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This one comes up all the time, so I thought it would be a good topic for conversation.
How do you pick your character names?
Well, that depends.
If I’m writing a gay romance, I’ll go through my name books/sites and pick a couple names which seem to fit the characterizations of the characters I have in mind. Sometimes this means looking for a name that “sounds like” this characterization, or I may want a name with as close a meaning to a specific aspect of the character as possible. Sometimes I don’t have anything specific in mind besides a vague appearance, and I’ll choose a name which seems to fit that character’s looks.
For my fantasy stuff, I’ll either create an alphabet for naming purposes or I’ll refer to a notebook I have which has a list of interesting and odd names. I prefer to create an alphabet for most of my stories, particularly if it’s a long story or one of several set in a particular country/location, though I’ll sometimes just slap out a few “rules” for names and work from there, particularly if the characters get around a lot. On rare occasions, I’ll take a real name from our world and apply it to a character, but it’s never a western name, and it has to fit the character very well–in characterization, in what I want to emphasize about that character, and in whether or not it actually fits the character’s society.
Since I find in both genres writing (at least for me), the name of the character has some bearing on future characterization (what I start with is base characterization–a particular aspect which I expand upon), I tend to take a little care with naming my MCs. If I can get the name right, I’ll have an easier time getting the character to the other points in the story that I see with a good chance of making them react as I plan to when they get there.
Ashe Elton Parker
"Just love me, fear me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ~ David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth
~*~
Member since 1998.
~*~Names are a huge problem for me, or, none at all. It’s a bit confusing. Sometimes a character shows up in my head with a name attached. They literally introduce themselves. And then I have to build the language elements around the fact that they have this name.
Other times, finding the right name is like root-canal — painful and seemingly endless. I don’t have a method. I just dig through languages, name lists. I play with mixing together letters. I pull my hair out. My housemate plots to murder me. Eventually, if the character is actually going to go somewhere, I find the right name.
Now, this is for main characters. For minor characters I just make up a list of potential names that fit with whatever the language structure for the world is (I write in my own, created, fantasy and SF worlds) and when I need a new name, I pick one and scratch it off the list.
As with nearly everything I do in writing, it’s not pretty, but it works.
–June
Pretty much, I do it randomly. I used to spend a lot of time going through baby name books and picking six or so an isolating it down to one. Now I flip through a newspaper, spot a first name or a last name. Looks good. Done. One time I picked the names from an event program.
For me, the name’s not all that important. It’s what I do with the character that’s important.
Sometimes I go through a baby name book or website, creating a list of names I like. As I start creating characters I pull names off of the list.
Other times I pick a letter of the alphabet and start throwing random sounds together until I get something that sounds good.
Is this thread still going?
For me, most any first name works well for male good guys. I’ve yet to find an English first name that sounds sinister. (Hannibal doesn’t count. It’s basically a sir name) Bob, John, Vincent, etc., take your pick. They all sound harmless.
Last names, however, work great to create strong or sinister men, i.e., Crusher, Speares, Viles, etc.
Females, on the other hand, can sound absolutely sinister with first names. Lolita, Vivian, Olivia, Lilith; take your pick. Slap an uncommon first name on the right woman and you’ve got a potential villainess. Of course, hopefully, you’ll come up with a full name that fits your female antagonist as well as Disney’s Cruella DeVil. (then again, I’m quite the simpleton)
I’m interested in feedback.
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