While deciding on the best names for your characters is not as critical as naming your children and your pets, it does require a considerable amount of thought. After all, you will be living with these characters for quite some time, especially if you write series. I spend the most time choosing my protagonist's name for obvious reasons. My sleuths are always female. I like to give them names I consider appealing and not very common, along with a nickname. In Giving Up the Ghost, my sleuth Gabriela Meyerson is called Gabbie. In Murder a la Christie, Lexie's official name is Alexa. My sleuth in Death on Dickens Island is Cordelia Dickens, though everyone calls her Delia.
However, not all my characters are happy with their given names. Carrie Singleton, in the Haunted Library series, officially changed her name to Carrie because she always hated Carolinda, which she was given at birth.
The names of my other characters usually come to mind as they're about to become active members of the cast. I do my best to vary them, with regard to the starting letter and number of syllables. Masculine names tend to be shorter, and so I choose names with different vowel sounds. Readers are less likely to confuse two characters named Mike and Brett, while having characters named Fred and Ted in the same book might be a problem for some. But names can get mixed up even in an author's mind. I am grateful to the editor who noticed that I'd changed the murderer's name in the middle of the novel.
Recently, I've been having fun with names in a different way entirely. In the book I'm currently writing, Delia and her son Connor adopt two kittens that are littermates. I decided to call them Romeo and Juliet after my own kitties. And when Connor and his friend Trevor acquire girlfriends, I named them after my granddaughter and her "sister." Boy, was Livvie excited when I told her about that!
We authors have total control when it comes to naming our characters. What do you take into consideration when you name yours?
I always keep a spreadsheet to keep track of the names in each series. One of my critique partners years ago said that she kept an alphabet list. She would only choose names for letters that were unused.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea. I find myself making a list of characters as I name them. Good thing, too, as I often refer to the list.
DeleteI have a spreadsheet similar to Heather. I try to avoid having similar sounding names when possible--unless, of course, it involves a red herring or plot twist.
ReplyDeleteJim, what a great plot twist—two people with the same name.
DeleteMost of my characters spring into my mind with a name already attached. I do keep a alphabetized list I check them against to avoid confusion, for myself, the readers, and the characters themselves. On the rare occasions that a character does not "tell" me the name, I figure out the ethnic background and age, and search suitable names for that birthyear.
ReplyDeleteI love those lists of names most popular in a specific year.
DeleteI keep track with lists and lists, but also in my head. And when I see or hear a name I like, I write it down. Same with street names. It's the sounds we love!
ReplyDeleteI agree. The sound of a name is so important.
DeleteI tend to name a character in my head as I write and then to change it in the next draft. One thing I have a tendency to do is use similar names between stories and books, so I must make sure there is a difference. Also I have a tendency to get on a kick where all the names begin with the same letter so I have to go back and mix that up.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful to "select all" when changing a name. Sometimes reality sticks its foot in the door. Once I'd written "Sammy," the name of my cat, instead of "Smoky Joe," the name of the cat in my book.
DeleteI use placeholder names (Sam, Jim, Ed) until I start edits. I usually consider birth year and location when assigning names (Mary Tucker is credible for a Southerner).
ReplyDeleteAs long as it works for you, Margaret.
DeleteI think we all love quirky names. They add a dimension to the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! And thanks to everyone else for their comments. I don't have a system yet. I choose a name that I like; but I've found that sometimes I change them during edits so I appreciate these ideas.
ReplyDeleteBe careful when you make those changes! It's something I know I need to watch carefully.
DeleteMy characters don't come to life for me if I've named them wrong. In my current project, I just changed two names and suddenly, we're getting along much better!
ReplyDeleteWell, of course! Your characters are very special people and need to be named correctly.
DeleteLove this, Marilyn! For me, naming characters is one of the fun aspects of writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lori. I agree it's a fun aspect of writing.
DeleteI become attached to my characters' names. When I had to change one, it took me a long time to become accustomed to it. The new name was a better fit, but it still wasn't easy.
ReplyDeleteGrace, At least you didn't have to pay a legal fee to make the name change official.
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