If the character is young, an archaic name creates contrast which actually makes the character stand out at least initially. An old soul in a young body? Perhaps. The dull names are ones which are so cliche as to no longer invoke anything upon mentio, 'Plain Jane' of course being the classic. However, this can be remedied with an interesting family name and unless you're writing about spies or ancient societies/post-society societies a first name should always come with a last.
Which is why I said what I did about 'John.' Even bathrooms are named John (except for my friend, Brian's; he named his Jim so he'd sound athletic.)
Sarah came to my mind first, also. Ironically, I really like it when combined with Jane. Sarah Jane is just so wholesome.
It's a very pretty name. I knew a Saffie Jane once, which I thought was beautiful--great mix of unusual and 'plain'.
Olivia Mary Sue May Brooke Ruth Rose Kate Claire Dawn Beth Ashley Julia Laura Well that is what I could find as far as boring, and that might not have already been sounded off.
You count "Dawn" and "Brooke" as boring? Those have tons of mystery for me - one of my favorite character names in a recent book was "Brook" - although, in fairness, that version has a far more tangible visual component than "Brooke". Names that are actual words in our vocabulary, like Dawn, are always interesting to me. I've considered naming a character Chastity just for the jokes.
Well after listening to a truck load of Warhammer 40k lore, pretty much any name can sound dull and uninteresting.
Thanks all for your suggestions! Is now a good time to admit I'm not going with the super-boring-name thing anymore?
My friend's daughter is Magdalena Rose, which I thought was very very beautiful. (admittedly Rose was her middle name rather than part of her first name, but still) I also really like Holly Ann. Anyway so what are you doing now instead of the boring name? It's probably a good thing. I remember when I first read your thread I was thinking, "That's an odd idea..." But didn't think such a comment was helpful so I didn't say anything @Commandante Lemming - nah Brooke is kinda boring, I agree. You might like my co-author's characters, Essence and Cascade And you know, my character Soren's full name is Soren Lost. Unfortunately later people told me it just made them think Soren got lost... I also once had characters called Ruin and Lynx - neither story ever took off though Oh and then I have the pair of royal brothers called Rune and Sky.
Her real name was always going to be Rhea, after the Greek goddess, because her parents are big myth lovers. She hates all the myth stuff so, to annoy them, she chose to be known by something like Sarah or Jane. The other MC was going to discover this and insist on using Rhea to annoy her--they have a bit of an enemies-to-lovers thing going on. But I realised it was confusing to have a character with two names, and there are plenty of other ways he can annoy her...
There's never a shortage of ways to have a man annoy a woman. Frequently, I do it by saying - "Hello." (Although, the chocolate syrup and rubber duckie might have something to do with it.)
I was going to suggest Sarah, even though that's my name. But now I see you're not doing this anymore so... Personally though, I don't think it would be confusing to have a character with two names. If you make it clear at the beginning, and then only use one of the names when referring to the character in third person (whichever name she most often goes by), I don't think it would be confusing. I think it's actually pretty common to have characters who have a real name that they hate and never go by. I've seen it before in books and TV.
Well in Fault in Our Stars, the male MC Gus insists on calling the female MC Hazel Grace, rather than just Hazel. Grace is her middle name and true to being teenagers, she's embarassed by her middle name. In their case they were never enemies and I don't think Gus wanted to annoy her - he just thought it's prettier. Hazel grows to like it. I thought Hazel Grace was rather pretty myself. So it's a similar thing you had. If Rhea had an even more outrageous myth-y middle name, it might work
^^^This^^^ Like Cassiopeia. Or Aphrodite. Or Megara. Or Xanthippe. Although that last lady was decidedly non-mythological.
Oooh I've always disliked this name. Reminds me too much of ogre! Similar with the Czech names Blanka and Marketa. Sounds like 'blank' or 'blanket' for the first one and 'market' for the second. Lenka as well - too much like 'link'. Funny how which language you speak affects whether you might like a name. My husband also vetoed a potential Chinese name for our daughter because it sounded like 'A Man' I just hadn't realised until he said it because i just heard it the Chinese way (which has no associations with being a man lol)
Sam might take the cake for me, or Pam. Now that you mention it, Sarah is an extremely boring name. I'd have to say May is too.
