WHAT’S IN A NAME

One of the questions authors are asked (along with Where do you get your story ideas?) is How do you come up with the names for your characters?

A Thimbleful of Peace--charactersNaming my characters is part of getting to know them, and I can’t write about them or tell their story unless they introduce themselves to me. I’ve had a few characters who were quite reticent as I was trying to pry their stories out of them. I discovered when I learned more about their past, their motivations, and their goals, that I had incorrectly named them. So my first priority is to learn who they are before tagging them with a handle.

I have two of those What To Name The Baby books that I picked up at a yard sale. They not only list the name, but also the possible nick-names, the country or ethnicity of origin, and the meaning of the name. One book even gives a scriptural theme for the name. I like that because I can weave the character’s name into the spiritual thread of the story.

There are several other parameters I use when choosing character names. I try not to use names beginning with the same letter, or names that sound similar: ie: Melinda, Miranda, and Melissa, or Hank and Frank. Too easily confused. So normally, all the characters in one book will have names that start with a different letter, and they certainly will not rhyme.

Another thing I take into consideration is showing possession. If a name ends in S, it still needs an apostrophe S at the end to show possession, which can feel awkward. This most often applies to surnames, like mine: Stevens. To show possession sounds cumbersome: Connie Stevens’s blog. (Putting an apostrophe at the end by itself indicates more than one Stevens, as in the Stevens’ house.) So I usually try to stay away from names ending in S.

I have used names on a few occasions to honor someone close to me. I’ve used Susan (one of my best friends), and Everett (the same best friend), and Shuford (former pastor).  Joy In The MourningIn the story I am currently writing, I’m using my son’s name, Jonathan, and the last name of some dear friends who have already gone to heaven, Aldridge, for the name of my male protagonist. Jonathan Aldridge is a young pastor of a troubled church in this story, and every time I type the name, it brings a smile to my heart.

In one book, I had a little fun with the names of some of the minor characters. The man and wife who ran the mercantile were named Clyde and Betsy Sawyer, but Clyde had a pet name for his wife: Sweet Pea. The dressmaker in town was named Frances, and two of the servants were named Sam and Maizie. For anyone who follows me on Facebook, you know my cat is named Sweet Pea. One of my writing buds, Kim Vogel Sawyer, has four cats: Clyde, Frances, Sam and Maizie. Another writing bud, Margie Vawter, has a cat named Sinatra (because he has blue eyes). Since I write historicals, I couldn’t very well name a character Sinatra, so there is a cat in the story named Frank. As my crit group critiqued the chapters of that story, we all got a giggle out of those names.

Have you ever read a book with a character whose name yanked you out of the story? I did once. It was the protagonist’s name and every time I came to it, I just shook my head and wondered what in the world the writer was thinking. Then, at the end of the story, when the protagonist married and had her first baby, the baby’s name was even more ridiculous than her mother’s.

What unusual or meaningful character names have you encountered in a book recently?

This entry was posted in ACFW Author, creating characters, fictional characters, historical fiction, names of fictional characters, pet names. Bookmark the permalink.

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