Name confusion

[deilaitha]

My novel has a character in it named "Anachim." It is pronounced "ah-nah-KEEM." This character is a giant. I chose the name because in biblical times there was a race of extremely tall people called the Anachim. Goliath is thought to be one of the Anachim.

Anyway, my mother read my novel to help me edit it, and she said that the name really bugged her because it looked too much like Anakin--as in Anakin Skywalker of Star Wars fame. She told me that it was distracting to see Anachim and always think "Anakin."

She recommended a name change or spelling the name differently. If I were to change the name, it would be to Rephaim (another name for the Anachim). My mom recommended changing the spelling to Ahnachim or Anahkeem or something like that.

To be honest, I hate the thought of spelling it differently, since it looks stupid. I also don't like Rephaim as well. I am considering ignoring her advice and doing what I want to do. However, I thought I would get some input from my MS buddies.

What do you guys think?

 

[Ireth]

Just my first thoughts, but the Biblical term Anachim is plural, referring to the race of giants as a whole (the suffix -im pluralizes the word "anach"). I'm not sure how a plural noun would work as a name for a singular entity (aside from, of course, Elohim -- but then, I'm Christian and not Jewish, so to me God is a triple entity anyway). Maybe Anacha could work for a single person's name (though a different suffix may be in order, if the -a ending looks too feminine for you). If you feel like blending languages, maybe Anachos? The -os denotes a nominative singular masculine noun in Greek.

 

[Jabrosky]

Maybe your mother is reminded of Star Wars because she's unfamiliar with the mythology you draw upon? As long as you're using an actual Hebrew term, I think you should be fine.

 

[GeekDavid]

Would you name a character Fredo? Belbo? Gondalf?

 

[Svrtnsse]

Association is a powerful beast, just like GeekDavid hints at. It doesn't matter if there's a perfectly valid explanation for something being called a certain way, if it sounds too much like something else, readers will get distracted by it.

Someone else started a thread a while back where they shared the entire timeline for the universe they'd created. It was a great work and spanned several posts. However, most of the posts from other people in the thread didn't really touch upon the work the guy had done to explain the history of the world, but on how they'd chosen to call one of the minor houses Stark.
People read it through and saw the word "House Stark" and immediately associated with some other book (or a TV show).

The person who posted a thread argued that it was a perfectly valid name and that there was no patent on it and no reason for why he shouldn't use it. He was right, technically, but people still thought about A Song of Ice and Fire when they read the name and it distracted them from all the other work he had done.

You can use whatever name you like, but keep in mind that some names will distract readers in certain ways and that it may have a great impact on how they perceive your work.

 

[GeekDavid]

You don't really want anything that breaks the suspension of disbelief, especially in sci-fi and fantasy, where it's integral to the reading experience.

A too-familiar-sounding name can do that.

 

[Stare At Shadows]

If you'd stuck an 'n' on the end instead of an 'm' then yeah, I could see how it could be seen as derivative of a Star Wars character. I've never actually seen a Star Wars movie so that didn't occur to me, though Ireth's point about it being the plural of Arach did. Either way, it's all down to what you're comfortable with. The worst thing I can think of when writing anything is to second-guess what readers might or might not think. Write for yourself. If you're happy with Anachim as a name then that's all that matters - I can think of plenty of bestsellers containing character names I'd baulk at. It's all about what works for you.

 

[Mythopoet]

Would you name a character Fredo? Belbo? Gondalf?

Did you know that Tolkien took the name Gandalf from Norse mythology? Many of the Dwarves' names are straight from the Norse myths as well.

Deilaitha, I'd just ignore your mother.

 

[CupofJoe]

When I read "Anachim" for the first time I thought An-ah-Kim and not Ah-nah-keem.
I didn't go to Star Wars but I did get the name wrong. That said, unless the pronunciation is important to the plot I wouldn't worry about how people say a name too much.

Would you name a character Fredo?

It worked out okay for Mario Puzo

 

[GeekDavid]

Did you know that Tolkien took the name Gandalf from Norse mythology? Many of the Dwarves' names are straight from the Norse myths as well.

Deilaitha, I'd just ignore your mother.

And how well is Norse mythology known in the English speaking world?

LotR is far more well-known, however, as is Star Wars.

 

[C Hollis]

I too read it as kim and not keem, so I believe there could be a seed of distraction. For some readers the distraction could last a page or two and that's it, for others it could drag out the whole book.

I would hazard a guess that more of your readers will be familiar with the Star Wars franchise than will know Goliath's people.

In the end, I think you are approaching this the right way and weighing it all out, but I'm not attached to the name, so it would be easy for me to say change it.

I changed two names in my first book because of similar input, and I had totally forgotten about it until I saw this thread.

 

[buyjupiter]

Just my first thoughts, but the Biblical term Anachim is plural, referring to the race of giants as a whole (the suffix -im pluralizes the word "anach"). I'm not sure how a plural noun would work as a name for a singular entity (aside from, of course, Elohim -- but then, I'm Christian and not Jewish, so to me God is a triple entity anyway). Maybe Anacha could work for a single person's name (though a different suffix may be in order, if the -a ending looks too feminine for you). If you feel like blending languages, maybe Anachos? The -os denotes a nominative singular masculine noun in Greek.

Most singular masculine nouns in Hebrew don't have an ending. So, I believe in the case of this transliteration, the singular would be "Anach".

After a bit of research into the Torah side of things...Pelishti is the name Goliath's people are referred to in the story. Which comes from Pelesheth (which is the land's name), which would turn into Philistine. Philistine is the term used exclusively in my translation of the Torah.

So, I'm wondering, are you pulling the Anachim term from a translation of the Torah or the Bible or from the midrash?

Off topic a bit: Elohim is plural, but it takes a singular verb most of the time. (i.e. God speaks to Moses). It does occasionally happen that the plural verb is used with Elohim (i.e. someone saw "gods" ascending to the heavens), but it is very rare.

 

[deilaitha]

You don't really want anything that breaks the suspension of disbelief, especially in sci-fi and fantasy, where it's integral to the reading experience.

A too-familiar-sounding name can do that.

Do you think that "Anachim" meets this criteria as much as Fredo or Gondalf would?

 

[GeekDavid]

Do you think that "Anachim" meets this criteria as much as Fredo or Gondalf would?

It does seem that my natural way of pronouncing it to myself while reading would be eerily similar to how Anakin's name was pronounced in the movies.

 

[Asura Levi]

Well, I did read Anachim as the Star Wars Anakin, and I quite agree with Ireth, you could use the singular version or a blend of languages.
I disagree with the 'ignore your mother' point of view, simple because you ask her for her opinion and she does have a valid point, SW Anakin is fairly know so it will create a confusion.

Another way around it, you can still name him Anachim but usually call him just Anach, something his friends would call. You keep the name, some would still read it as Star Wars but would also see it as some kind of easter egg, even if that is not your intention.

I particularly like Anach