Character Names

One of Theo54's recent stories has a character by the name of Dani. a fairly uncommon name, at least where I reside. I noticed that Stevenr also used Dani (or Dany?) in one of his recent stories. As I have been working on a story by that same name, it made me wonder how other authors go about choosing their character names?

For myself, some names are strictly verboten. None of my stories are typically explicit, but mother, sisters, nieces, and the like, are all names that I don't use. Maybe this is a subliminal thing, keeping worlds from colliding as it were. Other names dredge up unpleasant memories or events and, while Chaucer was reportedly fond of vilifying those who crossed him in verse, I prefer not to acknowledge such individuals. Certainly, I use the names of former girlfriends, classmates, work associates, and crushes in my stories, but using their name doesn't necessarily mean the character is a direct personification.

I would love to learn more about how other LSF authors go about their naming processes. Are there names you won't use? Do you keep lists for future characters? Are names always significant or do they just need to fit the character? I'm curious.

Great topic! I personally have several criteria for naming characters.
1: If the story is somewhat autobiographical, or at least inspired by actual people I know, I like to name the characters in slight variations of their actual names.....or at least use a name that begins with the same letter. Sometimes I'll use that person's nickname or "online identity name". So if you read any of my stories with Rosa, Ana, Marta, Wally, Nicky, Marie, and possibly some less-used others, combined with a male protagonist whose name starts with "K" (like my real name....hence the 'K' in KDPierre) in them, you can bet safely that they are based on real people and quite possibly real events as well.

2: If the story is setting-based but utterly fictional, I like to name the characters according to the flavor of time period or place, and then just use names that seem to evoke an image consistent with that character. I do believe that just like certain words are funnier than others, names also carry connotations.....for good or ill.

3: But the MOST fun is when I'm attempting a bit of humor, in which case, I pay a kind of Americanized homage to Dickens in my concocted choices. (The best example of this for me is in "The Heirloom" whose characters were a hoot to name.)

Dani - short for Danielle. Sometimes the name comes right away, which it did for Dani, and it seems to suit her. Other times it’s more of a struggle but if I think about context (where and when) then that helps.

So for my AOB series, given she’s Irish, Gallagher was easy, Mary’s too easy, so Bridget it was.

For the flapper character of Skelpay Tales it was the song ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ that provided her name.

In The Avenue I used no names at all, until the very end.

It’s funny how often I need to decide that early on, as if the character’s not real until they’re named.

I've used a number of methods to pick names - sometimes the right name just comes to me, at other times I 'borrow' a first name from whatever book I'm reading at the time, or from the spines of the books on my bookshelf.

At one point I kept a list of names I'd used to avoid repeating them - I discovered I had a lot of 'Sarahs' for instance.

I've tried online lists of baby names - useful if you want a name for a character from another country, or something a bit out of the ordinary.

I must admit, though, that the name of the girl in my latest story - 'Zoey's Blue-Jeans Blues' - was chosen mainly so I could fill in one more letter in my project to write a story beginning with each letter of the alphabet!

You do that too? I thought I was the only one! A rather forlorn project in my case, as things stand, but good luck with yours.

For period pieces about boarding-school girls (eg. set in 1953, 1969, 1979) I check online for most popular girls' names 17 years earlier to maintain some realism.

Last names offer more interesting ways to suggest character than first ones e.g. Hartwell for a thoroughly good, loyal, brave heroine; Snodgrass for an officious, spiteful villain (till she isn't, and with apologies to all Snodgrasses) and Verily Markham for a strict headmistress with a notorious cane. I've also used the obvious Swinburne for a Headmistress, Hardwicke for a governess (aka Miss Grimley). I also sneak in, as homage, the names of influential spanko people I've come across (e.g. Hastings) as well as LSF members' handles.

I agree that naming is an important step in starting to imagine the character. Edit/Replace is also very handy for when you change your mind after 28 chapters and 133 mentions of the name.

I usually look up names online and then, during the story, will try to put in the name's definition.

kerrsutherland

I love that, kerrsutherland. A little hidden easter egg in the text sounds brilliant. I'll have to pay attention when reading your stories.

For me, it kind of depends on the character. I know what I want them to look like and then their personality a little. I decide on a name to fit that. If they look like an actual celeb, then I look for a name and surname that matches their initials.

I use the random generator at behindthename.com until I get one I like. I then search my blog to see if I've used the name before. If I have used it multiple times, I use the random generator again until I get one I haven't.

I have a complicated attitude to character names. Many of my characters don’t have a name at all, just as they don’t have looks. The reason - to the extent there is one - is that I want to leave as much as possible to the readers’ imagination; we all have ideas of what we want our heroes and heroines to look like, and I don’t want to interfere if I don’t have to. But sometimes characters need names and looks to help the story along, and then there are a lot of factors to take into account.

Some of my stories are obviously set in Norway, and then I use Norwegian names, although I try not use the more extreme ones. Other stories have more unspecified settings, and then I tend to use rather generic English/American names; often names that were popular 50-60 years ago as that is usually where I am in my imagination. Most of my heroines are of the girl-next-door kind, and I want their names to reflect their charming ordinariness!

The only time I spend a lot of effort on coming up with the right names, is when I’m writing humorous stories, such as «Sachertorte» and «The Cookie Thaw Effect», where it’s great fun to come up with spanking related and outlandish names.