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DarlingMionette — A Writer's Guide: Naming Characters
Published: 2013-07-12 04:42:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 57776; Favourites: 431; Downloads: 0
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When it comes to writing novels, names often get overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Most of us are happy if we can tell who is talking and we can remember the character’s names for the entirety of the book, but bad names can ruin a book. I don’t know about you, but when I get a hold of a book where the main character’s name is a comical 20-character tangle I can’t pronounce, it ruins the book for me. It’s hard to take a book, or a character, seriously when you want to roll your eyes every time you read the narrative.
In this article I’ve compiled a list of things to consider when naming a character for a novel, and though it’s pretty simple, I hope it serves to help someone in their future endeavors to name a character. Most of this is common sense, but it’s often easy to forget these little tidbits of wisdom when you’re busy trying to figure out if your character makes a better Ashley or a Paige.
Getting a Spark
There are many great places to get ideas for names. I’ll list some here that you may have missed.
• Phone Books
• TV Credits
• Family & Friends
• Baby Name Lists
• Mythology
• Combine two names! Courtney + Evangeline = Courline
• Evolve a name! Caroline->Carline->Carlene->Lene->Lena
• Random Name Generators
Sometimes you may hear a name that strikes you. Write it down. Keep a list of names you like or that you may have heard and found unique, but may not be able to use at the present moment. When you need a new name for a character, check your list! You may already have one.
Name Length
The length of a character’s name is an important factor to consider when choosing one. Short names are often more memorable than long names, but long names can also have a significance. Generally, short names are often equated with strong, simple, and good characters. (Ariel, Juno, Harry, Jack ) Longer names are usually associated with nobility, intelligence, and sometimes, evil. (Voldemort, Hermione, Desdemona, Lancelot) Of course this isn’t always the case, but it’s something to think about when naming your characters. Especially when you’re naming a main character, it’s often helpful to make up a shorter name as it will be repeated often, and it needs to be easy to remember and pronounce.
Also, if your character has a long first name, consider balancing it out with a short last name, or vice versa. “Alexandra Gallager” is a mouthful, but “Alex Gallager” and “Alexandra Hart” are easier to swallow.
How Many Names Do You Need?
When creating a character, you should know the character’s full name, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to use it. Most of the time in novels, a character’s middle and even last name are not used at all, and if they are, they’re used only a handful of times. The exception to this of course is Historical novels in which propriety corners the characters into referring to each other by last name. For instance, in one of my novels I have a character named Abigail Olivia Conway, but no one ever calls her that. They call her Abby, Ms. Conway, or simply, Abigail.
Of course there will be instances in which a character needs a particularly long name due to their culture or an inherited title (we’ll get more into that later), and the time may come when you will have to repeat the whole thing: James Ferdinand Elijah Beaumont III of Durham (ouch!). If you have to have a lot of names, make sure they all fit together.
Also consider the fact that for some stories, it may be better to have only one name or no name at all. As an example, I have a novel where the main character is simply called “Khet”. She lives in Neolithic times when surnames didn’t exist and communities were so small that second names weren’t needed.
Some great stories, such as The Postman, Waterworld, and The Time Machine have main characters whose names are never revealed. They are simply referred to by description: “The Postman”, “The Mariner”, and “The Time Traveller”.
Sometimes characters are named only by nickname or by an alias. You should know what your character’s real name is, but that doesn’t mean your audience needs to.
Nicknames & Pet Names: Unique vs. Practical
If your character has a long name, or has several, you may consider giving them a nickname—particularly if your character’s name is difficult to pronounce. Even if your character does have a short name, you may consider letting some of your other characters give them a nickname or a pet name. For example, I’ll bring up Abigail again. For most of the characters in my story, Abigail is referred to as “Ms. Conway”, but her friends call her “Abigail” or “Abby”. Her curmudgeonly grandfather calls her “girl”. Nicknames don’t have to be used by your entire cast of characters; they can be exclusive to certain individuals.
When choosing a nickname, it helps to consider if it’s a convenient nickname, or an opportunistic one. For instance, Abigail is referred to as “Abby” because it’s shorter. It’s a tourniquet version of her name, and what I’d call a “convenient nickname”. It exists because Abigail is a mouthful to say all the time. Hypothetically, Abigail could meet a man who refuses to call her anything but Violet. Violet, because when they first met she had a bright purple shiner where she’d been elbowed in the eye. Calling her Violet (referring to the color of the bruise) is an opportunistic nickname. Opportunistic nicknames don’t necessarily have to relate to a character’s real name.
What’s important to remember with nicknames is to adapt them to the character and the character’s situation within the story. For instance, if you were writing a young adult novel where the main character’s name was Maggie but everyone only called her “Raven” (for no particular reason), it would seem somewhat absurd. If you’re going to give a character a unique nickname, there should be a story behind how they got it, and it has to make sense. Why would I call Maggie “Raven”? Because in 6th grade she dressed up as a Raven in a school play and sneezed so hard from the feathers that she fell off the stage and into the front row. The kids at her school call her Raven to tease her, and she doesn’t particularly appreciate it. I would NOT call her Raven “because it sounds dark and awesome”.
Symbolism
Symbolism is okay if it’s subtle and believable, but if you’re trying too hard to be clever, you’re going to get a few eye rolls. Naming a dark, grim character “Raven Darkwood” is somewhat ridiculous. Naming the same character Darcy Mordant doesn’t seem so odd. Did you know Mordant is synonymous with: biting, caustic, cutting, pungent, poignant, sharp / grim, critical, or sharp humor? Darcy literally means “dark”. Don’t make your symbolism so obvious it becomes silly.
Other Naming Conventions…
In fantasy and sci-fi in particular, it’s common to have a character’s name be a little unconventional. Sometimes characters are named by their heritage or a title. For example, often in ancient times people were named after their father: Erikson (Erik’s son), Thompson (Tom’s son) etc, their job: “Fletcher”, “Carter”, “Potter”, or were given a title: “The Bold”, “The Red” “Heavy-Hand”. Sometimes these names and titles were adapted through the family line. For example: Dracula literally means “Son of Dracul” Dracul meaning Dragon. Vlad Dracula III was named after his father, Vlad Dracul II who was historically a member of the Order of the Dragon. It’s okay to make something up if the naming convention works for your world.
A Few Things to Consider
- Names have a flavor. Some names (Damien, Delilah, Lilith, Lucifer) sound evil. Some names (Chastity, Harmony, Ella, Grace, Joy) sound good. Some names (Jace, Teagan, Skye, Aiden) sound modern. Some names (Edward, Abigail, Sebastian, Lottie) sound classic. When you’re choosing a name make sure the flavor of that name fits your character, the time period, and their heritage. It makes no sense to give your character a classic Italian name if they’re from America in the year 2042.
- Your character doesn’t get to pick their name. Their parents picked their name. When choosing a name for your character, consider where their parents grew up and the type of people they are. For example, if I had a character whose parents were Irish but had moved to America before she was born; her name might not sound American. It’d probably sound Irish. By the same token, orphans who are raised in nun-run orphanages often have names relating to religious figures. Hippies may name their kids really absurd names like Rainbow Joy or Moon Ray. Poor kids. Names are based on the parent’s expectations for their children. Don’t use a trendy name just because it sounds cool.
- Avoid famous names unless you’re trying to make a point of it. Oprah probably wouldn’t be a great idea. Neither would James Bond. When in doubt, always Google your character’s full name to make sure it’s not accidentally associated with a well-known character from another book or a celebrity!
- It’s okay for fantasy names to be quirky, but not absurd. Don’t use excessive apostrophe’s or add a ton of z’s, x’s and y’s. Don’t double or triple up on vowels. It makes you look silly.
- Avoid androgynous names (Sam, Alex, Billie) unless you’re making a point. Using androgynous names makes it hard for your readers to figure out what gender your character is. The exception is if you’ve purposely given your character an androgynous name to spark character development. Example: A boy named Ashley who feels defined by his name and spends the book trying on different names for himself in an attempt to become someone other than who he is.
- Try not to end your character names in “s”; it makes it difficult to write: Hans’s? Hans’? What?
- Avoid names that have more than one pronunciation (or cannot be pronounced) it’s not clever, it’s annoying. If your readers can’t pronounce the name, they’ll skim. You never want your readers to skim.
- While unique names can sometimes be memorable, they also run the danger of seeming absurd to your readers. Plain names may not stand out as much, but they’re usually more relate-able, pronounceable, and rarely produce fits of eye-rolling.
- Vary your letters. You don’t want an entire book where ever character’s name begins with “M”, you also don’t want two main characters with the same first initial, or a character whose name sounds like a rhyme. If it sounds silly to you, it probably is.
It’s okay to venture into writing a story where you don’t know any of the character’s names. It’s also okay to change a character’s name at any time during the writing process. If you aren’t sure what to name your character, write in a filler name that can be easily found and replaced at a later time. Get on with your story. Eventually you’ll settle on something, or you’ll choose not to have one at all. Either way, don’t let your inability to choose a name keep you from writing your story! Need good filler name? Grab a relative’s name. They won’t read the first draft anyway, right? You can also use simple designators like: “MFC” (Main Female Character) “JANE” or “JOHN” (as in Doe), or “THATANNOYINGGIRL” and “THEBROODINGBOY”. Have fun with it.
Well, it was short, but hopefully I gave you a few things to think about when considering names for your character. Thanks for taking the time to read my little guide to choosing names. I hope it helps!
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Comments: 88
thank you and you're welcome!
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I named myself B)
I like names ending with S!
FINALLY! Someone including unique nicknames!
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Yes! At last someone puts the option of name generators!
'Cause I'm tired of deviants saying that they're bad or a wrong idea. They're pretty useful: I use them a lot!
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XD They can be useful if you have a good one.. there are some out there thta are god-awful though XD you have to have a discerning eye.
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Well, I could find one that is great, so maybe I've been lucky
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haha i've seen a few. there was a really good one I found a year or so ago that generated the random names based off a list of presets you could give it for the nationality and the length / gender you wanted. so helpful! Right now i'm partial to one I found at babynamegenie.com that allows you to input a first, middle, or last name and then it attempts to match up the missing first / middle / last name for you. It's great for figuring out if a name sounds alright when it's put together.
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Whoa! Must give a try then
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Well written and beautifully on target with just the right amount of snark.
Coincidentally, I spent the better part of 2 hours last night (until 2 am) trying to create a middle name for a main character... only to throw it out and stick with First/Last. Definitely one of the more fun parts of writing.
I'm a big fan of symbolism playing a part in character names. 100% agreed on the subtlety bit. If the reader wants to dig for symbolism, give them something to find. If they don't, no harm done and the name remains just a name. Unless it serves a purpose in the story, in which case subtlety may not be the wisest option. There's always that odd exception in writing.
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haha thank you 
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This is helpful, thank you ^^. I love your writer's guides, and wow, two in a couple of days!
I agree that they shouldn't be too complicated, even in fantasy. When I create fantasy names I try and make them similar to already existing names, or at least make them so that they sound like they could be real names.
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welcome! and thank you XD. haha I've been trying to get more content out to my blog lately and when I haven't finished any book reviews, the next best thing is an article on writing :3 so I may be doing a few of these here and there. I'm totally agreed with you on that list bit too.. I always try to make a name sound "familiar".
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Yay, looking forward to more guides ^^. And I'll have to check out your blog sometime 
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XD if you're into books you may enjoy it..... cause.. it's all books. more and more books. lol
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Ooh, I was looking at it and I like it. You're good at reviewing books. I subscribed to it!
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For some reason naming my characters is a really important thing to me, if my character doesn't have the right name I can feel it the whole time I'm writing. But at the moment there are a few characters that are giving me hell to name 
Also I saw someone on a baby naming site recommend to take two consonant heavy words or names and break them into syllables, like elevator - Ele, Lev, Vato, Tor; Phantasmagoria- Phan, Anta, Tas, Tasma, Mag, Ria. You can piece a few together or leave them as is.
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You're very welcome
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I just flip to a random page in my dictionary and start from there
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You're welcome c:
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"Your character doesn’t get to pick their name. Their parents picked their name. When choosing a name for your character, consider where their parents grew up and the type of people they are."
Except for when they do.... "That's his name, Henry, Jones, Junior." "I like Indiana..." "We named the Dog Indiana!"
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haha those pesky parents! believe me, i understand the tragedy of names. I have a sibling called "Donald Clifford" and a sister named "Essie Mae". I'm not even kidding.
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Why would your parents be so cruel!
My main point though was that there are some characters who do choose their own names. Not to mention if you are writing fantasy and you have characters where their pears give them their names, nobody calls their child names like Gamling (meaning something along the lines of Old Man), Ivar the Boneless, or Gangr Hrolf, those are names that are given by peers...
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true. there are always going to be exceptions XD
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This is really helpful! I have the same thoughts about having many similar names in a book, it always confuses me.
This is kind of random, but I have a question I'd like some advice on, related to this topic, if you don't mind.
I created a main character with a Spanish name, Marisol. After I asked some friends to read her story they all pronounced the name wrong. I've heard it pronounced wrong a lot, and it kind of bothers me now that I've used it. Do you think I should change the name because it's commonly mispronounced?
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Verisimilitude is a powerful tool for modern narratives - older stories cared more about conventions or themes than similarity to real-world truth. Today, we expect and somewhat take for granted that fiction should make us easily suspend disbelief in a very deep sense. To that end, it's nice to use realistic names where appropriate. Marisol is actually a fairly common (but not overly common) Spanish name, and it would make sense for a Spanish couple to name their child Marisol. In fact, about 4 miles from where I live, there is a restaurant named Marisol (after the owner's daughter and the fact that it's right near the ocean).
The trickiness of verisimilitude is when the plausibility of a realistic detail requires a lot of explaining. If a realistic detail is too confusing, it actually plucks the reader out of story, instead immersing them in it. In this case, it's actually the reader's fault - the name itself is a fine name - but many non-Spanish readers wouldn't have enough background context to understand it. Even though the real problem is the reader and not the author, it still tears a substantial audience from the experience of the story itself.
This is a great name, and I would urge you to find a good way to keep it, but also to find a good way to explain it without making the explanation sound complicated or contrived. For example, if she lives in a predominantly English-speaking place, many of her peers will probably have trouble with her name if they only read it and didn't actually hear it pronounced. It's perhaps a common problem for her, and just having a simple instance where she has to tiredly correct someone over the pronunciation of her name could set things straight with the readers too, without making a huge artificial deal out of it.
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I love the name Marisol. And I've actually added an explanation after having it messed up so badly so often. I had thought of it before, but didn't include it in the story. The idea was that she's named after her father's grandma who was an immigrant from Spain. It's one of those, Dad loved his grandma, type things. Trying to make it believable. And she verbally introduces herself a lot. And Ms. Cary suggested I giver her a nickname, so that may make things easier on potential readers.
Incidentally she's one of two characters with a 'foreign' name. The other being Italian because the character's mom is from Italy, but he has an easy nickname. I had to add a word pronunciation/glossary also because his character speaks in Italian frequently and I know a lot of people who don't like not knowing what characters are saying. So, I was going to add 'Marisol' to the pronunciation section just in case.
Thank you so very much for your advice, I'd never put much thought into having realistic reasons behind names before. I'll definitely take it in mind for my characters.
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I didn't realize there was more than one name to pronounce it o.O and I live on the border of Mexico XD. I don't think it's so bad that it'd need to be changed though. I've seen some real doozies when it comes to names that are hard to pronounce. If you'd like to keep her name but get really annoyed with the miss-pronunciation, consider giving her a nickname (for instance: Mari). It's harder to miss-pronounce, and she keeps the name you intended.
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I live in a small town in Ohio, and here instead of 'mar-ee-soul' people pronounce it as 'mare-ih-saul'. A lot of 'un-American' names are pretty well butchered.
I hadn't though about giving her a nickname, I think I'll do that now. Thank you very much for your help.
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XD the correct pronunciation is "Mare-ee-soul" it drives me nuts because I actually have a relative named "Mara" (mah-ruh) and the mexicans pronounce it "may-ruh" for some reason. Now that sounds awful.
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It gets bad up here. I go to an international college, and a lot of people from Europe attend, but since all the teachers are from the area (very backwater USA type deal going on around here) they all pronounce names wrong. There was a José in one class I took, and the teacher called him Josie for an entire semester, it was horrible.
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lmao that's horrible XD
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Naming is seriously my favorite part of writing
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haha it's one of mine too :3 so much fun to make up new people!
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I know! I also like seeing how they change over the years
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