocence of a ten-year old. She's an immigrant from France, and has arrived in the States in search of a job. I plan on making this an adventure-comedy of sorts. What name do you think might best fit her? Any suggestions
It should be a name of French origin, but easy to pronounce and spell in English. Perhaps... Lili or Maia?
Just choose a French name you like and that's fairly easy for non-French speakers to pronounce. Just on a personal level, I get annoyed with characters whose name "fits" what they look like or their personality - how would their parents know how to do that? I actually like characters whose names are incongruent with looks or personality, but prefer just a name I can pronounce. "Oh, that's their name, fine, great, now what are they about?".
Depends heavily on how french you want her to come across. I actually toyed with building French names for a character (ended up rejecting them all) but found I liked the feel I got from from names with the prefix "St." and if you're character has that innocence it could work - "St. Jacques" and "St. Fleur" were a couple of my finalists. First names are a matter of what you want, how complex, whether you want something REALLY easy for Anglo readers to pronounce. She could work as a "Marie" or an "Anne-Marie" , maybe a "Bernadette" or "Madeline". "Veronique" might work if you're going for something a little hipper. I buy her as a Veronique. Personally one my favorite French female name to throw out is Ghislaine - and I think she looks like a Ghislaine - but that is REALLY french. If I'm naming the character I'm going with Ghislaine St. Jacques - but that's my taste. If you want something more boilerplate maybe something like Madeline Lefebvre or Veronique Cote.
I like Justine. June and Alice are also good and seem to go with the innocence naivety you want. Check out my link for some common french names http://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/fr/2011
An innocent French girl moves to the US "in search of a job"? Really? How does she get an entry visa? Why would she leave France, where all her family are, etc.? Is unemployment lower in the US? Does she have a special talent that Americas is crying out for but there are no jobs in France?
Speaking realistically - unemployment is indeed lower in the US than France. Especially for the young. That doesn't mean the US is awesome - it means France's youth unemployment problem is BAD. And getting in is possible - for instance give her a student visa or something as a start.
Admittedly, I can't speak for the US (and what knowledge I've got is largely based on TV documentaries), but my understanding of a student visa is that working invalidates them = deportation if you get caught, tourist visa ditto. So, she arrives on a phoney visa, without enough cash to support herself for the duration of her planned visit and the immigration authorities say "Come on in, everybody's welcome here!" ?
Student visas come in different shapes and sizes - I'm American so I've never looked into it here, but I've looked into Australia for my own purposes (stricter system than U.S.) and there are forms of student visas there that allow work for part time or graduate students. That, and the U.S. is an immigrant nation - we pride ourselves on that and people can and do come here looking for work and better lives (just ask my Nigerian pharmacist, my Eritrean co-workers, or the myriads of other immigrants in my city). A lo t of immigration systems are tough to crack but far from impossible and from what I hear the U.S. is not the easiest but not the hardest. If you want to split hairs, Canada is historically a bit easier, but especially coming from France I think there's a good chance she gets in the front door - or at least there's a way to plausibly write someone like her getting in.
The easiest thing would be to give her relatives in the States who can help her get in. Uncle or something.
I like Fleur, very French and pretty, sounds innocent I agree that last names beginning with St. are classy and French as well, maybe Fleur St Germaine? Otherwise something like Antionette, when she is in the US she could then be nicknamed Annie or something which is cute. I had a French character once whom I named Antionette Courfeyrac
