posted
When I set something in the here-and-now, I usually have trouble coming up with satisfactory names. I usually hit a wall of associations.
I come up with a name, and it inevitably reminds me of someone or something. Then I don't want that someone or something influencing my characterizations. So I change it...and that comes up with another set of "somethings and someones" to worry about.
If I pick the name, say, "Roxanne" for a character, I then run through a good number of names...people I know...characters from TV shows...vaguely famous people like Roxanne Pulitzer...Cyrano's Roxanne...that stupid movie with Steve Martin...that stupid song by the Police...
By the time I get to the end, the name seems well-worn and used by every Tom, Dick, and Harry.
If I move my story further out in time and space, I can deliberately misspell a common name, change the vowels, subtract or double a few consonants, come up with a consistent nomenclature, and, "presto!" a new name. But the here-and-now gives me trouble.
Then I crash in defeat, and I'm left with, say, a character named Daphne, which reminds me of (1) Niles's love interest on "Frasier," (2) the girl with glasses from "Scooby-Doo," and (3) a name in the song "I Got It From Agnes."
Anybody have this happen to them? Perhaps more importantly, anybody figure out how to beat it?
posted
If you are in a modern milieu, I'd say you have to just suck it up and get over it. EVERYONE has a name that has SOME association to it. My real name is Susan. I've gotten sick of people singing, "A Boy Named Sue" and "Oh, Suzie Q" to me.
Use it. Use the character's annoyance with her/his name if you feel you must address it. Otherwise, simply forget about it. Unless your story is about having a character with a unique name, you will just have to trust your ability as a storyteller to suck us in and make us forget all the previous Roxannes or Daphnes we've ever known. And for the record, the first thing *I* think of when you give me the name Roxanne is my cousin. I don't even think of those other Roxannes. You can't circumvent all the people that people know in their lives, and THOSE associations, for good or bad, will be far stronger than any make-believe character you are worried about.
posted
Something else you may want to think about is the cultural implication of a name. If you go with Roxanne, why not add some flair to it?
If the story is set in America, and she's a typical white girl, maybe she likes people to call her Roxie, or Rocks. Choices about a name can add a lot of character information--maybe she always thought Roxanne was too formal, or too sissy, and that's not the way she is?
Whatever the choice is, it should reflect the character.
And Elan is right; make a character so completely believable that we forget all the other Roxannes while we're reading your story.
posted
I have the problem too and agonise over naming characters.
I have resorted to using names with specific meaning that relate to the story. For instance, I have a character named Leon, because he is lion-like another called Michael because he is absolutely the opposite of its meaning; 'like God' and another character who is a fallen angel made flesh, so I named him Charlie, which means 'like a man'.
That sort of thing helps me justify using a name with plenty of mileage.
[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited November 06, 2005).]
posted
In fantasy we get to make up names so we have it a little easier. But a good old fashioned baby names book will give you a bunch of names you didnt think about but are readily readable.
When possible if you can give your names a literary meaning, go for it. Names will have meanings to different people, if a name will have a similar meaning to many people, you can use that to your advantage and allow your character to be a bit of an homage to the popular character.
posted
Sometimes I use names of people I admire. For instance, there is a picture that was once a cover on a National Geographic magazine of an Afghanistan girl with amazing green eyes. You've probably all seen the picture. If not, here's the link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/03/0311_020312_sharbat.html
Her name is Sharbat Gula. I have used the name Sharbat in my WIP as sort of a tribute to her. I've saved her picture for 20 years, because when it was first published, I knew instantly it was the face of my main character in the story I was writing at the time, a story I hope to go back and write correctly. (I've learned a lot in 20 years.)
posted
Thought I'd resurrect this topic to share something I heard about recently from a friend. She's from Rwanda and she lost her father and her brother in April 1994 (during the most famous time of genocide in that country--meaning it was not the only time--she lost her husband in 1987 to the same kind of hatred).
Anyway, in Rwanda, they don't have family names. Each person has a first name and a surname, but the surnames in one family are all different. When I asked her about this (because I am fascinated by names and naming conventions in different cultures), she told me that if there were family names then the people who hate one person in a family will know who that person's family members are and will be able to go kill them, too.
If I understand other things she's told me correctly, the surnames given to the children are either descriptive of the child, or wishful thinking on the part of the parents--what they hope will one day be descriptive of the child.
Can you imagine a culture that names children to protect them from enemies by not giving them a name that associates them with anyone else in the family?
Boggles my mind.
[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited March 11, 2006).]
posted
It's an interesting reversal of one of the early reasons for having a surname (i.e. before everyone had them), to let everyone know just how ill-considered any move against you would be.
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posted
Well, I've read many a story where, for one reason or another, the characters conceal their True Names, with the idea that those who know those True Names can do harm to the characters who possess them.
Given the number of names floating around these pages, I think it's something many of us can relate to...
posted
I use my spam mail box. For contemporary stories, I've found the Random Name Generator to be a good resource. I also like Behind the Name for picking names outside my usual areas.
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posted
Robert, here is another site. The Social Security Administration has a list of popular baby names. It also has a search so that, suppose your character is born in 1945 you can find the top names of that year up to a maximum of 500. (Reynaldo and Hope were number 500 in 1945.) http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
What I do is give characters easy to remember temporary names or even numbers then go back and do a global find-replace when I finish.
[This message has been edited by keldon02 (edited March 14, 2006).]
posted
Four promising sites...since I'm still working on the story where "Daphne" comes into it, I can still find a satisfactory name...
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