A Name to Ruin Them All

So I am currently struggling to find a name for a character. When I had a perfect name for her. Till someone in one of my critiquing group pointed out that some people might associate the name Muirgen with the name Morgan Le Fay from Arthur.

So it got me thinking about other names that cannot be used because they are so associated strongly with one character that its difficult to set them apart.

Like I can't use the name Holmes or Sherlock, and they could be not used together. Or you can't use the name like Arthur in a fantasy setting without the association of Sir Arthur from the tales.

 

Richard is a ruined named out the gate. For short it is Dick.

My brother's name is Patrick, but goes by Rick instead of Pat.
Try something like that.

 

Yeah. I was thinking Muirenn instead, but IDK. It kind of looks and sounds ugly.

I sort of chose names based on how they look written, but how they sound as well. There's a nice ring with a name like Muirgen, Morgan, Morgana, or Morgane, something is very pretty about the "G".

The fantasy novel I am writing, I am trying to both have a medieval, but ancient quality to the names. And I am trying to have a name that conveys her beauty through her name. Muirenn makes her sound like an old grandma who sits on a rocking chair and weaves scarves.

I need the name that conveys beauty and cunning, not just in the meaning, but in the way its pronounced phonetically.

 

Oh! Okay! Here I was tearing myself apart to finding a new name for her.

 

I don't think you could use Sherlock and not have people think of Doyle but Holmes might be an acceptable name. I happen to know a B. Holmes and an A. Sherlock myself, actually.

 

I didn't want to use the name Sherlock.

I was more stressing over the name Muirgen. It's actually a name I don't use often in my work and I actually have a fetish with the name. Despite me never using it in any of my works, until recently, I love the fuck out of the name.

 

Muirgen doesn't do it for me, honestly. The Muir part is good and there are lots of names with g in them that sound beautiful but Muirgen looks ugly to me for some reason.

 

Its Irish. Actually the funny thing is Muirgen is from a completely different mythology, about a woman who is turned into a mermaid thus "muir" and then baptized and turned back into a woman. Muirgen means "born from the sea". Muir meaning "sea"

Morgan is the English alternative and depicts the woman we all know as Morgan Le Fay.

 

I really don't think it's that big of a deal. Even if people do think of Morgana ... eh. But Morgan also isn't a particularly uncommon name - it's not a Sherlock or a Merlin. 'Arthur' also makes me think Dent and Weasely, for instance. Oh, and Aardvark, hahah.

It's just a name. People have associations with names. One of the first original characters I ever made was named Morgan, so I'd probably think of her (and Morgana, and Derek Morgan) when I read 'Muirgen', but it's not going to ruin the book.

 

I don't think I'd make the association.

As name connections go, "Muirgen" ain't "Adolf".

 

Should Col. Smith and Dr. Lecter not have been named after the Carthaginian general?

 

I don't know. Its what was told to me in the critique group I had today. And was overthinking and stressing her name.

 

I need a bit more assistance on names apparently. So double post. But, do you guys think the name Phelim is too difficult to pronounce? And would cause a roadblock in my novel?

 

I don't think it would be difficult to pronounce, or at least guess at pronouncing, but it makes me think of phlegm. If others have the same reaction, it may not be ideal.

 

That was not my first association when I saw the name, Phelim as an angelicized form of Feidhlim. Which I find Feidhlim more weirdly unpronounceable to look at then Phelim.

 

Who is Morgan Le Fay? Honestly I don't see any connection between Muirgen and Morgan, and even if I did, they look (and sound?) like totally different names and Morgan is fairly common.

I agree with BayView on Phelim--in fact I actually read it as phlegm the first time around. However, once I'm into a book, I can often get used to a name and eventually see it as a completely different word so if you really like it, I say keep it and see what your beta readers say.

At least you don't have the issue I had where the name I totally made up was actually a commonly known disease . . . yeah, had to change that one.

 

I think Hannibal Lecter was a cool name, and I think you can make Muirgen a cool name