by Anne R. Allen
The old-school advice for naming fictional characters was to comb the obituaries. But not a lot of people get newspapers these days, so we need other sources of inspiration.
For me, spam is turning out to be one of the best places to find unique names. Every week I cull a few from my email and blog spam folders. I can always perk up a story by subjecting my heroine to a nasty boss named Hieronymus Weatherwax or a blind date with Snively Hassan. And I love the creativity of the three-first-names catfishers who try to friend me on Facebook. I’m using the catfisher name “Brownie David Jack” in my current WIP, Catfishing in America.
This week the loverboys who woo me on FB Messenger have come up with a new way to approximate American names. They’ve discovered the suffix “son” and gone to town with it. I found several messages from suitors named things like Kevinson Paulson, Ericson Peterson and Johnson Phillipson. Who knows? One of those names might work for some awful rich frat boy from your heroine’s past.
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.
But beware. There can be pitfalls.
1. Always Google your Characters’ Names!
I once wanted to name a porn star Peter McHugh until a Google search showed a local politician with that name. I don’t suppose he would have welcomed one more off-color joke.
And you want to make sure there’s not a real Galveston Ngyen, or you might find yourself in an embarrassing situation.
Sometimes failing to Google a name can lead to more than embarrassment. A few years ago author Jake Arnott created a thoroughly villainous character who was a London cabaret singer in the 1960s. He gave him the name Tony Rocco. Unfortunately, it turned out there was a real Tony Rocco who had been a cabaret singer in London in the 1960s. Lawsuits ensued.
2. Choose Names that Fit the Character
Would Jack Reacher be such a phenomenon if Lee Child had named him Phillidus Frogmore? Would Miss Marple have been able to do all that surreptitious investigating if Agatha Christie had called her Fifi LaRue?
Inappropriate and misleading character names are what prompted this post. You don’t want to give a character a name that sets up the wrong expectation in your readers. If you need to give your protagonist a name that goes against type, explain why as close to the opener as possible.
This week I tried to read a mystery with a sleuth named something like Fatty. Somewhere in the third chapter we were told he was tall, blonde and athletic. But because of his name, I already had a picture of the guy in my head…and that wasn’t it. If he got his name before a successful stint on The Biggest Loser, I needed to know that sooner.
Sometimes a name shows up on the page and we don’t even know where it came from. Those can be unique and inspired. But don’t commit to the name if it doesn’t fit the character,
And although you want your characters to have a memorable names that fit their personalities, beware getting too Dickensian. Unless you’re writing humor, names as outrageous as Dickens’ Master Bates, Wackford Squeers or Serjeant Buzfuz may take your reader out of the story.
3. Choose Names that Begin with Different Letters
It’s best to vary the length as well. You want to choose names that look different from each other on the page. Names that begin with the same letter will always confuse the reader. So don’t give your heroine rival boyfriends named Tim and Tom unless she can’t tell them apart either.
This gets tougher as you move along in a series. If you carefully name the villain du jour something that’s not at all similar to your recurring characters, you may end up with villains’ names that sound too much alike instead. If the bad guy is named Vincenzo in Book 3, Victoria in book 4, and Vidor in Book 5 you’ll confuse your series readers. (Or telegraph who-done-it too soon.)
4. Avoid Generic or Over-Used Names.
I’ve seen agents complain that all variations of Catherine/Kate/Caitlin have become ho-hum.
Personally, I’m tired of Jake/Jack. This summer, when I was bed-bound and reading dozens of books a month, I once read three books in a row with love interests named Jack. I couldn’t figure out why Jack the mechanic didn’t arrest the bad guy when he caught him red-handed. Turned out I had him mixed up with Jack the policeman and Jack the FBI agent.
And remember you don’t have to use all-Anglo names (unless you’re setting your book in rural England.) Americans are as likely to be named Laura Garcia or James Rodriguez as Robert Johnson or Anne Allen (my friend Laura Garcia pointed this out to me. We have two of the most generic names in the US.)
5. Be Creative when Naming Fictional Characters, but Make Names Pronounceable.
Making up names is fun. But make sure humans can pronounce them. One of the most common “pet peeves” readers complain about are the unpronounceable character names that show up in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. We may think that since the story is presented as text, it doesn’t matter if you can say them out loud. But it’s amazing how much we need to “hear” even when we’re reading silently.
Plus, given the current popularity of audiobooks, you don’t want a good narrator to reject your book because of print-specific names.
So even though she’s from the planet Zoticus Five, don’t name the love interest zxx5, even though you have a marvelous backstory to explain the name. If readers can’t pronounce it, they’ll be jarred out of the story every time zxx5 enters the scene.
6. Name only Featured Players, not Walk-Ons.
Don’t clutter the story with too many names. A named character needs to play a significant role (whether dead or alive.) Otherwise, just call her “the Uber driver” or “the mail carrier.”
If her only purpose is to transport the protagonist to the family reunion or deliver an Amazon package to Uncle Sanjay, don’t name her. Or the reader will think she’s a suspect when Uncle Sanjay is found dead in the next chapter.
7. Don’t Change Names Mid-Story.
So your heroine finds out halfway through the book that she’s the king’s daughter, and she’s not really Sally the milkmaid but Princess Ursula von Milkenberg.
Avoid the urge to start calling her Princess Ursula in the narrative. Obviously it will become necessary in dialogue, but if we met her as Sally, keep calling her Sally to the reader.
8. Choose Names to Fit the Setting, Period, and Age Group.
I once had an editing client who named a contemporary sixty-year-old librarian “Mildred”—an unlikely name for a Baby Boomer. I suggested Linda, Susan, or Judy.
On the other hand, Linda, Susan, and Judy don’t even rank in the top thousand names for the last decade. If your female character is under twelve, try Sophia, Emma, or Olivia.
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.
But remember US, Canadian, Aussie and Brit names differ. Hyphenated names like Jean-Claude and Mary-Ellen are rare in the UK. But Zara, Nigella and Callum—all popular in England now—don’t appear on any US lists. (But keep Nigella out of that Regency Romance. Cross check with your Jane Austen collection or use a Regency name generator.)
One of the top 25 names for Canadian girls is Aria–who knew Canadians were such opera fans?
UK names by decade are available at the government statistics website. One of the most popular baby names in the UK right now is Mabel, which hadn’t made the list since 1924.
For Australians (including Aboriginal names and their meanings) try Babynology. Call a young Aussie either Olivia or Oliver, and you can’t go wrong.
9. Try A Character Name Generator
Character name generators are great fun. And they can be a goldmine for minor character names. Just Google “character name generator” with the genre.
There’s one for naming male characters in Regency England.
And one for naming fictional characters in fantasy and steampunk.
I played around with a steampunk name generator that gave me the names of two of my characters in The Queen of Staves: Mack Rattlebag and Lady Ruffina.
10. Don’t Fake Foreign or Antique Names.
Naming fictional characters in historical fiction requires research. Ditto names in other cultures.
At a writers’ conference I attended in my youth, an attractive man tried to woo me by suggesting we exchange critiques of our first chapters. His story, set in Rome during the Early Christian era, was pretty good. But although some of his Romans had authentic names like Tiberius, many had made-up names like and Jamesus and Kirkidus.
I had to stifle a laugh and tried to be kind, suggesting he pick up a Latin textbook at a used book store. (This was in the ancient days “BG”–before Google.) But he said “I never change a name after I’ve written about the character.” I could only cringe.
The truth is 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. And BTW, Latin does not often use the consonant “k”.
Genealogy sites are great for historical names, and for contemporary foreign names, surf around the many baby-naming websites. Here’s one for Albanian first names.
Your hero’s Albanian neighbor can have two adorable children named Fisnik and Flutura.
Bonus tip: Run a final search-and-replace if you change a character’s name.
I learned this the hard way. I sent out requested partials to two agents before I realized I’d reverted to the old name 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) April 18, 2021
What about you, scriveners? How do you go about naming fictional characters? Have you ever used a character name generator? What’s your favorite source of interesting names?
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Featured image Gabriël Metsu, Dutch (1629–1667), “Man Writing a Letter”
Anne—Terrific tips! Thanks.
Another word of caution: When you search names be sure to set the search to “whole word.” Or else if you change a character named “Rob” to James, you’ll run into nightmares like corroberate = corjameserate. Ask me how I know.
Ruth–Haha! I’ve done that too! Thanks for this very important tip!
‘Morning Anne, with a nod to Ruth. Hmmm…. both your names are familiar cross-fits with the Harry, Terry, Kerry, Larry, Barry, and Garry gents of my generation. When was the last time you heard of a sweet little kid being tagged with these classy names? What’s old will become new again, I say, and a future generation of mid-twentieth century repeats will arise. Soon the Olivias and Emmas and Liams and Noahs will be oh-so-dated and names like Garry will be cool once again (provided it’s properly spelled).
On to fictional character names. I also keep a name file to which I added Karen Loop and Alex Morningstar yesterday. I’ll eventually find the right place for them, but I want to tell you about three real names I’ve found over the years that are too good to be true. Detective Sergeant Brent Stoner is a narcotics cop in the States. Officer Brad Justis is also a real American cop. But the grand prize of best-name-for-the-job-ever goes to a UK police officer, Detective Constable Rob Banks.
Garry–I think names come back every three or four generations. There are so many little girls running around named Hazel and Mabel. Those were the names of my grandmother and her sister. My parents very kindly gave me my grandmother’s maiden name as my middle name (Rogers, an excellent name. 🙂 ) If I’d had the middle name of Hazel, I would have been teased relentlessly.
Great “too good to be true” names. Constable Rob Banks had me literally laughing out loud!
I enjoyed this because I just named the characters in my next book and now I’m thinking twice about a few of them. Great suggestions, Anne. Thank you.
Patricia–I hope you don’t have to rename them. It is a hassle, although it can be worth it. But if you do, pay attention to Ruth’s comment!
Hi, Anne
A caveat for #3: Don’t get obsessed with not repeating letters. There are some letters in the alphabet where no one is likely to have names. Better might be to name minor characters with a name that looks different than another character with the same letter. For example, Anne and Alexander. You can also make sure they don’t interact with each other. A good rule of thumb is to make sure no one in the book is in the same letter family as your protagonist and antagonist.
Linda–Haha! Anne and Alexander were my grandparents names! It’s true that sometimes you can’t avoid the same-letter names. And there aren’t a lot of names beginning with Q. Although I just read a book with a protagonist named Quinn. I wonder if the author was making things easy for herself. Good tip that if they do start with the same letter, try not to have them interact.
Character names are really important to me. They need to be symbolic, era and age specific and I have to have this feeling about them. I found the comment on popular names (Catherine/Kate/Caitlin and Jack) interesting. I have named my love interest Jack and a fictitious Island Catharine. I’ll stick with these at the moment—maybe the trend might change by the time my book’s out there ???????????? But I will keep it in mind. I do use name generators and baby name lists on the interent and have bookmarked a number of these which do get a work out.
Valerie–The agents didn’t say anything about the names of islands. 🙂 An island named Catherine sounds intriguing. I have a love interest named Jack in The Lady of the Lakewood Diner. Nothing I can do about it now. I hope the fact his name is really Jacques makes him stand out from all the other Jacks. And as you say, fashions change. Maybe by next year the overdone name will be Oliver.
Excellent list of tips. I don’t write stories set on Earth, so I don’t have to worry about names in the right decade. But I do have to watch names that are too long or difficult to say. (As a science fiction writer, it’s also one of my pet peeves.)
Alex–Sci Fi has its own set of problems. As I said, readers really want to be able to pronounce those names. And it’s a great tip to also avoid loooooong ones.
I thought I’d come up with a perfect name for a secondary character, using the first name of one former student and the last name of another, both unusual. Then I was browsing an online bookstore, just shopping, and discovered another author had used that name for his series protagonist. Fortunately, my character’s last name had never shown up in print yet, only her first. In the next book, she’ll have a last name, but not the one I planned on.
Amber–Oh, my. That’s a problem I haven’t run into…that I know of. 🙂 I guess Google might not come up with the protagonist’s name of every book. It’s good you caught that in time to change your character’s last name.
Thank you for this article, Anne. I’m just about to publish a short story on my blog and, after reading your advice, realize that I have to find a new name for my protagonist.
And thank you for the giggle about Canadians and our passion for opera.
Leanne–Oh, I’m sorry if I’ve made you rename your character. I hope you find an even better one.
I’m very glad that I read your article, Anne. It helped to make my story stronger.
Leanne–I’m so glad I inspired you!
I got a good laugh out of the Roman names “Jamesus” and “Kirkidus.” 😀
Liz–That one is an Easter egg for the Trekkies. The hardcore Trekkies will remember that the Captain’s full name is James Tiberius Kirk. 🙂
I’d completely forgotten that! (Not being a Trekkie, just a casual watcher of the show back in the day when there was nothing else to watch.)
Since I write stuff set in the current time but an undefined country, I don’t have a lot of the problems you pinpoint. I use scientific names for many of my characters (particularly the demons). However, that too has its drawbacks, and I once had to run search-and-replace on a character I had inadvertently named after an embarrassing skin disease.
Pat Browne–An embarrassing skin disease! That might get a prize as the worst faux pas with a name. I hope at least it was the name of a demon. I’ve had a few skin ailments that might be called demonic.
Problem solved by inventing my own island kingdom of Carramer, home to 25 books and counting 🙂 As well as a First Nations population there’s a historic French thread and I heard from a French reader unhappy to have her whole name used in my book. I directed her to the disclaimer about resemblances being “purely coincidental.” For me movie and TV credits are a goldmine of wonderful names to mix and match. I got Quinn Snowball this way, still awaiting his story.
Valerie–Screen credits! Thanks for the valuable tip. Yes, I see marvelous names in screen credits, and keep telling myself to pause the video and write down some of those names, but I haven’t done it yet. Quinn Snowball is brilliant!
Great blog, Anne! I have a terrible time with names and usually use a placeholder for minor characters who pop up. For some reason, those names always begins with the letter “j”
In my current novel (which has just been picked up for publication in 2022) I was told by my agent that the name of my protagonist’s best friend, Josie was too close to MC’s name Jenna. The best friend is a NYC criminal court judge. I changed her name to Lola. So against type, I love it. So far, no-one has suggested changing it!
Joanna–Congrats on the book deal!! I think Lola is a fabulous name for a judge. As long as she doesn’t turn out to be sour-faced, negative and persnickety. 🙂
Bonus bonus tip: If you use Find & Replace to replace a character’s name, make sure it’s set to “Whole word” and “Match Case” 😉 I once changed a character from Jack (yep) to James, and then was puzzled when proofreading to find a character picking up a “Jameset”. Was this some sort of MacGuffin I’d inserted somehow? Since I’d forgotten by then about the name change, it actually took me a few days before I twigged: JACKET!
Oh, I should have read Ruth’s comment first! Well, there you go. It happens to the best, too.
Elle–Great minds think alike! I’ve made the mistake myself.
Had to laugh at your comment about Sally the milkmaid becoming a Princess. I’m in the process of continuing to write a book that I’ve given up on several times because of complications with it, in which the main characters finds that she actually is a long-lost princess of a place she’s never heard of. By instinct I kept using her name and let the Princess name just get the occasional airing. Glad to have this point confirmed…
MCrwol–Congrats on getting a comatose book going again! Great that you keep the reader in mind and don’t change her name with her change in status.
Hey Anne — great stuff, as usual. I am a huge fan of searches for popular names of a particular year. And all your advice here is spot-on.
CS–Those names for particular years are fascinating, aren’t they? Helen, Doris, Mildred and Betty ruled in the 1920s. I’ll bet almost everybody has a great grandmother or great aunt with those names. Today, they’re coming back into style.
Anne, another great article! In my finished looking-for-a-publisher novel I wanted to use a few Scottish surnames, so I looked them up on google. Plus, Macbeth offered some possibilities. Plays and stories by Shakespeare and contemporaries have a lot to offer.
In one of my published novels, I had two female characters–Jean and Jennifer, right up to the final draft. Those two had several scenes together. Jennifer became Melanie. I had to do that one name at a time for the very reason Ruth gave. “Jen” shows up in other words, and so does “Mel.”
Fred–Just as long as you don’t put “Macbeth” in the title. 🙂 There’s an old theater superstition that mentioning that name inside a theater will bring terrible luck. It is always called “The Scottish Play.” I started writing a play called The Scottish Play, but alas, I never finished it. Shakespeare is a goldmine for almost everything.
Ruth’s advice is very helpful. “Whole word” saves a huge amount of grief.
Other than that there have been a lot of changes to Scottish names since the 16th century, Macbeth was written by an Englishman who knew nothing about Scotland. You might want to keep that in mind. 😉
Another excellent post, Anne — a treasure trove of useful tips for naming characters and not confusing or annoying readers. Sharing! 🙂
Jodie–Many thanks. Not confusing or annoying the reader should be the goal of the writer as well as the job of the editor.
You gave some good tips. Let me give a tip for historical fiction authors, you can find tax records and parliamentary records for almost all periods. Many are online. I use tax records from medieval Scotland to find authentic names for characters.
As a reminds to US authors who sometimes don’t quite get it (I’m sure you do, Anne), there are big differences between the different nations of the UK. The most popular girls name in Scotland at the moment is Isla (No clue why). I don’t know if it is even on the list in England. Wales also tends to have different popular names. Thanks goodness for Google search for finding these things out, but of course be sure you find a good source online. There is also, no news, a lot of not so accurate information out there.
JR–Great tip! Tax records. I didn’t even know you could see tax records from the middle ages. Historical fiction needs to be well researched and it sounds as if those records could be a goldmine for lots of things, not just names. You’re right that names are different in different regions as well as nations. I didn’t know that Isla was even a name for people (I live near a town called Isla Vista, pronounced Eye-la,) It’s true of different regions of the US, too. People in the south are more likely to have hyphenated names like Mary-Ellen, and people in New England are more likely to have traditional English names. Lots of Spanish names in the Southwest. Thanks for the tips!
Wonderful tips, Anne.
A genealogist turned me onto another name source that’s esp. helpful for historical writers–census records. Starting in 1790, the census is done every ten years. It shows what names were popular and when, along with lots of personal info like occupation, race, background, children’s names, etc. If you can find scans of the original handwritten census, they’re lots of fun, although sometimes difficult to translate.
I’ve spent many hours in the fabulous genealogy library maintained by the LDS Church.
Debbie–Thanks for another great tip! Census records and the genealogy records of the Mormon church are goldmines. I had a cousin who did fascinating research of our family tree using the LDS church records.
You may have one of the most common names, but there’s only one Anne Allen in my world. 😉 Great tips as always.
When choosing names, I think about my character, who s/he stands for, personality, etc., and then search for a name that fits. For example, Sage is earthy crunchy. What better to search than the spice rack? LOL I also use baby names for different cultures. Many teach the meaning of each name, which adds another layer to the character.
Sue–Aw thanks. 🙂 Now I had NOT thought of looking in the spice rack for names. But you’re right! Sage, Basil, Cinnamon, Rosemary… there are a whole bunch.
One problem with naming characters relates to using a well known name, especially one that is distinctive.
NightWriters in San Luis asked me to offer critiques before meetings. During one critique I noted the name, Severus. When I mentioned it would be better to use a different name, the recipient challenged me. I explained this was the name of a major character in the Harry Potter series. The guy blew up. He claimed the series was not well known and anyway the books were for children. As his book was obviously for adults, no one reading his work would have heard the name. I tried to explain the range of readers who knew this character. He loudly chastised me in front of a group waiting for their review saying that since I was just a local “expert” (yes, he did make air quotes) I didn’t know what I was talking about.
It taught me not to argue with a rock.
Mark–OMG. The Dunning Kruger effect in action. Nobody knows who Severus Snape is? That’s like naming a character Clark Kent or James T. Kirk and expecting nobody to know the name is in use.
Anne:
I learned about the D-K effect in grad school. At the time, I thought the prof was trying to tell us something. It wasn’t until I started teaching that I learned how destructive the effect can be.
Love, M
Love this, Anne. Thank you. I’m writing a multi-generational book at the moment and a lot of it is based in inner-city Dublin, Ireland from the 19th century. So, think of my dilemma when trying to keep it real when the names most popular at the time (from the census) are Michael, John, James, Patrick, Peter, Mary, Catherine, Bridget etc, a total yawn haha (no offense to anyone)
I’d like to chip in a tip for unusual amazing names to be found and that is from your local graveyard. I’m lucky enough to live beside a cemetery built in 1835 that includes a whole range of the original inhabitants from Irish to Germans, Scots and Dutch, a Jewish section, from ww1 vets to the builders of the town (McHenry IL) and the names are just nuggets of gold for fiction writers.
Stephen–I’ll bet one of the reasons those names are so popular even now is the Irish diaspora in the US. Everybody names their kids for their grandmother and grandfather, who were most likely named Mary and Patrick. And so it goes through the generations…
Graveyards are a fantastic place for names. And sometimes stories. Thanks for the tip! When I lived in New England, I loved to visit old graveyards. They’re beautiful and full of quiet drama. Here in California, there isn’t enough history in them. Early settlers were more likely to be buried on their ranches, and graveyards aren’t attached to churches.
At my day job, I work for Caremark, and I’d so love to write a fantasy story naming all my characters after drugs. Who wouldn’t want to read about the brave princesses Arzerra and Orilissa, who cross the fabled land of the Endari to defeat the evil sorcerer Zofran, with help from the court jester, Juxtapid, who turns out to be the long lost Prince Kadian? 😀
Jen–How fun! Names of drugs are so fascinating. I always wonder who’s naming them all. Maybe there needs to be an evil dragon that needs slaying that’s named Corona? 🙂
A great post and the links are a goldmine. Thank you. You’ve made me question the first names of two major characters in my current WIP. Lorraine and Lise. I’m thinking I need to change Lise to something else. This post came at the right time. Epiphany is a wonderous thing.
#1 Google the name…. About seventeen years ago, I blogged a book of 10 short stories I had written. The main character in the first story was named Myrna Plumley, whom my grandmother would have called a floozy because she spent her evenings in a bar. I live in a rural area and knew of a local family named Plumley, but I couldn’t find reference to a Myrna Plumley, so I felt I was good to go.
Besides, my blog rarely averaged more than a few hits/day. Imagine my surprise when three years later in 2007, I received this email:
Hello Kitty Myers –
While using Google I came across [my blog] and there in the first line was the name “Myrna Plumley” . I am curious how you came to use that name and if it is just a name you invented or if you are familiar with the name.
Myrna Plumley is my name and seldom do I meet another person called Myrna. I would never have suspected that there could be another person with the two names, Myrna Plumley.
Would be interested in any information you could supply re how that name came to be used for a character.
-Myrna Plumley
I explained I created the name, that it was purely by chance it was hers.
Kitty–How amazing! “Myrna Plumley” does sound like a made-up name. It must have been a little disconcerting to have her show up in real life! One of my favorite character names is my LA cop named Maverick Jesus Zukowski. If a real Maverick Jesus Zukowski shows up in my inbox, I’ll think of your Myrna Plumley. Thanks for sharing your story!!
I really enjoyed the post. Thanks. Alas I am unsure that you are right on all points. Sometimes an odd name is truly intriguing. James T Kirk. (Tiberius). Morse (Endevour) Bosch (Hieronymus- of course) Captain Quire (imperious). You already have something to write about and an interesting back story to tell. Of course (and you are right in this) Mavis Thrappledump is unlikely to be Persian beauty sporting silky raven hair and enchanting almond eyes.
Yet I do know that the “odd” names for characters are the ones that stay with you. Titus Groan, Nicolas Nickelby, Edwin Drood, Huckleberry Finn, Slartibartfast, Granny Weatherwax, Artemis Fowl and so on.
Ray–I can’t imagine why you think this post says anything about not using unusual names!!! It says the opposite!! (Do read section #4) I start by saying I’m going to use names like Heironymus Weatherwax and Snively Hassan. And I make a (I thought rather clever) reference to James Tiberius Kirk in section #10 “some of his Romans had authentic names like Tiberius, many had made-up names like and Jamesus and Kirkidus.”
I quite often comment in my book reviews about mixing up people with too similar names., and I recently had one where several characters turned out to be exiled royalty and used BOTH names in the last two chapters. My brain hurt. But I suspect younger readers (9-14) don’t have a problem with it. Or not so much!
I gave my protagonists of my scifi series aliases that were as common as I could work them without losing a touch of ethnic gene pooling. I know three Lars Nilssons, so I’m sure a fourth one (fictitious) shouldn’t be a problem! Too late now, though.
I have too many named bit-part characters in my draft. I thought they were going to play a bigger role. I’ll have to remember to edit their names out, too.
I had an aunt Mabel, too. But then, the great-aunts included Charlotte and Emily, and they came back into fashion around 1990. Come to think of it, probably 80-100 year birth gap.
Great post, thanks.
Jemima
Jemima–You have a name that’s super popular in the UK but almost never used in the US. Probably because of a US brand of pancakes that uses the name, come to think of it. I name bit players too, because I have no idea if I’m going to kill them off later or need them as witnesses. I hate it when I have to lose the names, but it really helps the reader.
It’s weird how old names recycle again. What I think of as old-lady names are all turning up again. Hazel, Mabel, Emily–all in the top baby names now. I suppose the next generation will name their girls Shirley, Muriel and Betty, my mom and aunts’ names.
I have yet to read a book with a character named Anne Allen, although the real world is infested with them. There’s a UK author named Anne Allen who’s always showing up in searches for my books. Sigh.
Thank you, Anne, for your helpful post: I found the piece of advice about not giving names to walk-on characters especially useful.
I am writing an alternate history novel set in the world of British politics from 1912 to 1948. Nearly all the characters in the first half of the book (1912-1915) are historical figures, while the second half of the book, set after the point of divergence from our historical timeline in May 1915, features some fictional characters. Two major characters who are best friends (historically and in my novel) both have names starting with V: Venetia Stanley and Violet Asquith (who is better known to history by her married name, Lady Violet Bonham Carter — yes, she was the grandmother of Helena Bonham Carter). Venetia (my protagonist) and Violet have a lot in common. They are exact contemporaries (born in 1887) who are tall and slender; aficionadas of the theatre and opera; and come from prominent Liberal families. I hope the length of their given names makes it easier for readers to tell Venetia and Violet apart, as well as the difference in their hair color (Venetia has dark brown hair: Violet’s hair is that indefinite shade between dark blonde and light brown).
Katheryn Gallant
Kathryn–When you’re dealing with historical characters, or famous mythological ones, you can’t exactly switch names. 🙂 So yes, you’ll probably confuse some readers with Venetia and Violet. But how fun! I didn’t know there was a Lady Violet Bonham Carter! You might give her mass quantities of hair that’s always in something of a mess if you want to set her apart from Venetia (and allude to her famous granddaughter.) You can also show differences with speech patterns, pet phrases and other dialogue quirks.
I had this problem with my novel The Lady of the Lakewood Diner. In my 1970s version of the Grail saga, I had characters named Morgan (as in Le Fay) and Merlin. I couldn’t change the names or I would have had no story. But if a writer shows enough difference between the characters, most readers can figure things out.
Just FYI, as of today, the Regency Name Generators have been disabled. Whether that’s permanent or temporary, I don’t know.
Dana–Well, that’s a bummer! I hope it gets fixed and it’s not gone forever. Thanks for letting me know.
Historical characters can be frustrating. One of Henry VIII’s premier courtiers was named Edward Seymour, and his physician was named William Butts. It was not a great choice on my part to put Seymour and Butts in the same scene.
Charlene–Haha! 🙂 Good one!
I do struggle with names. I try to make good names for my fantasy characters. Then I get criticism for them being too hard. I made sure the names were pronouncable. I am stuck. Thanks for the tips.
BTW The name Master Bates was hilarious. That gave me a good laugh. That is not a proper name for a real person nor a fictional character. That is a name for a prank call. I can imagine Bart calling Moe for this person in the Simpsons. Then Moe would ask around, and the whole bar erupts with laughter. Moe would be really ticked off. I don’t know if Bart is old enough to understand dirty jokes, but it would still be hilarious to the audience.
Chanel–You might find that shorter names seem more “pronouncable”. Fantasy names can be hard that way.
I love your idea of Master Bates appearing in a Simpsons episode! I think Bart would know a few dirty words. 🙂
My character is a 19-year-old schizophrenic gang member who’s girlfriend is a Starbucks barista and his name is Dominic Michael Luong but everyone calls him Roadkill. Do you think this name fits him
Sara–Great name!!