Current Project: PNWA Contest Entry
Status: Waiting for the weekend
(Don't forget to check out Debbie's awesome post on research below!) We've had numerous posts on first names. First Names are fun. I love pulling out the baby name books and trolling around various baby naming websites. However, last names are a burden. We're saddled with them from birth, and no real choice is involved. * And, while we get to choose for our characters, it's still a burden. There are no handy naming guides, and we have to be careful to not use last names that we know lest friends and relatives start seeing themselves on our pages.
Last names have become even more important with a big trend towards characters calling each other by their last names. Eli's hero and heroine in Stolen Fury use last names as part of their banter. I just finished Elizabeth Bevarly's You've Got Male, and again, last names feature prominently in the story. Many a rugged hero seems to be going by his last name-as-first name these days, and even the historical ones often answer to their last name or title. Saving the first name for intimate occasions is a nice trick to show the growing connection between hero and heroine and to showcase the hero's vulnerable side.
All well and good, but how to find the perfect last name? How do you avoid a slew of Smith's, Jones's, Lee's, Robert's, and Adam's? My mother loves combing the phone book, but I get very sleepy very quick. I like looking at family trees, but this falls under the dicey don't-use-names-you-know rule. You don't want to poach off another writer either, especially one you know. It's kind of like when your best friends uses YOUR baby name--you pretty much have to suck it up and find a new name, even if YOUR hero/ine had the name first. Sigh.
So tell me, how do your characters get their last names? Any good resources to share?
* Well, 99% of the time anyway. I do know one awesome couple who gave their children the last name "love."
4 comments:
Interesting topic! I've used the phone book, history books but mostly once I've settled on a first name the last name just kind of flows out. Though I find I tend to like names that start with the same first letter- Halsey, Harlan, Hughes. Heroes in a number of my books.
And then there's the current WIP with first names starting with B. I had to make some changes with the revisions.
Do you tend to find yourself using names that start with the same letter?
Fun topic, Wavy!
I don't fuss much over names, but when my characters are related, it drives me nuts. Men keep their last names, but the women take their husband's last names. It can make things very confusing.
I hadn't realized there was a trend of characters calling each other by their last names. I guess it's done so well that I haven't noticed. I do notice in movies and tv shows, and you're right, they definitely call each other by their last names in cop shows. When they call each other by their first name, it's usually serious. Like when your mom calls you by all three names, you know she means business. LOL!
The problem with the last name/first name thing is when they're interchanged and I start to get confused who everyone is because they all have two names. I think if a last name is used, that name should be used ALL the time. I was watching the Mentalist last night and the main character is Patrick Jane so when they use his last name, I expect to see a woman.
Hi, Wavy!
Last names, huh? Mostly, I use my character naming sourcebook that gives the origin of names, or the Word Menu that gives lists of words and definitions by subject. Or I may take a common word and change the first letter or add "son" or something to the end. I have lots of fun with secondary characters by picking last names that have something to do with their personality or their profession.
With the hero/heroine, I usually pick a first name I like and that's a little bit out of the ordinary, then let the last name develop as I write the story.
Wavy, I wasn't aware there was a "trend" per se. I've been doing this for years, this men, esp., referring to other men by just a last name. In fact, in the current WIP the hero goes by a shortened version of his surname and calls just about everyone else by their last name. I've been doing this for a very long time, so what does that make me, a trendsetter ;-)
Meanwhile, I find last names in lists of editors of magazines or by using objects or telephone books or acquaintances. Like many of the others, I tend to concentrate on a first name and then pick a last name that compliments it which, when you think about it, is opposite of how "real" people name their babies.
Neat blog.
Post a Comment