Names . . .
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
— SHAKESPEARE, Romeo and Juliet
The name of a man is a numbing blow from which he never recovers. – MARSHALL MCLUHAN, Understanding Media
As a writer, picking character names can be the most difficult, and the most enjoyable, part of the process, and apparently I’m not alone.
How many authors do you see on Facebook, blogs, newsletters asking for suggestions? Some even offer to feature the person suggesting the winning name as a “walk on” in their novel!
Since I write about folks primarily in the South, I’ve found that Google is one of my best friends in name-picking. There are some name generators out there, but for contemporary or historical fiction, I’ve found a few searches that made the name-picking much easier.
My favorite resources
“The Most Common Last Names in Your State” by Reader’s Digest – https://www.rd.com/culture/most-common-last-names/
“Top 50 Southern Names and Their Meanings” Southern Living – https://www.southernliving.com/general/southern-names-meanings
Baby Name Wizard – helps in picking combinations, middle names, etc. – http://www.babynamewizard.com/
Popular Baby Names by Decade – Social Security Administration – lots of lists on this site! – https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/
Most Popular Baby Names Through History – Baby Center – https://www.babycenter.com/0_most-popular-baby-names-through-history_1508595.bc
There are many more. The one place I did NOT find much help in naming my characters was the Name Generator in Scrivener. Here’s an example of a search for an English first name and an American surname:
Lorenza Rowland
Roger O’Connor
Maryanna Sanders
Melvon Randall
Eh. For me, they’re just “Okay.”
If I were looking for general all-purpose names for secondary and tertiary characters, I might use this feature, but I like to be a little more choosy in my main character names.
What’s YOUR method?
What about you? What are some of your favorite ways to name your characters? Do you give your characters middle names? Do you ever find yourself at a cemetery looking at cool names, thinking “hmmm . . . that would be a great character name . . .”?
And what about first letters? I found myself over-using certain letters – they can be right up there with “weasel words” if you’re not careful! You only need so many “J” or “C” names!
One more tip – when you write a secondary character, don’t forget to give them a last name. You might just want to use that character in another book in the same series! I found that out the hard way!
Have a great President’s Day, a great WRITING day!!
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My absolute favorite part. I use http://www.meaning-of-names.com/ to name my character by meaning and sometimes by cultural background. This was especially important in my newest series where everyone will have a Greek mythological counterpart. I named my Hades-Dean (head or leader) Blackburn (obviously a reference to the Underworld) and my Persephone-Jenna (little bird) Fields (an acknowledgement of her mother Demeter the goddess of the harvest). I have so much fun finding names that not only fit meaning, but readers will catch the reference. For example, the three Dobermans that counterpart Cerberus are CERin, BERk, and USi. Which mean Dark, Strong, and Smoke (the gray one). It definitely gives me that writer high of nailing something that readers are going to love. I also enjoy naming places in my stories. I really wish someone would make them real places, especially my candy store Lovestruck Delights.
Love it!!! Name meanings and origins have always fascinated me!
When I was a teenager, back before the days of internet browsing, I would thumb through phone books. Now, I check out baby names websites or I dig back into my genealogy research.
Genealogy sites are the best!!
Naming characters, pets, even children is difficult for me because names are so important. I use a baby name book, but thanks for all the websites! I’m going to check them out.
I’m so glad! It has always bothered me when authors use ultra-modern names for older people, which is why I started looking at the Social Security pages for names by decade. My grandmothers, born in 1909 and 1920, were, respectively, Alma Gladys and Dorothy Imogene. There were no “Caitlyns” or “Jennifers!” LOL!
Exactly! It really is so important to fit the era with the right name.
This is a GREAT post!
I am a confirmed cenetery stalker! That’s where I walk, and I love all the wonderful period names.
I may start out my trek looking for family, but then I get sidetracked by names and dates! LOL!
Sometimes the name just comes to me. Other times I use baby naming sites. I love finding the right names.
It’s a fun rabbit-trail to go down, isn’t it? 😉
I tried to post earlier to tell you how much I enjoyed this. Let’s see if this one goes through.
Thanks!! And it finally came through! 🙂