When your parents gave
you your name, they probably didn’t open a baby book, close their eyes and
point, and pick the name their fingers landed on. In fact, it’s likely that
there’s a reason behind the name you were given. I.E., they liked it the way it
sounded, they liked what it means, another member of the family had it, etc.
The same holds true for
naming our characters. More so, actually, because we authors have more insight
into what kind of people our characters are. Our parents didn’t know who we were
going to be when they named us because we were still babies. But authors get to
look at the character as a whole person, and we have the opportunity to make
the name match the personality.
I’ve seen writers do
the random baby book thing, and, to me, that makes it seems like they don’t care
enough about this character to put any thought into choosing a name. If they
don’t care, then why should I care? However, if they take the time to figure
out who this person really is and then choose a name that reflects that
personality, it shows. I can’t write a single word of my story until I know my
main character well enough to name him/her. Once I have that, then his/her
personality has an easier time shining through.
I probably spend an
inordinate amount of time choosing character names, but, to me, it’s worth it.
It’s part of my world-building and structuring of the story.
Baby name books are too
tedious for me to use, but I’ve found a few websites that are very useful. My
favorite is Behind The Name. The database of
names on this site is enormous, and it’s searchable. You can search by name or
you can search by the meaning of the name. The meanings often include a history
of the name and people who’ve carried it. They also have a site for surnames.
After I have narrowed
the name choices down to a handful, I double check the meanings on these sites.
Sometimes sites will have
different meanings for the same name, and I like to make sure I’m taking all of
that into account. So, this is why I cross-check everything. Once I’m done, I’m
110% sure I’ve chosen the best possible name for my characters.
How do you choose your
characters’ names? Do you have a favorite site or book for researching names?
7 comments:
Hi. Visiting from SheWrites. Great blog.
I use an old baby names book that I have had since I was pregnant with my first, more than 18 years ago. I also use several of the online sites you listed. They are great resources.
I was named after two great-grandmothers. I totally agree that names are important, and I spend lots of time deciding on the names of my characters and villains.
Great post! :-)
My characters come to me named. I'm so grateful for that. It's like meeting a new friend.
I pick names I think will be easy to remember. :)
Oh yes! Names are important to me. Some arrive easily, some take time to settle on. I usually play around with sounds in my head - especially the made-up ones in my far-future world.
The only thing I regularly check is to do a Google search to make sure the name doesn't already have some unwanted associations.
Like Kelly Hashway, I think my characters name themselves. When they don't, I know the story's in trouble...
My characters name themselves also... just like those above. But I need baby names because my son on the way is not giving me his name so easy! Thanks for the information.
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