Favourite names for spankees

(Emphasis mine)

As others have correctly noted, names can be used to imply a setting (example: country or era), the gender of the characters, their ethnicity, and perhaps other characteristics I haven't thought of. But beyond that, I think choice of names has little significance. Why? Because your reaction to a name has much to do with your own personal experience in life.

Suppose I use the name "Ruth" in one of my stories. Perhaps I chose that name because of a vague memory of a particularly stern teacher named "Ruth". Reader A's mother might have been named "Ruth", while reader B might have been abused as a child by a baby sitter named "Ruth", but reader C might have a despised drunken hag neighbor named "Ruth". (The possibilities are endless.)

Will all of those readers react to that name the same way?

It depends! It depends on how well the author has brought the characters to life, and I believe the choice of names has little to do with the process.

I agree with Guy. A name will show vaguely or even precisely the setting, gender and ethnicity, so must be chosen with care for that reason, but the only reason A is more spankable that B is author's bringing both to life in a certain way, or reader's personal experience.

For an unknown reason I like female names taken from months (April, May, June, July) and flowers (Rose, Dahlia, Daisy. Lily, Violet) but I rarely use them. I avoid using names of relatives and people I know well.

So...just wondering...does the same thought hold true for female spankers as well as spankees?

CS

I am terrible at picking names. Seriously, if I sit down to write a long story I'll come up with "spare" names so if I need to introduce a new character I don't have to spend long minutes thinking what to call the person.

To get around this, I go to show credits. If you take the first name of the actor and the last name of the character you generally get a set that matches... except when you borrow from Sci Fi/Fantasy.

That said, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_cast_members lists hundreds of different people (everyone who has ever appeared on Doc Who over the decades) and is a great place to go to get random names.

Goodgulf

A solution to naming characters is to go to one of the websites that list possible names for babies and print out their list. You can then select a name by choice or just by a random pick. If you want you can even put a check mark next to the name so that in the future you will see that you have previously used it. This saves a lot of time.

I most often choose relatively common, simple names (Mary, Sally, Beth ), but sometimes I intentionally choose unusual names for a particular effect. If I am setting a story in a particular location or era, i will attempt to choose names that suggest or fit my setting. I do sometimes have a bit of fun (in Restoration Comedy style) with spanker's name's (Mr Stern, Mr Marks, Mrs Stone) particularly in school settings.

It depends on the location and time frame in which the story takes place. Contemporary settings can feature character names like Brittney and Stephanie and Stacey. Go back to the 50's and those won't do. It has to be Helen and Mavis and Dorothy. Go back further and you get a lot Norma's, Betty's and Edna's. In the American South you might need Belle, Melanie and Charlotte. A medieval setting requires names in use in that time and place. Same with the American West. It just has to fit.

One thing to remember:
No one named their daughter Ethel after the Rosenbergs, but there were many woman girls and women named Ethel before that.

Goodgulf

rollin
Some good points about appropriate names for whatever era the story is set in. Might point out though that I knew some "Stephanies" who were born in the 50s and 60s. But in general you are right.
Then there is the contemporary trend to use last names for girls' first names, like Taylor, Madison,Logan,or names that used to be more commonly used for males, like Ashley. And of course there is what is basically the same name but with various spellings. Take "Kaitlyn" - never knew it growing up but now its common, and spelled variously. First person with that name I ever heard of was the wife of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, and hers was spelled Caitlin.
And you have Kims and Kyms, Britney and Brittany and Brittney, and so on . Not to mention the older ones like Catherine and Katherine, and girls called Ginny if they are
named Virginia, or Jenny if it was Jennifer.
And when you get to ethnic groups thats a whole 'nother ballgame. Black girls have some very original, freshly coined names, and then there are the Latinas and the Asians.
And nicknames change over time. Used to be girls named Rebecca were called Becky, now its more likely to be Becca. Patty and Patsy for Patricia have given way to Trish or simply Pat(another androgynous name).
I can see the point someone made about not liking to use certain names if they belong to certain real people in one's life, one's mother for example, or grandmother.

I once read that actor Gary Cooper was the first man in the world called Gary. His agent named him after his home town of Gary, Indianna.
Don't know if it's true, but it's a great barroom bit of trivia if it is.