First post after ages of lurking, so hi all. Now on to my question: The story I'm currently working on is a mix of several ideas I've tried over the years. This has ended me with an old man named Ezra and a demon named Ezreth. Both occupy more or less central rolls as part of the main "good"/"bad" team. Now that I've finally noticed how similar their names sound, I'm beginning to wonder whether I should change one of them. Any advice/thoughts? Another name that's causing me trouble is the MC's best friend whom I named Darvis. While I quite like that name I'm unsure whether it should be Darvis', Darvis's or something else entirely. English not being my first language doesn't really help either... Thanks in advance for any input Ps: I hope I'm posting this in the right section.
I would probably change the name if and only if the names don't add to the team that they are. Sort of like how twins have similiar names. Otherwise, I would change one of them because I would get confused when starting the story. I don't know why, but similar names or similar faces in a movie always screw me up. In a story I started writing once, a name was close because the name was actually the same person but the name had been changed during immigration during the 1940s. Good luck on your story!
I would probably change the name if and only if the names don't add to the team that they are. Sort of like how twins have similiar names. Otherwise, I would change one of them because I would get confused when starting the story. I don't know why, but similar names or similar faces in a movie always screw me up. In a story I started writing once, a name was close because the name was actually the same person but the name had been changed during immigration during the 1940s. Good luck on your story!
I would change one of them, especially since both names are relatively uncommon (well, Ezra is not that common, and Ezreth I have not heard of at all, so it is even less common), and they have the very uncommon Ezr beginning. Anytime you can easily prevent reader confusion, you should.
In my current project, I find I have needed/wanted to change names several times. I agree with Chicagoliz. I would also add that, if they are a good/bad dichotomy and two different characters, you should probably make the names as different as possible from each other. Just a thought. Good luck.
Thank you all for you're input. Guess I'm going back to playing the naming game again. I'm just glad I noticed while pretty much still in the planning phase rather than 200 pages in. Honestly? Because I tend to overreact to some things and wanted to make sure this wasn't one of those times. Ps: If the above sounds defensive: it's not meant to.
This is uncanny - in my fantasy world, the magical energy/suspense that holds the world together is *drum rolls* Ezreth. Spelt exactly the same way as you. As it happens my realm's called Ezre, hence Ezreth - but these names are meant to be similar Strange to think of Ezreth as a demon now In any case, unless your characters have similar names for a purpose, as I did, then I'd change one to make it more different. Probably change Ezreth but then again I'm biased haha. To be honest I have the same problem - 2 of my girl characters are called Arlia and Avani and I can't tell if it's too similar-sounding, especially as they do appear in the same scenes towards the end. I even mistyped and swapped their names once or twice myself
To avoid confusion; yes! Darvis is fine as it is; if you start adding apostrophes (') they indicate possession or missing letters.
Change it to Azreth and it'd be different enough, but you should change it. Darvis, however, is wonderful!
