How much attention do you give to naming your characters? Let me put it this way. How much time or energy would you put into naming a child? Many people name their children after some member of the family, but which member, which child? For those who want something different, there are books upon books and websites upon websites, all covering the subject of choosing the perfect name for a child. Why would you spend little or no consideration on naming your characters?
You might say something like, “a character by any other name would still do what you wrote for them.”
There is an element of truth in that. However, consider this: what if Lady Galadriel was named Alice instead? What if Merlin was called Harry; both are wizards, right? The names just don’t seem to fit quite as well for the characters mentioned. This illustrates only one aspect of why naming a character is important.
Consider “Game of Thrones.” How many of my readers began having a little difficulty keeping track of who was who in that story where characters in a family had a tendency, not only to have names with the same first letter, but also with similar pronunciations? Leave a comment below.
“Game of Thrones” and “The Last Kingdom” were able to break this rule because both dealt with a time frame where the family name was of great importance, and therefore created authenticity. However, in other circumstances, it is not advisable to allow many characters in the same story to have names with the same first letter. Certainly, you should avoid using similar sounds throughout the names. If you break both rules, characters can be confused with ease, pulling your reader out of the story as they try to figure out who they are reading about at any given time. You want to try to mix up endings and beginnings.
As an exception to the first letter rule, who would confuse Gandalf for Gimli, or either for Galadriel? The length of the names are different, and the ending sounds are different, even though the first letter is the same. You want to keep these combinations in mind if for no other reason than to make sure your reader is certain who is who.
Now that I have covered making sure that one name isn’t confused with another within a story, I want to address another concept. Even if we don’t like this fact, it is a fact. I don’t like stereotypes, but they do exist and because they exist certain names bring up certain imagery for certain people. Unless you are purposefully trying to turn the stereotypes on their heads, you might want to consider this fact when naming your characters.
I have found another consideration to be my preference in the long run, which is that my characters should be named according to who they actually are. I learned about the meanings of names early on, before I even put pencil to paper in the form of a story. Now, I find it difficult to attempt to name one of my characters without taking consideration to the root meaning of their name.
One example of my success in shutting off this tendency is in my first children’s book, “Boys Will Be Boys.” I wanted the names to be relatively general so that the characters could be anybody and anybody could relate.
However, this was unusual. I noticed that in my Steampunk children’s book (work in progress), I have put emphasis on the meanings behind the names again. At the very least, I wanted them to sound somewhat Victorian, which isn’t as difficult as one might think. Many of our “modern” names were common in the Victorian era. Yet, even with the names that I won’t find the meanings of for this new children’s book, it has not been a simple “just slap a name in there and call it good.”
In my “Holders of…” series which I am currently working on, I have been striving for each main name to have a meaning. I will not be giving such consideration to all the names, however, as that would take much too long and take energy away from my writing. In this novel, I also wanted the names to sound like they belong in a fantasy novel, which is not as easy as one might expect, especially if the names are to have meanings already belonging to them in our own world.
When you are naming your characters; please, please, make sure the names are not too difficult to pronounce. For me, as a reader, if I have to spend five minutes figuring out how to pronounce a name or if my mind stumbles over a difficult pronunciation each time that name comes up, the enjoyment of the story will be leeched away bit by bit. A reader should be able to be pulled along in a story, almost as if in a dream. When you are dreaming and there is a noise in the real world, it can jar you out of the dream. What are the odds that you will be able to move back into the dream? With each successive partial awakening, the odds decrease. This is what a tongue twister name does. The flow is disrupted, and the reader has to fight to get back into their “suspension of disbelief” and into the flow.
I am not discouraging using unusual names. In fact, I like to choose names that are at least a little less common. Yet, it might be worth considering the idea of adding a pronunciation of unusual names in the front or back of the book. This way, the reader doesn’t have to guess and wonder if they got it right each time they read the name.
When considering name meanings, one pitfall to consider is that different nationalities can have similar sounding names with different meanings. There are also many books and websites that simply give misinformation. The way you handle these problems is the same way you would handle any other research. You must find at least two sources that give the same information before you can even consider that it might be accurate enough to use. Be selective. If you find a source that seems to be inaccurate multiple times, don’t use it again. It is not an uncommon event for me to get contradictory information from different baby name websites.
There is also the consideration of looking for the meanings of words in other languages. This is what I did to confirm the meanings of some names I wanted to use. I found out that I had chosen a name for one of my characters which had the same or similar meanings across multiple languages. This is something I hadn’t seen before, and haven’t seen since. I am not certain how I should view this phenomenon, however, I do feel more secure that the name suits my character.
Don’t limit yourself to baby name websites. Plug the name into your preferred search engine. Type in things like, “–name– meaning/origin.” This can help you find websites that are less common or not even geared toward the popular subject of baby names. This gives the hope that they might not be aiming for popularity or profit, and thus simply attempting to give good information. Even so, remember to cross-reference.
When choosing your character’s name, make sure you consider who you are writing for, and who you are writing about. What genre and what era is your book set in? A character in a fantasy novel is likely to be different than in a historical novel, and both different than a modern romance.
Yes, I have presented a great many considerations when it comes to choosing a character name, and it can make choosing a name a bit more difficult than it might appear at first glance. I have been told, “Just give them a name for now and change it later if you want.” However, if the characters use the name for a while, they might reject it or claim it. If they claim it, I am too late. I must wrestle the name from them in order to give them another. Wresting with your characters is never advisable. They have a tendency to win. Planning in advance is usually a good policy in most situations.
As you plan, as you research, as you cross-reference, and as you consider your characters and the names that would suit them best in their setting, remember to enjoy the wonder.
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