So a boy is found in an abandon shack. He is 13. He is severely injured and taken to a hospital. They search for parents or any relatives and find none. The boy has no clear memories of anyone he might of known or his past and is sent to an orphanage as nobody comes claiming to know the kid. They search for any records of anyone who looks like him who the kid might be and come up with nothing. Most importantly to my question, the boy doesn't even know his own name, and their does anyone. What do they call the boy?
I assume they'd just pick something. If I recall correctly, in Brat Farrar, the matron of the orphanage closed her eyes and pointed at a page of...maybe it was the phone directory. And then cheated and did it again because the first name was awful.
Great! I've been looking for a way to work in a character called Studly McSexmonkey! @TheApprentice : does he have anything with him that he or they might draw a name from? I can think of one series where a character of similar background is named Johan, because he has a picture book with him in which 'Johan' is the only named character.
McLovin aside, I don't think that most 13 year old boys would actually want a name like that. A child that age would, though, certainly have some say over what name they ended up giving him. Anyone could suggest almost any name for any reason -- a nurse, or the head of the orphanage or a social worker, or lawyer or doctor could say he reminded him of some character from his favorite book or movie, or he reminds her of her brother, or they just read a magazine article about some celebrity that had something in common with the boy - the list is endless. Incidentally, when and where does this take place?
In Joseph Heywood's new series, the main character is Lute Bapcat. He was a foundling and the orphanage named him using the three religions that had churches in the town - Lutheran, Baptist and Catholic.
I've heard of dumpster babies being named after the cops/people that found them. First and last names.
I know a lot of times, what the name is depends on the dominant religion of the area. If it's a Christian area, they'd probably give him a common Christian name like John or David. Now you have a name, and you can extrapolate about how that character feels about that name (honored, because it's a name from the god of this area, or sad, because it's rather generic and not terribly individual?), as well as say something about the region your story takes place in.
Exactly, he's old enough to think for himself. It's only fair to ask him what he thinks they should call him rather than deciding it for him.
True. Though it possible a nickname sticks before anyone asks what he wants to be called. Like if he has red hair, he's going to be called Red. Or since he was found at an abandoned shack, he might be called "the shack kid" which could get shortened to Shack. etc.
