A Strange Name

[Caged Maiden]

Hello Scribes!

I need your assistance. This is regarding a character I recently changed, and I need to understand whether this would cause offense to homosexual readers at all.

Basically, I wrote a character into my novel. His name is Andrew Strange, and he was a crime boss in the city, and a friend of my MC. Strange is a surname that came from "strong". It was a British/ Scottish surname, first "Strong", then "Strang", and finally, it gained an "e". I know readers will pronounce it "stranj" which is fine, but I worry that I just changed his character, and it will look like I'm making an "issue" of his character. I changed him from a fat jolly uncle type of character with no mentioned sexuality, to a gay loan shark who is not outwardly effeminate or anything, but my MC feels comfortable flirting with him because he's "no risk" to her. She contemplates how he adorns his arms with attractive ladies in public, but never takes a sincere liking to any of them.

So I worry now that readers will think his surname is somehow a statement on my part, but the character is lovingly crafted and a great personality, and I just adore him and don't want to change him. I researched surnames, looking for anything else to change it to, but I love the phoenetics of his surname, and I haven't found anything I like nearly as much. I didn't want to post a thread to you all about this, but I really can't find a solution, and I'm tired of spending hours on this if there's no issue.

Do you think I'm shooting myself in the foot if I leave his name as it was when he was a straight, happy crime boss? Or does my new gay loan shark need a new name?

I really hate to even consider changing anything, since it seems almost too sensitive to bother with, but I don't want to cause offense and have anyone feel like I meant anything by naming him what I did. Like I said, I picked the name before I changed him, and I'd like to keep it, but the nagging voice inside my head won't let me do it without hearing whether people would be offended.

Any thoughts are welcome, even if it's that I'm an insensitive jerk. Or if you have any other surname suggestions, I'm all ears. BTW, the reason this is such a big deal, is that she calls him by his surname, as in:

“While I adore your smile, Raven, it gives me quite the stomach upset when money’s at stake.”

“Another woman might take that the wrong way, Strange,” Raisa replied, with her left fingers supporting her face—one on the underside of her jaw, and one on her cheek. It was a simple gesture, a subtle one, but even the smallest amount of self-touch sent a subliminal message of flirtation. “Who says I have a good hand? Maybe I’m just enjoying the company.”

 

[CupofJoe]

Some readers will make the connection and think you are making a point. So what?
"Andrew" also has its roots in strong/manly/heroic. So some readers might even see a double "joke" in having a gay character called "Manly Strong".
Someone somewhere will come to any conclusion that suits them. You know the reality.

 

[Penpilot]

I think some will think you're making a point, but you can address that by hanging a lantern on it. Just bring his name up in the story and address it in a way that makes a statement about your character.

The last person to tease him about his name rolled away from the hospital shy nine and a half fingers, three quarters of one foot, and a full testicle. You don't f#ck with Strange, well, unless he tells you to. :S

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Somebody will be offended by anything, or at least question your motives, that's the sad little world of snowflakes we live in... no offense to snowflakes! LOL.

I wouldn't sweat it. But then I don't concern myself with giving offense when it comes to my fiction.

 

[MineOwnKing]

I went to school with some kids by the name of Stangel, but that might be German.

Andrew Stangel might work.

Strong in Porutguese is 'forte'. The t at the end makes a 'ch' sound and you also pronounce the e. 'Four-Chay'

Andrew Forte

 

[Nimue]

Well, mixed feelings on this. I don't think "Strange" is inherently offensive today (though it was definitely an insult in days gone by), but it is kind of...dubious. Like: "Oh, this character is gay. And the author named him Strange. And this isn't discussed by the characters at all. Hmm. Does the author have issues, or...?" followed by watching out for other red flags.

If you're intent on keeping the name, honestly I'd bring up the implications in-story. Did people used to call him Strange as a backhanded insult and he's owned it and reclaimed it and now everyone says the name Strange with respect because he's such a badass? It doesn't have to be a whole expository thing, just a line or two about how folks used to treat him. I don't think it's an awful choice, but dancing around the issue, pretending there are no implications, isn't the best way to handle it.

And to be honest, if the only reason you want to keep the name is the "phonetics", there's no shortage of other English surnames. Also, nobody's going to look at it and think "oh, that means Strong in German or whatever." You can't bring these explanations and etymologies into the story: the reader only has what's on the surface.

Suggestions: Gray, Whistler, Kraken, Moran, (insert better suggestion here: try BehindtheSurname.com)

Something that made me raise an eyebrow more than the name, actually, was the mention that the MC flirts with him because he's no risk. That...kind of reads as a lot of disrespect. Not any better than a guy relentlessly flirting with a woman who's not interested in him. Obviously this is still something that people do, and it's not like everything the MC does needs to be perfect and sympathetic. Could you give more context on this, and their relationship? I could be completely misinterpreting the intent of that tidbit.

 

[Gryphos]

Personally I wouldn't be too worried about it, mainly because Strange is kind of a cool name regardless. However, if you are worried, there are several ways for you to get around the issue. The obvious option would be to hang a lantern on it. Address the issue by having characters comment on his name. Or, alternatively, you could have one or several other gay characters whose names don't have any such implications. Just some ideas.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Make the character a shirt-tail relative of Curtis Strange (which works in a cameo for the movie version) and call it good, LOL.

I worry about a world where this is any sort of issue.

 

[Ireth]

I see no issue with the name at all. Like Nimue said, though, the flirting thing is a bit strange. Does Mr. Strange brush it off, or play along with it? His reaction might make it better or worse.

 

[Russ]

I worry about a world where this is any sort of issue.

I don't see any issue with that name for that character, and both the character and the interactions between the MC and Mr. Strange sound like fun.

I am happy to live in a world where kind people like CM worry about the feelings of such folk before they write and publish.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I see no issue with the name at all. Like Nimue said, though, the flirting thing is a bit strange. Does Mr. Strange brush it off, or play along with it? His reaction might make it better or worse.

Its also a common cliché on the "feeling safe" with Strange. I've got no problem with cliché, things are that way for a reason. But if one wanted to give it more pep, playing with the cliché could be good fun. Although the fact she feels safe with a crime boss might be fun enough as it is. LOL.

 

[Brithel]

You mention that many readers will pronounce it stranj, how 'should' it be pronounced? Strang? If that is so you could just put a small authors note at the beginning, though it may just look like you are just trying to skirt around the issue and you'd probably draw more attention to it than if you had just left it.

I think you should just leave it as is as I honestly can't see it as (or even becoming) a big issue.

 

[Nimue]

To be clear, I don't think the name is all that big of a red flag. Just that it might ring a tiny bell if it shows up in the work of an author I've never read before and haven't heard glowing endorsements of. You never know when you might run into some real worrying characterization.

But the fact that you're this concerned about it--and maybe that you really don't want to draw questioning attention to the portrayal of this character--says to me that you should either address it a little or change it, if only for your peace of mind.

 

[skip.knox]

I agree with Ireth--the character's reaction to his own name is key. Let him address it. "Strange" has plenty of connotations to it, none of which I would associate with being homosexual. Remember, this guy grew up with this name. He got teased on the playground. He figured things out in middle school and high school. He has come to terms with it in one way or another.

It's up to you to figure out those terms.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

I also don't see a problem. Having said that as a nipper I grew up with a lad by the name of Paul Strange, often had meals with the Stranges. Nothing in the name says gay to me. (If it was Strangelove - you might have an issue!)

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Caged Maiden]

Sorry it took me so long to boot up my computer, errands and all...

Anyways, this is the one place where the name is discussed:

The bard was dressed as one might expect, in a pair of tight, particolored trousers and a loose doublet hanging open, exposing his half-buttoned shirt. A pendant rested against his chest, teeth of some sort, from something big. Strange evidently noticed too. “Bear teeth?”


“Uh, yes,” Martin said. “A good luck charm.”

“Not for the bear,” Strange said. “My grandfather wore a similar token, a claw. It’s how we got our surname, it mean’s strong. He was a bear-wrestler, back when that sort of thing was popular in Goronmark. He was about your height, just over six feet, and built like an ox. He used to tell endless tales and show me his scars when I was a wee lad.”

Martin stacked his coins and smiled politely while the other players took their seats around the table centered in the room. “Coincidence. This was a gift from my grandfather, actually. No stories, though.”

“Was he in the circus, too?” Strange asked.

“No, he was a horse-breeder.”

Raisa caught the funny little grin that plastered itself on the loan-shark’s face. “Where are my manners,” he said. “I’m Andrew Strange. Nice to meet you.”

BY "flirts with him", I simply meant that at this party, she grabs his arm in a friendly manner and strokes his cheek and puts her arm around him while she's talking to him about a financial deal. It isn't that she's hitting on him, but she's more open with him than she is with other men who might treat her roughly. She's a sort of con man, my MC, and her job sometimes requires her to flirt with the men in the crime network, but she does it on the sly, not in public. With this particular gentleman, she's openly friendly and personal, where others, she treats with cold indifference, so they keep their distance. Her official position is as a mistress to a crime boss, but she has no romantic relationship with her benefactor, and I think in a way, that makes her lonely. She uses her charms to seal deals and gain money and power, but it's all hollow. Where with Strange, she has a genuine affection if such a thing exists in a crime network, where people are always watching their backs.

Their relationship is one of almost genuine friendship, and more honesty than she has with anyone else except her benefactor. I guess for me, as a young woman, I was always happy to go with my gay friends to the clubs, because they weren't going to try to take me home at the end of the night. That's what I mean by "safe". Not that she's cruel, or demonstrative, or even inappropriate. She's just a woman who is forced by her circumstances to use her sexuality as a tool against some people, and it leaves a bad taste in her mouth at times.

The whole circumstance of her living with the dons is only in the first few chapters, before her journey takes shape, and she leaves it behind. Part of her remaining story is in how she finds genuine trust and love, after having to come clean with a new set of allies about who she was and why she lived the way she did. Basically, she could either be a powerful, rich madam, or go back to being a drug dealer (which was how she ended up in the crime network years earlier).

I hope that explains how I'm portraying her, because I'm writing a sort of gritty story about a crime boss' mistress who finds a new life and the family that abandoned her. Her story is one of family, love, and trust, and while she doesn't have much of it in the beginning, she finds it all in the course of the story.

Also, as a side note, homosexuality isn't frowned on in my world or this city, and there's no discussion of it in any sort of negative way. No one refers to Strange in any sort of negative light, they don't criticize him or any other gay person, and it simply isn't an issue. Just that one notice of how my MC feels more comfortable with touching him in public because everyone knows she isn't "cheating" on her benefactor when she's doing it.

Anyways, hope that clarifies. I should have posted the conversation where he reveals the background of his name before, sorry!