I've noticed my blogs seem to be about the business side of writing rather than writing itself. So I decided to tackle a how-to-write topic for today's blog. Here's one I enjoy: naming characters. This is a variation of the old what's-in-a-name game.
If my hero and heroine don't insist on a specific name, I usually dig out a name-the-baby book. I like names that are a bit out of the ordinary but not totally off the wall. Then I check the meaning of the name to be sure it doesn't mean "wimp" in Welsh or something unhero-like! I use pretty much the same process with other major characters.
However, I have the most fun with the names of minor characters. An obvious ploy might be to name a private detective who carries a gun, "Dick Wesson," though I try to be a bit more subtle than that.
Usually, I pick out one of their main characteristics or their occupation; say, farming. Then I pull up the online thesaurus and plug in the word farm. Synonyms include field and meadow. The last name of Fields or Meadows would be OK.
However, I could also dig deeper. I have this great book called a "Word Menu." It's a combination dictionary, thesaurus, almanac and more. Under agriculture, it lists words that are connected with farming, including the word "Swidden," which is a tract of land cleared for planting by burning vegetation on it. Hmm. I'd never heard of that word, so my farmer might get "Swidden" for a last name, especially if he was obsessed with fire or burning things or charged with arson.
How do you name your characters?
--Dig out a name the baby book?
--Use the name of someone you admire?
--Look through the phone book?
--Change the first letter of a popular name? (i.e., Laurie becomes Taurie)
--Make up a name?
Please share!
7 comments:
Great post!
Wow- I should have guessed you would delve so much into finding a name! LOL I never thought of word association with occupations. But that would work great for last names. I just come up with something that sounds good together!
If a name doesn't come to me as I'm working up the character in my head, I'll go to the baby book or look at their background. ie- nationality and look up names in that nationality.
Maeve in Outlaw in Petticoats had to be Irish. I can't tell you why, because that would spoil the twist in the book. ;) So I went to the website with Irish baby names. I also needed a scotch/Irish name for the heroine in the next Petticoat book- due to her looks/heritage and I found a scotch/Irish name - Aileen.
For my heroes I want a name that doesn't sound wimpy and doesn't reflect any male I've known for longer than an hour. So I don't usually use common male names. Most of the time the hero names come to me as I am working them up in my head.
As for secondary characters- their names come to me as they enter the story while I'm writing.
No rocket science with how I get names! LOL
I'm like Paty. Names either just arrive or I do a quick Internet search if it's ethnic. I have been known to look in a telephone book, a baby naming book, the back list of museum curators (or photographers or scientists or contributors.) I seem to always know what I want the name to sound like, soft or one syllable or flaky or what-have-you. I always seem to be pretty clear on a beginning letter. If I want something with a K, for instance. And I am prone to group names in what I have heard from the EBO is a silly manner, Carol, Ann, Alice and Nancy all being the same while Dirk, Lance, Brock and Stone are all the same, as well.
Fun blog and you've given me some additional avenues to explore the next time a name doesn't pop into my head but needs a little coaxing.
Alice
I have the book, "The Baby Name Bible." It has lists by ethnicity, creativity, names for blondes, summer babies, etc. My DH refuses to discuss names with me right now, b/c I keep falling in love with new names!
Also, DH gets frustrated when I respond to name suggestions with, "but I'm going to use that in a book!" Which is true. Sometimes I know that I'm going to use a name, but I just don't know where.
A lot of names come to me out of my past and off my family tree. I picked this up from my mother who uses the family tree as her sole naming device.
Paty--I have a cousin Aileen!
OMG. Genene. My head is spinning. You are soooo a plotter in everything you do.
Names just come to me. I rarely look them up - occasionally I will for secondary characters, but mostly I just let them pop into my head. Of course, because of this I tend to use the same names over (like I just realized I had two David's in my wip, but I remedied that quickly.)
I have to have the hero and heroine's name in my head before I start writing. Once I start, those names can't change. It would be like changing my kids' names. Can't do it.
Sometimes I use common names - like the hero in the wip is Pete. He was a secondary character in another book and I didn't spend a lot of time on his name, it just came out when I started typing. And it fits him. The heroine in my last wip was Lisa (cool name, eh? - she was one of my very favorite characters even before I met *our* talented Lisa). Other times I have more unique names...like a heroine in a previous book was Maren. The problem I've found with more unique names is people don't know how to pronounce them (hello? Didn't you see Braveheart????).
The ONLY time I've looked up meanings for names is recently when I've been half-plotting a paranormal I want to write. The heroine's name will be Acacia (Casey) which means thorny and naive and symbolizes immortality and resurrection in Greek mythology, which is cool because that is exactly what she is (or will be). And the hero will be Theron, which means hunter, because that's what he is. But this book will be seeped in mythology, and since it's a paranormal, it makes more sense to me.
BTW...you can look up baby name meanings here: www.babynames.com if you're interested. Just type in the name and it'll tell you what it means.
Genene, you are a true blue plotter, girlfriend! Thanks for sharing how you go about getting names for your characters. I'd have never thought of all those ways. :)
The way I pick out names is a lot like the rest of you. If it doesn't just pop out onto the page then I go look on the internet baby name sites. Especially if I want it to be Scottish, Irish, Teutonic, etc.
Like with the blog exercise yesterday that Alice gave us, "Jessie" just popped into my head so, I went with it. ;)
It doesn't really matter to me if I'm related to someone with the same name or if I know someone either, as long as the name fits the personality of the character.
The way Alice does it, by categorizing the names, makes a lot of sense. Like she said, names such as Carol, Nancy, Ann, Suzan, Mary, all fit in the same category just like Jessie, Becky, Katie, Debbie, all fit in another, or for men, names like Stan, Carl, Barry, Darren, Warren, fit together. Makes sense to me, anyway. ;)
I love picking names for my characters, just like I loved picking the names of my kids. And since there's no flipping way I'm having any more children, I'll just content myself with naming characters.
Fun idea to think about, thanks Genene. :)
Becky -- My naming "method" makes sense to you? WHoa! Ha! you non-believers. I am tickled!
Alice
Names? interesting, Genene.
I try different names on my characters until I find one that fits. I generally know their names before I start the book, but in the last one, I changed the baby's name half-way through -- I had too many names ending in 'L'.
I look at author's names, names in newspapers, on movie credits. I use the phone book a lot for last names. For first names I like classic names, nothing too trendy or unusual.
It's hard not to name characters the same name as someone in my extended family, since it is such a HUGE family.
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