posted
In my current story I have two main characters. Both are POV characters. The names are Ethan and Jayden.
I know you should generally avoid characters with the same first letter, but what about the ending sound? Would it be better to change one or would this be acceptable?
posted
I agree that they are different enough. The beginnings "Eth" and "Jay" differ so much, it helps.
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posted
wait, why should you avoid characters with names that start with the same first letter? I mean, what if you have more than 25 people in and out of your book?
P.S. ?, the names aren't too close, as far as I can see.
posted
I think you will be fine. I think the 'shape' of the word is more important than how it ends. I had two characters people confused (starting with the same letter because it was important to plot):
Jarryd and Jasper.
When I changed Jasper to Juan people were no longer confused, I think because the length was different and only one had a letter that dropped below the line.
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Nah, they're fine. Most of the names in my novel end in the same sounds because -an is a marker used in their language to indicate a name. I have two characters called Malynn and Morgan, but the former gets abbreviated to Mal enough times for it not to be too much of an issue - for now.
I think if I ever wrote historical fiction that involves real people, I would have to change about half the names or give them credible nicknames. Two characters called John and John - now that's confusing.
Saruman and Sauron - and I thought I was the only person who was bothered by that! It's just silly. And someone with the creativity of Tolkien, too... disgraceful.
[This message has been edited by marchpane (edited September 04, 2008).]
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I lost my first reply somewhere in cyberspace, but what the hell, I remember what I said...
Tolkien's names had deep meaning, often to the point of dictionary definitions...in real life, the names of the people we drift up against in the tidal pool of life often have some meaning, but it'll take a little research.
"Ethan" ("solid, enduring" in Hebrew) and Jayden (variant of "Jaden," of recent origin on the sound pattern of "Braden" and "Aidan") sound and look different enough...I think they'll do...
For name research, you might try www.behindthename.com, which I'm glad I bookmarked the last time somebody mentioned it, so I can put it here.
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