Character Names that make sense

[srebak]

While it is true that most writers out there like to give their characters average everyday names (David, Molly, Tim), it seems to me that there will always writers like myself who want to give their characters fancy, off the wall names, sometimes ones that we made up ourselves (or at least think we did). But how will you be able to tell when the fancy names you pick don't fit?

For example, in a fanfiction idea that i'm considering, but haven't written down yet, four of the somewhat original characters i've added are named Talos, Sierra, Alexis and Sirocco. Now for Talos, his name seems to fit, since Talos in mythology was a mechanical device and the character in my story is a robot. And Alexis is a pretty fancy yet common name, so no problems there. But I'm no longer certain about the names Sierra and Sirocco anymore. I recently found out that Sierra is specifically a girl's name and the character in my story with that name is a guy (a male falcon to be precise, but still). And Sirocco, as i recently learned, is the name of an Arabian Desert wind, while the character that bears that name in my story is a blue timber wolf, there's no correlation between wolves and desert winds.

What can be done?

 

[Feo Takahari]

The first thing I try to do is match cultures to name origins. One culture might have names that are all derived from Romance languages, while another might have Arabic names. This usually avoids the issue of "Why is this character named Tim and his neighbor named Achmed?"

Within that framework, I mostly just try to get the right name for that character's gender (assuming a gendered society.) You can play with name meanings if you want, but most readers probably won't know or care where the names originally come from.

 

[ThinkerX]

The people on my worlds are descended from large and small groups 'snatched' from various places and times on earth, meaning a certain amount of cultural continuity came with them, including names. I have lists of names - mostly from the old AD&D 'historical earth' series that I use for many of my characters. For entirely fictional peoples like goblins and rachasa (cat-people) I make up lists of names that share certain grammatical constraints.

Plus, unless the name can be easily shortened, or unless the character is a minor one-off, I try to keep the names to no more than a couple of syllables, or at least make them 'catchy' and easy to remember.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

Feo basically summed it up I think. As for those two names at a glance they seem to fit with the others as far as I'm concerned, though out of the four I think Alexis stands out a little more from the others, so in the world I might expect the name if not the character to be from a different background. As for gender-swapping names, I wouldn't worry about it, it happens in real life and sometimes over time they have a gender-shift. For example the Latin name Vivian was originally a masculine name, then shifted to unisex, and is now almost exclusively considered feminine. Name meanings is also something which I wouldn't worry too much about. Some authors like JK Rowling pay meticulous attention to names in making them have some resonance with the character's role in the story, but others don't, or they sometimes twist name meanings completely on their head when it comes to characterisation for irony. It's entirely up to you and how you want the names to fit with the characters.

 

[Facing]

I like lists. In the past I've gotten myself stuck by obsessing over the "perfect" name for a particular character to the point that I've stopped writing. Like ThinkerX, my world is peopled by descendants of humans. This gives me a starting point for names. I've also spent some time, perhaps too much time, developing a mythology/religion for different countries in my world. This also gives me names to draw on.

If you want to use a certain name for a character, I'd suggest you do so. If you're worried about readers questioning the legitimacy of that name you can give them a reason to accept it.

 

[Gurkhal]

To be honest I usually find that characters grew into a name rather than giving them a name that sends some kind of message from the start is usually best.

 

[Jabrosky]

This suits my purposes most of the time. It generates names that are technically fictitious but are composed of syllables from real cultures throughout the world and time. It's not perfectly complete (I notice it hasn't represented Polynesian or other Pacific cultures yet), but it does represent the regions I am most interested in.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

While it is true that most writers out there like to give their characters average everyday names (David, Molly, Tim), it seems to me that there will always writers like myself who want to give their characters fancy, off the wall names, sometimes ones that we made up ourselves (or at least think we did). But how will you be able to tell when the fancy names you pick don't fit?

For example, in a fanfiction idea that i'm considering, but haven't written down yet, four of the somewhat original characters i've added are named Talos, Sierra, Alexis and Sirocco. Now for Talos, his name seems to fit, since Talos in mythology was a mechanical device and the character in my story is a robot. And Alexis is a pretty fancy yet common name, so no problems there. But I'm no longer certain about the names Sierra and Sirocco anymore. I recently found out that Sierra is specifically a girl's name and the character in my story with that name is a guy (a male falcon to be precise, but still). And Sirocco, as i recently learned, is the name of an Arabian Desert wind, while the character that bears that name in my story is a blue timber wolf, there's no correlation between wolves and desert winds.

What can be done?

Honestly, we get around this issue by taking the time to research the names at the characters' inception. You see, there is no such thing as an "average, everyday name." All names have origin (culture/ethnicity - and thus history), meaning, and tonal quality (how the name sounds) that give them weight. Take "David," your own example of a name that doesn't require much thought. It is a Hebrew and a Biblical name meaning "beloved," and only one man in the holy books of three world religions bears this name. It has the weight of history, of theology, of mythology - it has been carried by kings and explorers, by actors and musicians and serial killers.

Not an everyday name now, is it?

You want to pay attention to sound and imagery of names. For example, you seem to be hung up on "Sierra" being a girl's name. Why? "Sierra" is another word for mountain range, and not only that it sounds rather soaring - a good name for a falcon, don't you think? This is why you want to put more thought into a name than just "it's fancy" or "it's a girls/boy's name." After all, nobody will fear the Evil Sorceress Mindy.

Well, if you do... I can get you the number of a specialist... >.>

We keep a master list of names that catch our fancy. We also collect baby naming books, but only good ones with details about name origins and meaning, as well as name websites. I'll also research specific names, for example to make sure that my character who was born in 1147 has a period name... but I'm a stickler for the details.

 

[Ryan_Crown]

I've become a huge fan of this site:

KateMonk

It has a pretty extensive collection of historical names, broken down by geographic area and culture. Generally I start by deciding what sort of culture my character comes from. As an example, earlier today (coincidentally enough) I was looking for a name for the villain of my story, who is a bandit leader. I pictured him as a European bandit tribe sort, so I went to the medieval Europe section and started looking at Goth and Hun names, since those cultures fit the picture I have for the character.

From there, for me it's mostly an instictual thing. I picture the character in my head -- both what they look like, and generally how sort of person they are, then as I go through the list of names, I look for one that just feels right, that makes me think of my character when I say the name.

The other thing I will sometimes do if I'm looking for a more random name is I'll pick a word in English that describes the character, then I go through Google translate and translate it into all the different languages to see if I can find a word that sounds cool that I like.

I do feel your pain. Character names have always been one of the things I struggle with (and feel like I spend too much time on). When all is said and done, though, the real question is, does the name work for you? Even if it's a "common" name, or a gender-swapped name, or whatever, if the name fits for you when you're writing the character, odds are the name will work for the readers as well.

 

[Gurkhal]

Very nice link Ryan-Crown, thanks for sharing.

 

[Shreddies]

(. . .) After all, nobody will fear the Evil Sorceress Mindy.

I could learn to fear an Evil Sorceress named Mindy. After all, when I think of evil/creepy/scary villain, one of the first to pop into my head is named Mr Teatime (granted it is pronounced 'Teh-ah-tim-eh').

 

[Asinya]

Since my whole book started with ONE name - and the character, the story, the events and other characters, basically Everything, grew from that one name, I totally think that if you DO have a name and that name feels right, then screw what's "normal".

If a character says "This is my name" then it is their name and I don't Care what the rest of the world thinks.