Peggy Cass as “Agnes Gooch,” a memorable character name
by Anne R. Allen
“Agnes Gooch,” “Mr. McCawber,” “Albus Dumbledore”: memorable names of memorable characters.
How can writers come up with character names that readers will never forget?
In his painfully funny 2006 book, Famous Writing School, a Novel, Stephen Carter’s writing teacher-protagonist advises his students to seek character names in the obituaries. But although Carter’s bumbling protagonist offers mostly dubious advice, that tip is a keeper.
Obits are full of great names. I keep a list of odd names in a little notebook. I haven’t yet written about Normal Peasley or Lamia Trowbridge, but they’re ready when I need them.
Another great name source is spam. If I happen to catch a good name before I hit “empty spam,” I write it in the notebook. I can always perk up a story by subjecting my heroine to a blind date with Zoticus Weatherwax or Hassan Snively.
My name notebook is a useful source when I’m choosing the name of a murder victim or minor player in a story. I often choose the name and then write down a short character sketch of that person. That writing ritual of mine was featured as an exercise at the Reedsy blog last month.
Creative monikers don’t just add color and humor to storytelling. They help the reader keep track of a large cast, and offer a shorthand reminder of their identities.
Instead of calling the pizza delivery guy “Bob,” if you give him an interesting ethnicity, a cowboy hat and a name like “Galveston Ngyen,” readers will remember him when he shows up dead 50 pages later.
1) Name only players, not spear carriers.
Don’t clutter the story with too many names. A named character needs to play a significant role. Just call him “the pizza guy” if his only purpose is to deliver pepperoni with extra cheese.
2) Choose names that are different from each other.
Names that begin with the same letter can be confusing on the page. So don’t name rival boyfriends Tim and Tom unless your heroine can’t tell them apart either.
Note: this doesn’t apply to real or well-known characters. An agent once told me I couldn’t put characters named Morgan le Fay and Merlin in the same novel. Rules are helpful, but abolishing the entire Grail saga is a bit much.
3) Don’t change names mid-story.
I’ve been running into real problems with this in my current WIP. A character that has been known by one name in the last book turns out to be a con man living under an assumed identity. So do I call him by his old name, or the real one? So far I’m calling him Bob/Barney—his assumed and real names spliced together. But I’ll have to change to the real one pretty soon.
This is definitely a problem with a series. But for a first book or a stand-alone, you can save yourself a lot of grief if you stick to one name per character all the way through.
4) Choose names to fit the era.
An editing client of mine called a contemporary sixty-year-old librarian “Mildred”—an unlikely name for a Baby Boomer. I suggested Linda or Judy.
On the other hand, Linda and Judy don’t even rank in the top thousand names for the last decade. If your character is under twelve, try Madison, Ava or Emma.
I made a period mistake myself when reworking an old story. “Morgan” was an unusual name for a girl when I wrote the piece twenty years ago. Now it’s way more common than Anne.
You can look up American baby names by decade at the Social Security Administration site.
5) Choose names that are right for the setting.
Remember US, Canadian, Aussie, Irish, Scottish and English names can differ wildly, even though we all speak the same language most of the time.
Hyphenated names like Jean-Claude and Mary-Ellen are rare in England. But Zara, Tamsin, Nigella and Callum—all popular across the pond—don’t appear on any US lists. And they can be very wrong for another period. Keep Nigella out of that Regency Romance. Ditto Duke Jayden.
One of the top 25 names for Canadian girls right now is Brooklyn. (Who knew those Canadians were such hipsters? )
UK names by decade are available at the government statistics website.
For naming Canadians, try the Parents Canada site. And for Australians (including Aboriginal names and their meanings) try Babynology.
And even if you find a name that seems good on one of those sites, be wary. Double check. I made an awful choice for a name for an Irish character in my first draft of The Queen of Staves. It turns out I’d visited a Northern Irish site when I found the name “Tanner.” Luckily I had a beta reader in Dublin, who told me “Tanner” sounded way too English. On her suggestion, I changed his name to Conor. Irish names tend to be more traditional. Here’s a good site for Irish Names.
Wikipedia is a great source of international names, both first names and surnames. Just do a search for “Romanian names,” or whatever. You can even get specifics by class and region. Foreign names that sound interchangeable to an untrained ear can indicate caste, ethnicity and regional origin, so make sure they suit the character.
6) Don’t fake foreign or historical names.
Your Roman gladiator can be named Brutus or Africanus, but don’t try Waynus or Garthus. Ancient Roman first names were not numerous, which is why they called their kids stuff like “Quintus” and “Octavian” (literally, “five” and “eight.”) As adults, Romans often earned Mafia-style nicknames. The poet Ovid was known as Ovidius Naso—Ovid the Nose.
Genealogy sites are great for historical names, and for contemporary foreign names, surf around the many baby-naming websites.
7) Google your character names before going forward.
I once wanted to name a porn star Peter McHugh until a Google search showed a local politician with that name. That guy must have gone through some teasing in high school. 🙂
8) Avoid over-used character names.
It’s hard to know these if you don’t slog through weekly slush piles, but I’ve seen agents complain that all variations of Catherine/Kate/Caitlin have become ho-hum. Ditto Jake/Jack and Jason.
Browse blurbs of new books in your genre for patterns. Then look for unusual names that have less chance of being used in 300 new books this month.
9) Try character name generators.
Some of my best character names came from online name generators. “Lady Ruffina” and “Mack Rattlebag” are two villainous steampunk characters in The Queen of Staves. I found those names in a steampunk name generator.
There are hundreds of online character name generators. Just do a quick search. You’ll find lots of name generators, especially for fantasy fiction. They get quite specific. You can generate post-apocalyptic mutant names or zombie hunter names.
My zombie-hunter name is Gwendoline Flamethrow. 🙂
10) Run a careful search-and-replace if you change character names.
That’s one I learned the hard way. I sent out requested partials to two agents before I realized I’d reverted to the old name of a character for an entire chapter. That might not have been the only reason for my rejections, but I know it didn’t help. Sigh.
by Anne R. Allen @annerallen March 4, 2018
What’s your favorite character name? Do you have trouble coming up with new names for your characters? Are there too many Tom, Dicks, and Harrys and not enough Zotticuses or Ruffinas? Have you ever used a name generator to choose your character names? What names are you tired of seeing?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
Academic Body, a classic academic cozy by Anne’s mom, the late Dr. Shirley S. Allen
“Move over Nick and Nora Charles, there’s a new crime solving couple in town. We’re not talking Manhattan, the Charles’ turf, here, but the rarified world of academia as practiced in the northern wilds of Maine’s Weaver College.” …mystery author Sue McGinty
Retired theatrical director Paul Godwin longs for the life of a college professor, but can he woo his famous wife away from the New York stage to become part of his academic life in small-town Maine?
Not easily, especially after the dean accuses him of having a fling with a student and then is found dead in circumstances that make Paul a prime suspect in the investigation.
Paul’s efforts to discover the real culprit provoke dangerous reprisals, but he must succeed to save his new career, his marriage–and perhaps his life.
Academic Body is available in ebook at all the Amazons, Kobo, iTunes, and Nook.
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Favorite character name: One of my tops has to be Jean Valjean. It just sounds so melodic and beautiful if you pronounce it the way the French do. And he, of course, became a beautiful person, though he started out rough (though good-hearted even then.).
Of course, I’m partial also because he’s one of my very favorite fictional characters.
Tricia–Jean Valjean is a great name. Hugo took one of the most common names in France and made it memorable by repeating it in his surname. It’s a perfect name for “everyman.”
I never thought of it that way (the ‘everyman’ name). Thank you for that. I’m glad you love him, too!
I once read a fascinating, first-person explanation of the incident in Hugo’s life that inspired him to create Fantine. If I can find it again (doubtful, as I think I’ve already tried and failed), I’ll send you the link.
Tricia–Hugo was a hero in his own right in his fight for social justice. A great man as well as a great writer. .
Also, thank you for mentioning names beginning with the same letter. It’s amazing how often I find very similar names, even of major characters. I get Morgan and Merlin (I read that, by the way–great book!) were necessary exceptions. Good thing you didn’t let yourself get ‘bulldozed’ into changing them.
Tricia–I just started a book where the MC has two friends whose names begin with the same letter. And they’re not meant to be interchangeable. I stopped reading and I’ll probably not go back. The plot showed the same lack of imagination, too. I’m glad to hear you’re a fan of the Lady of the Lakewood Diner! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
I just slap names in there without really thinking about them too much. After a certain number of books and stories, it’s kind not worth much time on. For my last short story, I hit the Navy site, picked an admiral’s last name and added a first name. For a second character, I plucked a first name out of the newspaper I had with me. I don’t think it’s the name that’s unforgettable–it’s the characterization that makes the name unforgettable.
Linda–Obviously I’m on the other side of the fence on this. I love interesting names. I think if Harry Potter’s friends had been Mary and Tom instead of Hermione and Ron Weasley we’d all be the poorer for it.
Great stuff as usual, Anne. I do most writing at a local university library. In the lobby, there’s a list of patrons & donors with about 500 names from all walks of life. For a WIP, I stole C. Mitchell Dowd and Jonathon Boatwright for defense lawyers, Melissa Steele for a DA, Morris Fish for the judge, Barton (Black Bart) Smythe for a bad guy, Hank DeVries for a sherriff, Stacy Rooke and Al Kangas for detectives, Grace & Greer Grimsby for foster care hosts and Nathan Rott for an NPR investigative journalist. That wall plaque is a monicker goldmine 🙂
Garry–I love those hames!! Melissa Steele is my favorite–so perfect for a female prosecutor. And the Grimsbys! Not a home full of happy children, I’d expect. They’re all good. A goldmine indeed! That’s brilliant to use a plaque of donors’s names. .
Guess what my main character’s name is…Katie. I had a different name, but worried it was over the top. Now, I need to reconsider Katie. :/
Thanks for the information. Especially the unusually name of a character that might be killed off later. 😉
H. R.–The agent who complained was talking mostly about YA, so you might be able to keep Katie. It always helps to have something memorable about a character that’s going to show up dead later on, and a name is a simple way to do that.
That’s good to know. I suppose it they liked the story enough but the name made them cringe, they would suggest a change. 🙂
Brava! Getting the name right is of major import to me. If some character walks onto the page, I search around for name, exactly as you’ve suggested, then name him/her. Let’s say I choose Hamish. If the name’s wrong, within a couple pages, I’m squirming around on my chair in discomfort & have to go back and find the right name. Hamish? What was I thinking? Tiffany!
CS–I’ve done that–given a character one of my great notebook names and then realized that the character can’t carry it off. Only a certain type of character can be a Hamish. Or a Tiffany, for that matter. 🙂
Tamsin is a real name? And here I thought I made it up for my science fiction story.
I did learn after my first story to make the character names very different. And with my genre, randomly generating a name that starts with each letter of the alphabet is fun and fast.
Funny story about the politician. Been even funnier if he had a background in porn that nobody knew about.
Alex–I kept running into Tamsins when I was in England, so I looked it up. It’s the traditional nickname for “Thomasina”. But even though nobody’s named Thomasina anymore, the nickname has been revived.
I never did look into the background of Peter McHugh, but that would be hysterical.
Loved this one! I honestly cannot say where I get the name from for my epic fantasy writing. I fully recognize the strong European roots, some Latin and Greek word-bases or whatever. But just like the rest of the tales, I couldn’t claim to be making them up.
One of my favorite names is that of a chapter guest-star, a four year old boy named Riddy. When I started writing that was just his name, boom- I wondered if it was short for something. As I kept writing, he told his visitor (Solemn Judgement, the main character of the entire novel) the tale of how he’s named after a small fish called a riddy (like a herring). There was some sad irony in why his father called him that which added to the story I thought.
And then halfway across the world, another major character has tamed a small dragon and discovers she is ferociously hungry for, of all things… small salted fish. Called riddy.
Will–When you get to make up names out of whole cloth, it must be great fun. I love the poignant thread you’ve woven with the name Riddy.
Of my own work: Rowena Revel (from the Rowena Through the Wall series). I wanted a Saxon name, because it’s timetravel back to Saxon England. And I like the Revel, because there is magic involved. But also, it’s hard not to like Gina Gallo from The Goddaughter series. Gallo is a family name, and it does sound (ahem) mafia. Imagine that.
I did have a struggle this time around though. Until I have a name and can see the character, I can’t start writing. So I was writing a romantic comedy for Orca, title The Italian Cure. Could not find the right name for the protag! Couldn’t start writing until I did. Then, suddenly, it came. Whoosh – the book has spilled out of me like a flood. But it wouldn’t work until the right name was there. Weird, eh?
Melodie. I love your alliterative names. Rowena is such a fabulous character. Well, so is Gina. As you know, I’m a big fan. 🙂
I’m like you. I can’t really envision characters until I name them. If I have to change the name for some reason, the character will change a bit too.
Naming characters is like a treasure hunt. The credits at the end of TV programs are my favourite source, so much material there. One name so excited me I’m building a book around him. I also take note of the story era, looking for names that fit, such as current heroine, Embry, in her late 20s story time. Em started out as Gina. Her best friend inherited the name, later morphing into Jane.Once I used a dear friend’s name for the heroine,not something I do often. After the book was published, friend asked if I could arrange for her “prince” to come into her life. I said sure, no problem. Friend was in a relationship less than three months after the book came out and is now happily married. So much for any resemblance being coincidental LOL
Valerie–That story is so awesome. It’s amazing how we tap into reality (or even future reality) when we’re “making things up.” I once named a character after a friend I hadn’t seen in decades. When we ran into each other again, she read my book and said I had pretty much told the story of her life!!
I love the idea of using movie credits as a source for names. Brilliant idea!
Ooh, I love credits for movies and TV as well! Some of those names are jewels!
Another post I’ve bookmarked for future reference. Thanks for all the helpful links. I’ve used baby name lists before but didn’t know about other name generator options.
Kassandra–Baby name lists are great for common names, but the generators are awesome for unusual–and sometimes comical–names..
This is great, Anne. I think my problem is that I keep giving characters bland temporary placeholder names, which end up becoming their names as they grow into them, even though they were never good enough in the first place. I need to think bigger in the beginning and then scale back. Time to introduce Flatulence Porkingspoon, perhaps.
Tara–That’s why a name notebook (or Evernote or electronic equivalent) is a great thing to keep up. Then you can choose a name as a placeholder, and if it works, the character will let you know.
Flatty Porkingspoon will thank you. 🙂
I suppose it’s best if they’re donors who aren’t still alive?
Tricia–That would probably be wise. 🙂
Many of my names are drawn from my training as an ichthyologist and marine biologist. Lots of fine scientific names out there, and I know the fishes well enough to choose the fish that matches the person’s character.
But you’re right, you must google them. I once named a character after a fungus — until google revealed that this particular fungus caused jock itch.
Pat–That’s hilarious about the jock itch. I never thought of marine biology as a source of character names, but I’ll bet it’s great!
I do have a favorite character name, Nikia, which is being used in my trilogy. I’d also remembered that I used it in a self-pubbed novella, so I can say with a great deal of certainty that this particular character name will cease to be once I finish my trilogy. Perhaps another tip should be is not to fall in love with character name so much that it pops up with a degree of frequency that may turn off your readers.
G.B. That is a helpful tip! I think that’s probably more common than we realize. Authors often have protagonists who look and sound alike. Giving them the same name as well could be a problem. 🙂
What a fabulous idea to have a name notebook (why didn’t I think of that?) I love names and spend a lot of time researching names and their meaning (and sometimes even changing the name when I realise it doesn’t fit the character anymore) and up till now I’ve only googled. My first novel is set in Sweden so there’s a lot of really interesting names there. Anyway, thanks for the tip also about keeping only one name for the character throughout the book.
Though I do have a question, for my YA I have part one in one reality and part two in another reality where in fact the main characters do have different names, it’s also a way of distinguishing which reality they’re in, if that makes sense. I guess if it doesn’t I’ll have to resign to one name throughout 🙂
Kasava–Choosing Swedish names must have been fun. As far as giving your characters different names in different realities, it could be awfully confusing for the reader. If there’s a way to show different realities without changing names your readers will probably thank you.
Thanks Anne! I’ll give it a good think, as what you say makes sense but for the story, I feel it’s the right thing to do, maybe because I haven’t tried anything else so I’ll see if I can experiment a little with showing.. thanks and I forgot to mention what a great post, thank you 🙂
Great post, as always, Anne.
Names play a big part in my novels – from the first time I created Bernadette, the young girl who hated her name, I’ve been mindful.
My WIP features a woman who changes her name, then meets her past, so its a challenge to make sure the reader doesn’t get confused (and frustrated!)
Martha–I had a character who hated her name, too. But changing it mid-story can be confusing for the reader, so sometimes it helps to hyphenate the two names or provide some other tag to help the reader remember.
I’m Dutch. What’s funny about Peter McHugh?
Love those name generators. I used to be quite taken with my elven name, but I can’t even remember it now.
My MC is Hannah, unfortunately not very original. I tried Amber for a while, but she was a completely different person. Ah well. But, being Dutch and living in France, I do get some good inspiration for names. One of my other characters is Lucian Quimper (village in Bretagne). For a long time he wanted to be Sly, but that’s hardly a Victorian Englishman!
I used to work in a school library, which also provided me with quite the list of fun names! Unfortunately most of those were very Dutch and since I’m now writing in English, that list isn’t worth too much anymore. It’s not going anywhere, though. Some day, who knows?
C.M. “Peter” is a euphemism for the male member. If you change one letter of the last name to McHuge, I think you’ll get it. 🙂
Lucian Quimper is a brilliant name! Being multilingual, you have a fantastic pool of names to choose from.
Ah, now it makes sense. Didn’t know that one! Thanks!
Christa
Er….My MCs ARE the spear-carriers.
YES, I’ve already made the mistake of having 2 main characters with names sounding too much alike–as 3 beta readers have demonstrated through honest confusion. It was hard to let go of names I’d known for years but the Search-Replace is completed.
Gabriella–Search-and-Replace is an author’s friend. What did we do before it was invented?
“Spear-carrier” is a theatrical term for “walk-on” non-speaking parts in a play. In film, they’re called “background” people. Formerly known as “extras”.
Yup. Was just trying to be facetious with a truth that was ironic. Oh, btw, devouring your info-packed book with its ideas what to blog when you’re unpublished.
Gabriella–I’m glad the book is helping you!
So, if you have a chatacter that is addressed differently based upon the social circle he’s in, but you always use one name outside of the dialog – that would wor, correct?
I also have a horrible time not using the same names over and over again. Matthew, Micheal, Rachael, and Jeff, come up a lot, so I usually rethink the names once I have a draft writtent. That way I know a little bit more about who they are and what name they should have – though I have one villain that exceed his place holder name of Wholawski, that I just added Jackubus for his first name.
} Cathryn Leigh
Cathryn–There’s no hard and fast rule for names. And those 19th century Russians sure didn’t follow any. But the main thing is not to confuse your readers. So try not to be Dostoevsky. Obviously a servant is going to address somebody differently from his spouse in a culture that has severe class stratification, so you do have to take that into account.
Jackubus Wholawsky is a hilarious name!
Aahhh I love generators. I’ll cycle through a bunch of names and mix and match them. A current WIP fantasy character has a name taken straight from one, and it’s much better than what I was going to call him. I also borrowed a friend’s surname (with permission) for a bad guy, heh heh.
And spam is great!
Elizabeth–Name generators are so much fun! And for fantasy, I’ll bet they’re a goldmine. If you do use somebody’s real name it’s good to get permission. Wise move. 🙂
Naming characters/places/fantasy concepts is VERY challenging. Thanks for these tips. I’ll take every tip I can get!
I like to take real names and change a letter or two, so it sounds ‘real’ without being quite normal.
Morgan–A name notebook really helps. But your idea of changing a few letters to make a “made-up” name that sounds real is a good one. It sure worked for Suzanne Collins. “Katniss Everdeen” sounds almost as if you’ve heard it before, but it’s unique and memorable.
Another fun/useful blog. I could say that every week when I read your articles. My secret source for character names? My husband’s Carleton College directory from the 1960s. Thousands of names, mostly 1) believable, and 2) unusual/odd. I’ve used that source a lot. The rest (Willy Fish) I make up. 🙂
Sandy–My mom went to Carleton College! She so much wanted one of us to go there, but Minnesota winters are daunting. I have used my own alumnae magazine from Bryn Mawr to find names. Especially the obits. Great source of upper-crust WASP names from the 1920s and 1930s. In fact, Camilla’s name came from the BMC Alumnae Bulletin. I should have mentioned that. Thanks for the addition to the list!
Names, names, names. I have changed the name of my protagonist’s boy friend four times. Thank goodness for search and replace. I dated a guy who had the wonderful name of Teaman Treadway. I wanted to use it and googled it and–you never know what’s going to happen when you google old boyfriends–there he was, an actor. He was in a movie with Shirley McClain and Nicholas Cage. Oh well. Great name anyway. Thanks for all the hints! I’ll keep looking for the right name for Derek/Carson/Connor…what’s his name now? I truly have forgotten!
Christine–Teaman Treadway is a fabulous name. And what a great name for an actor. Very memorable. But I guess you can’t use it.
Isn’t it funny how some characters refuse to be named? I’m sure that guy will get one that sticks soon. Try a name generator. They’re fun.
Coming late to the party today but I am glad I read your post. I need to devote more time into selecting my characters’ names. I usually devote a few seconds to names and get on with it. I agree with you that naming the character Hermione and not Mary really does make a difference in the Harry Potter stories, so why not mine?
Thanks for this.
At this point in my writing career, I feel like a tiny fish in a very big but fabulously colorful tank! I have a historical novel, first draft finished, set in the 1500’s, Spanish Conquest era, Mayan civilization. I found the main character’s name, Lali, shortened from Xitlali, in a list of Aztec names. The difficulty of choosing a name in this setting, obviously, is to find a genuine (or close to) name that is easy to pronounce and remember.
Patricia (s)–Finding just the right “Hermione” type of name can take time, but it’s worth it.
That Mayan story sounds fascinating, and I think Lali is brilliant. You’re right that if you use truly authentic names, you can end up with stuff nobody can pronounce and your reader will just see a jumble of letters, not a character name they can identify with.
In my last book, I used names of real people, (changed slightly) is that ok?
Cary–That’s probably okay, as long as the characters don’t resemble the real people in other ways–especially unflattering ones. Writers have been sued for writing unflattering portraits of real people in fiction, so be careful there’s nothing in the book that could set you up for a libel suit.
I loved this post. Thanks, Anne, for the great ideas and suggestions. As for favorite character names, I also love Jean Valjean. Great call, Tricia. I’ve always been partial to Yossarian in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22. It was so unusual, especially in conjunction with his first name, John, and it fit so well with the tone of the book. I have used name generators often and have found them to be very helpful, although some of the generated names can be doozies. I’ve also used the index of non-fiction books to find names. I’ve come across some neat names, especially last names, there.
Holland Kirbo is a FABULOUS name for a writer. Wow. Were you born with it? So memorable. John Yossarian is a great character name because “John” is so “everyman” and Yossarian is memorable and unusual because it’s Armenian..
Non-Anglo names make much more interesting characters. Give a guy’s roommate the name John Ross and you’ve got a blank . But change his name to Giovanni Rossi and he’s living with somebody more interesting..
Thanks, Anne. Yes, Holland is my birth name. I actually go by Holly, but used Holland in my professional life as an attorney and now as a writer. It is my mother’s maiden name and was passed down to me by my parents. I always wished they hadn’t shortened it to a dimunitive. Hence the reason I use it in this capacity. Although, I cannot begin to count the number of times I’ve received correspondence with the salutation, Dear Mr. Kirbo. Apparently, the name Holland gives off a male vibe, which I find strange. I always thought the opposite. Oh well!
I enjoy your blog. I just recently started to follow you after purchasing and devouring your book, The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors. It’s a wonderful and most instructive read. Thank you for your willingness to share your knowledge!
Holland–It’s a fantastic name! I’m so glad you enjoyed my book! If you happened to want to write a couple of those sentences on Amazon (or Kobo or iTunes, etc) it would help me reach more readers. Thanks so much!
I will most certainly do so!
Holland 🙂
Great post. I recently read a book that was a steampunk western and one of the characters was called Bodacious Creed. I love it. Thanks for all the advice.
Olga–Bodacious Creed is so perfect for a steampunk western! Love it. 🙂
What about choosing a name to indicate ethnicity in the US? Is that acceptable or more like dangerous? Or is it so changeable that no one knows? Or even, does it vary by publisher/agent, etc.?
Katharine–There are “cultural appropriation” police out there, so you might think twice about adding some minority-name characters, but I ignore the noise myself. Just make sure you don’t use cultural stereotypes. If the Latino guy is the chess club nerd and the Asian girl is the wannabe gangsta rapper, you’ll probably be fine.
Thank you so much for this post about names! It has been a struggle for me as I write my novel. The protagonist has defined herself but I just haven’t been able to give her a name. I’ve tried several and have come up with, meh… nothing good so far. I will get in and do some more research on the sites you mentioned. I don’t know why I’m struggling so much with this. The names in my short stories just flow out on the page as I type; barely have given them a thought, and I have been happy with them.
Thanks, again, for the post and I enjoying hearing you speak at the SLO NightWriters meeting last month. You made me want to start up my blog again!
Jody–I love to have visits from fellow Nightwriters! We are so lucky to have such a fantastic resource for writers in SLO.
I have had problems like that with some of my characters, too. Usually it’s because I still need to fill in some bits of the character’s background in my own mind. Once I gave the character a different name and her personality changed completely. In the end, I changed it back.
Find some interesting names, play around with them . Maybe do a search and replace in your WIP, and see which ones work as you read. One will eventually grab you. At least that’s what happened with me. Good luck!
The topic and tips are wonderful. Writing memoir though, I’m trying to “un-name” some characters to protect their identity. Thus, John Henry will become Benjamin and his wife Thelma becomes Velma. I remember my husband agonizing over a name for the main character in his children’s book, finally settling on Jeremy (2006).
I never heard of a name generator or of the idea of obit checking as a name source! Thanks, Anne.
Marian–With memoir, names are tough. You want to protect identities but not stray too far from the facts. If the “Velma” character isi positive, that name will probably be great. But if you have a real Thelma who behaves badly in a memoir. it’s better to call her Hermione or June, or something that is far from her real name. Also give her a different body type or color of hair. (To protect you from lawsuits.)
Name generators are a lot of fun!
Your post is wonderful as always. I reblogged this on Jean’s Writing and now I’m off to rename a couple of my characters. Loved reading all of the suggestions, gave me lots of places to check. Thanks Anne
Jean–Thanks for the shout-out on your blog. You did a fantastic synopsis of the post! Happy re-naming!