posted
A couple of posts back, I mentioned I'd started working up a novelette. I've got one aspect that bothers me, that I could use a few interesting suggestions on.
I'm looking for a not-so-overt symbolic name for one character. He's supposed to be in some way the first of a new kind of people. Right now I've tentatively tagged him as "Adam"---but "Adam" is kind of cliched for this kind of thing. In this sort of situation, every Tom, Dick, and Harry is named Adam.
The actual details don't matter (I'm still firming them up, for one thing.) It's definitely a male and definitely the first of something. And, no, it's not the one about the two astronauts, male and female, who crash land on this planet...
posted
There are "names for your baby" websites where you can put in a meaning and it lists names that fit that. You can also specify ethnicity/nationality (for instance, would you prefer an Egyptian name for that character, or a Gaelic name? Swedish, perhaps? These sites can do that for you.) Do a search on baby-naming sites and you'll probably find what you're looking for.
posted
a thesaurus might help type in first, adam, prime, beginning, cheif, etc and see if that gives you any ideas and/or root words to build on.
I love english/greek, english/latin, english to anything translators, type in First (or what ever) and get root words to work with. I don't know how to paste links here just do a google search for translations english to (whatever).
posted
If he was named by his creators, and they are familiar with the "Adam" thing (sort of implied by giving him any name from a human tradition), then "Adam" is fine. You can look into different creation myths, "Prometheus" is an interesting possibility. And yeah, I know that's the name of the creator, rather than the created, but bear with me. See, that's what gives it such a different implication, right?
Unless you have some specific reason for not having him named "Adam", then go ahead and use "Adam".
posted
Well, you could try Neo...that hasn't been used in SF yet, has it? Actually, if you want to pay some ironic homage to OSC, you could name him Beginner or Sprout.
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posted
Ah, you've given me food for thought and some references to look up and places to inquire. Right now, though, I'll stick with Adam---he doesn't come into the story until Scene Three, and, by my guess, that's a few thousand words away. If I find something better, thanks to these newfangled word processor thingies, I can change the name real easy...
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posted
Sorry to chime in so late on this, and maybe you've already decided Robert, but I'd have to strongly suggest against using Adam. I think there is a very strong dislike for the use of Adam or Eve in the sci-fi world now, both from editors and readers. I think that to most, either name alone automatically raises the defenses of some who read it, IMHO. Few names have that power, but I truly think Adam and Eve do.
I guess you can test it if you read a lot. The question is how many times have you recently read any sci-fi with the name of any characters being named Adam or Eve? I know I haven't, at least I can't remember having done so. Besides, why take the chance? With so much possibility of problems with the use of it, is it really worth it? You yourself must have some doubts in its use or you wouldn't have posted this.
My best suggestion is to come up with your own made-up name for him. Maybe something from mythology or history even that has to do with one of the very first gods or something. I would think that might be more interesting. The only thing I think you would have to worry about then is to make it clear in the context of its usage what this character is. It might even be more fun to write, as you could have the other characters guessing what is going on a little.
posted
I know this is a bit late but have you tried looking into mythology. I can't think of any examples (Although I'm sure it would be easy enough on google)but you could look up, for example, the first god in Norse Mythology. This would be similar to using Adam but way less cliched.
posted
I just read through the posts and relised that luapc suggested pretty much the same as I did. Guess I should've read throught he posts before replying. Sorry.
posted
I've plowed through a few sites on assorted myths and legends, but haven't located anything satisfactory. But there are still more out there.
luapc and JasonVaughn hit the point. Adam and Eve are so well-known---I'd like a name that suggests "first" in some way, but that isn't that obvious. (According to one website, the "first man" in Norse mythology was named Buri---not quite what I'm looking for. I forgot to make a note of the first god.)
I did reach the part in my story where "Adam" entered. Yesterday I typed up a thousand words, broke for lunch / dinner, then wrote another thousand words after that. I guess I'm hot to write this story...hope it lasts till the end of it...
posted
Another thing to try is to look for an online dictionary in whatever language you choose and put "first" or "initial" or "primary" or whatever word suits you in the English part, then find out what that word is in that language (I use Old English for a lot of stuff). Use some form of that word and you'll have something to intrigue the linguists who may read your story, and a rather unique name for your guy. (Simply do a search for "Old English/English dictionary" or "Gaelic/English dictionary" or whatever - you'll find several sites. Check them all, because some will give you different answers than others. If you can find a linguist friend to make sure you use the right tense, so much the better!)
Lynda, who has two linguists helping with Latin, Old English, etc.
posted
Okay, this is random, but how about "Anfang"?
I went to thesaurus.reference.com and typed in "first" and started looking at synonyms. I liked the idea of "aboriginal" and clicked on that link. Didn't like any of the words. Then I thought, why not translate that page, and see if I like what came out of it? I like Germanic words and names, so I went to Google's language tools and told it to tra nslate the 'aboriginal' page to German. After clicking around on some words, I found something that looked good -- "Anfang" -- and retranslated it back from German to English. It means "at the beginning of".
You may like very different-sounding words, which is why I documented the process. Other possibilities that came from this little exercise: Quelle ("source"), Bosky (both English and German for "green", apparently), Frisch ("fresh").
Just a thought.
It would be nice if we could include other languages -- Hebrew, Latin, Greek, etc -- into the mix.
posted
Much as I like Anfang, it's too Cordwainer Smith for me, even though he was an influence on what I write, and probably is on what I'm actually writing so far. (Sixty-five hundred words and I'm only two pages into my five page outline. And all since Thursday. I like it when I'm on a hot writing streak.)
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posted
One thing you might do, is play with the whole name so it comes out to be an anagram when abreviated.
Alaxander Donald, Avan, Mitchel. When they have his name abreviated, it becomes Adam.
Another idea is to have it part of his title, where a doctor would have MD in their name, or DR in their name. He could be the Astronaut Director Alex Mengdala, and he does his initials on documents ADAM. Done this way, you can hide it out there in plain sight.
posted
Oh, definitely. I did so once I tried it...but neglected to say thanks when I did.
Thanks. And thanks everybody else. I've carried on, Adam and all, and hit ten thousand words just before I came here. And that's only two-thirds of the way through, or maybe halfway, depending on how wordy I get.
I've got time. I've taken to letting things sit awhile, letting them marinate in their own juices, so I can come back in a couple of months (or years) and look it over with a fresh eye. Rarely does anything satisfy me enough to send out immediately after I finish it.
posted
I use www.behindthename.com a lot too. It give cultural references and meanings. Sometimes, though, I'll find a name I like and then change it a little. Change a few vowels around, drop some consonants, to create a unique name.
posted
Hi: I was surfing around through mythology sites trying to womp up an idea and came across this:
Adam KADMON (Hebrew: primordial man)
which led me to the Names site and I found this:
CAEDMON Gender: Masculine
Usage: English
Pronounced: KAD-mun [key]
Meaning unknown, though the first element is likely connected to British caed meaning "battle". Saint Caedmon was a 7th-century poet who supposedly received his poetic inspiration from a dream. Our only knowledge of him is through the historian Bede.
posted
Instead of just posting, I have given some thought to your dilema and the old adage "What's in a name?" Many names could suffice--as far as meanings are concerned--but they have to flow off of the tongue, too.
After looking through a few variations of the meaning, I've come up with a few, humble suggestions:
THOTH - which means "He Who Balances". Also, I thought this had a cool sound.
NAVIN - means "New" in Sanscrit.
DAGNY - means "New Day" in Scandinavian. Not exactly the definition of what you wanted, but you can see the implications. And it sounds a bit like they pronounced DAGONET (Dah-gun-knee) in the movie "King Arthur".
XAVIER - which is derived from ETXABIER, which translates " the New House". When I learned the definition, I couldn't help thinking of Dune's noble houses. And, it's a pretty familiar name.
MOSI - means "First Born Child" in Swahili.
MESU - is from Ancient Egyptian and means "Be Born".
JIMMU - "Divine Might" was the founder and (according to legend) first emporer of Japan.
PROTOS - is the Greek word for "First".
NGUYEN - is the Vietnamese word for "Origin".
ARCHE - is NGUYEN's Ancient Greek counterpart, and the root of the Historical Greek Mathematician's name ARISTACHUS, which means "Best Source" or "Best Origin".
posted
Hmm. I like the name "Gene" from "Genesis"---for complicated reasons, I want a relatively normal name---but I'd have to check the Greek derivations. (Later. Nineteen thousand words in, with two and a half scenes still to write.)
Oddly enough, I gave the character the surname "Daedalus," from another Greek legend---also subject to change.
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