Should I change my character's last name or not.

[KnightofCrescent]

So my character's last name is Iceheart. Do you think it sounds too corny? The thing is I I've stuck with this name sense the beginning, but it is only now that I began to question whether it will work. Should I use a simpler surname?

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Pure opinion, it can work or not, depends on the setting, target audience, how you write, etc. It's neither good nor bad in itself.

 

[FifthView]

There's really no way anyone but you can answer that question.

The name does sound hokey to me. But there are various settings in which the name would seem okay, appropriate, depending on the culture, the rest of the world building, etc.

If I Google the name, I see where it's already been used in the Final Fantasy world and in World of Warcraft and in other places. Even despite other considerations, frequency of use (as determined by a simple Google search) can answer Yea or Nay when asking whether a name should be changed.

But it's really up to you.

 

[Steerpike]

I think it works fine for a children's book. Maybe for YA and older, depending on the setting and feel you're going for, as mentioned above. Also works as a nickname, rather than a proper name.

 

[Pendragon II]

I agree with the other scribes; it depends heavily on what genre and audience you're writing to. I would add a few things, however.

First, you should know that I write from experience. In a story that I have since abandoned, (actually my first) I had a character named Beorno Ironfist, and another called Aathorn Fellsteel. After long thought I decided to change them, which I did several times, but in the end I decided the entire story was crap and I put it on the shelf.

Now with my actual point. Such a name would be acceptable in several cases, even in a darker story. Have you ever read Joe Abercrombie? He uses compound-words to name characters, though mostly just nicknames. But here are examples:

A northern environment where names are given based on achievement or nature.

If the name is a translation from a foreign tongue.

Some person of authority bestowed the name.

It is a nickname given by a dead loved one, and taken on out of grief.

The character uses the name in order to inspire fear, etc.

But in the end, it comes down to your presentation. A writer of great skill can give a terrible name but get off scot-free because of great characterization. Think of allegories in which names are given based on characteristics.

I view names as important, but subsidiary. And in the end, no-one is better judge of what your book needs than you are.