McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Character Names
Dread Pirate Sayessa:
--- Quote from: swalizer on February 18, 2007, 04:21:55 PM ---
I then went through and tried out each surname as a bar name until I finally settled on Zubov for the character's last name, and Zubov's for the bar. The character's full name is Anton Zubov. The Anton part just came to me and it sounded right so I kept it.
--- End quote ---
I knew a Russian guy named Anton, so yeah--good choice! (He was adorable! And married... Then again, so was I. ;) )
And Abstruse-- I was tired when I made my post, so I didn't even think to ask if the story took place in the real world or your own, which of course would make a HUGE difference in whether you could use the Robert Frost name game thing...
Kali:
So, I'm in Chemistry class a few years ago, right? And the prof is making a list of elements for some reason. She writes on the board:
Ne, Na, P, Ar, K.
I went, "Nena Park. Good name!"
*tap forehead* Allllways thinkin'...
Darrington:
I'm a huge believer in the feel of a name. How it sounds. The meaning doesn't mean anything to me, so I hate looking up names by their meaning and origin. Unless, of course, it's a real-world setting and they come from somewhere else. Then origin means something, but meaning still has no bearing on names to me.
For fantasy names, I normally select a letter to start with, whether it's a hard or soft consonant, or an uncommonly used letter. That starts the feel for the name and feel of the character. Then I just try out different letter combinations in my head to try piecing together a sound that fits. I've come up with names for several other people as well as my own characters this way.
As for the realistic settings, with normal names, I incorporate preconceived notions to names. Take advantage of that, to some degree. Depending on the character. As an example (I hated using it, but there could never be anything that fits better), I have a character named Jane that is, well, plain, simple, overlooked. To double-layer it, though, there's the Jane Doe aspect of the name. No one will realize she's missing if she disappears. Another name. Angelina. Now, I'm not up on celebrities and such (someone mentioned that back a few posts, I'm too lazy to reference), so Angelina, to me, sounds very regal. Long names like that take on a more sophisticated air to me. Of course, that might not be the same to all my readers, but you can never control everyone's reactions to a name.
In summary, the sense and feel of a name is more important than an actual name to me. It conveys a lot about a character, depending on how you handle it. Angelina, for example, might be far from a regal person. A loser in life who's been beat down at every turn. She hated it when her parents called her their "little Angel." So she cuts it down to Ann. People are entitled to hate their names or butcher them so it's nearly something else. On the other hand, people can love their names. Angelina could very well be a regal person who could walk with books on her head all day.
And I could probably keep ranting, but I'll quit. :)
AD
ButMadNNW:
A funny anecdote:
I've always liked the meanings behind names, so when I started getting more into my writing and into role-playing in my teens, I went to the bookstore. After looking through several baby name books, I chose one and took it up to the counter. The cashier looked down at the book, looked up at me, donned a slightly confused expression, and said, "Congratulations?" ...
Took me a second to realize she thought I might be pregnant! :D Then I laughed and assured her that wasn't why I was buying the book!
Anyway, I had a character walk into my head maybe 5 years ago. What with Real Life distracting me and being stressed, I didn't really start working with him until recently. And even then, I couldn't write, because he refused to tell me his name! I started paging through name books, pulling names off TV/movie credits, trying to find something that resonated with me. At some point, I decided he was an ex-pat Brit, so I started pulling names off the credits for Wire in the Blood. In one episode, there was a kid named Corran. That name followed me around long enough that I finally had to admit that was the first name.
But surnames are where I always have trouble. I finally wrote to a friend in London and asked her for help. She told me that "Corran" is Scottish (my book says Irish, and the kid in the show lived in north England, so I'm confused), and got it into her head that he's a highlander. She even hears his light-brogue accent (I still can't), and when she heard that same accent at work, she wrote me an email with that guy's last name. "What," she asked, "do you think of Corran McLaughlin?"
So, for now at least, my main character is Corran McLaughlin (middle name Rene, after his French grandfather, and as an in-joke). He's probably stuck that way, because I'm like some of you - once I have a name, I canNOT think of the character with a different name. If I start writing before I've decided on a name, I go so far as to put [C] as a placeholder for the main character, [P] for his/her partner, etc., so I can't get stuck on a name. :D
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