Writers often agonize over what to name a new
character, wanting it to suggest something about the person’s personality and
their part in the plot.
Over the years, I’ve heard/read much advice
about naming characters: If writing historical fiction, make sure the name was
in use during the time period. Don’t
give all your characters names that rhyme or start with the same letter. For modern times, use the names that were
popular during the time the person would’ve been born.
The popularity of names changes along with the
years. For the last few years, parents
are giving their newborns older names. In my own family we have an Ethan,
Emily, Olivia, Madeline, Eleanor, Priscilla and recently I saw a newborn given
the name, Genevieve.
Biblical names have always been popular such as
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—but some of the Old Testament names are also
finding favor like Jeremiah, Asher, Adriel, Julius, and Abigail. And of course,
Adam, Nathan and Nathaniel are still popular.
In my own family we have some of those names
I’ve already mentioned, but on the more unusual side we have girls named Aria,
Aleena, Avyanna and Khloe.
When I was naming my own children I thought naming
my first daughter Dana, after a Russian ice skater was so clever, only to find
a few years later that many others gave their daughters the same name.
The Internet has made it so much easier to find
the names for a character. You can look up ethnic names, what names mean, and
even unusual names. But you still have
to choose the one you think fits your character best.
When I was trying to choose a name for a Native
American heroine, I used my great-grandmother’s name, Tempe Crabtree. No, she
wasn’t Indian, but the name sounded right to me. Because I live in an area
similar to the setting for the Tempe Crabtree series, for names of new
characters, I often pick names from graduation programs, finding a first name
or last that sounds like the person I’m going to depict.
Do any of you have other ideas for choosing
names for characters in your books?
Tangled Webs Blurb: Too many people are telling lies: The
husband of the murder victim and his secretary, the victim’s boss and
co-workers in the day care center, her stalker, and Detective Milligan’s
daughter.
Marilyn Meredith is
the author of many published novels, including the award-winning Deputy Tempe
Crabtree mystery series, the latest A Cold Death from Mundania Press,
and coming soon, Spirit Winds. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel
is Tangled
Webs, from Aakenbaaken &Kent. She
once lived in a beach town much like Rocky Bluff. She has many friends and
relatives in law enforcement. She’s a member of MWA, two chapters of Sisters in
Crime and serves on the board of Public Safety Writers Association.
