What’s in a name?
I once met a very hostile woman who was pregnant and planning to name her daughter Molly. I was pregnant also and considering baby names so I went home and looked up the meaning. My baby book told me the name meant ‘bitter’. How poignant. Choosing names for your characters can take a lot of time and effort. You may start with one name and find that after your first draft, the name doesn’t suit the character at all.
Check the Meaning
As we give birth to the characters in our story it’s important to check the meaning of their names. If you want a bitter character, name her Molly. But if she’s sweet, loving and giving, Dorothy might be more appropriate. The Wizard of Oz depicted that good choice of names. Even if someone doesn’t know the meaning, often they have a subconscious awareness of it.
Behind the Name is a site you can use. It gives an indication of origin and meaning. I found it fascinating to discover that my name, Joanne, is Shana in Scottish and Asia in Polish. This can be helpful if you want to have a character from a particular culture.
Co-ordinate Name with Theme
After your first draft, once the theme becomes apparent you should consider if your character’s names fit your theme. Themed names that make me laugh like Chance or Gage are often used for the hero in tawdry romance novels. If you are writing fantasy or science fiction made up names like Gandalf or Chewbacca can work out great.
Get in the Right Generation
When naming your book babies (characters), or your own children, you want to make sure the names are appropriate for the era you’re writing in. Male names like Michael or John seem to change less from generation to generation than female names. There is a seventy-year gap from 1930 when Mildred was the most popular name until the year 2000 when Madison was a favorite. Unless she’s a cavewoman, make sure you’re heroine’s name isn’t in the ice age.
Use Variation
You want to vary the number of syllables in your characters names. Don’t have Bob, Bill, and Dave as your novel’s crew. Vary the syllables with something like Dave, Robert, and William. Never have two characters with the same initials, like Carl Haban and Cathy Hewitt. It gets too confusing for the reader. But, using alliteration to make a particular character scarier is very effective. As JK Rowling did with Severus Snape.
Read Out Loud
When The Tuesdays meet to critique we always read our work in progress out loud, without written copies to follow along. It adds a different dimension to your words on paper. Reading out loud makes it easier to distinguish the beats in a sentence or paragraph as well as the sound of a name. You want to make sure you’ve taken this step in case your novel is made into an audiobook. Collin Nolan could sound like Column Olan or Coleen Noem and change the way you intended your character to be seen in the eyes of the reader.
What you name your characters adds another layer of depth to your writing. Take note of interesting titles authors and parents have used and add more dimension to your story.
