Naming Your Original Characters
by Samantha Niemeyer

In the grand scheme of things, the name of a character matters very little. If the story is good enough the reader will learn to love the name no matter how ridiculous it is. Generally though, when showing someone your unpublished story the readers are eager to be skeptics and critics, so it’s important to acknowledge the little things that will turn someone away from your story; such as picking an obnoxious name for your character. It’s tricky to pick a name the reader will immediately accept. On one hand it shouldn’t be completely common place or no one will ever remember it, but on the other hand if it’s too strange no one will take it seriously. Generally, if you’re writing a modern story you want to pick a modern name. If you’re writing an outlandish fantasy you might want a somewhat outlandish name. For example, don’t name your Byronic orphaned centaur Dick Smith, and don’t name your Middle aged Manhattan Lawyer Diamond Daffodil III. Most writers will be taught to choose a name that reflects their character. This advice is often mistakenly taken to mean that adjectives should somehow be added into the name, or the name should explain the characters purpose. Ebony Diamond Crystal Love Windmaker. Fearless Rippling Biceps Washington. Destiny, Justice, etc. That advice doesn’t mean that the character’s name should literally describe him or her, it means it should capture the essence of the personality. Take Bilbo Baggins for example. Bilbo is a hobbit: a silly fictional creature with an addictive personality. Now look at his name; it’s silly, it’s fictional, and addictively fun to say with all those Bs. Take Jane Eyre. A Victorian lady, deprived, isolated, in turmoil, small and self contained, as her name reflects. Her name also sets her apart from the multi-syllable names of the other ladies in the novel in both appearance and character. How about Harry Potter? Memorable, different, fantastic but not from a dimension of fantasy outside our own. If you know what you’re looking for it’s quite clear that a pattern exists.

Another popular trend is to have bizarre spellings of common names. Like the name Michael. How about Mikel, Mychael, or Mykall? And we can only guess at how many different spellings for Crystal there are. My favorite so far is Khrystle. What takes these names from being unique to being a problem is that people will almost always be unsure of the pronunciation, which often makes it difficult for the reader to connect to the name. For an easy fix, if you do not purposefully want to leave the reader guessing, work the pronunciation into the dialog. These names can also be problematic because most the time the reader won’t find the name plausible for the setting of the story. Others will choose made up names. The name “Rei” has become very common for girl characters. It’s one in a slew of misspelled boy’s names made girls names. Lots of fantasy writers choose names that are made up, which can be fine, but for short unprofessional writing it’s a risk. You want to make a connection with the writer as quickly as possible and made up names (courteously of fictionpress.com) like Aegard, Yazon, and Aetolia tend to alienate the reader.

The last and possibly most grave of errors is the name parallel. That is, a name that sounds suspiciously like the name of an already famous character. Usually, although by complete sarcastic coincidence, these names occur in stories that are somewhat parallel to already existing plots. Harry Potter has been the biggest victim of this trend so far. In denial fanfiction writers are prone to produce characters such as Mary Lotter, Jerry Motter, etc.

If you think you may have committed one of these name Faux pas, just run it by a friend and ask them on a scale of one to ten how annoyed they are. Of course, there will always be times when it’s beneficial to use a stereotypical name for a stereotypical character, an overly descriptive name, a unique version of a common name, or a completely made up name. It’s really the author’s choice. If you feel confident about the name you’ve chosen it’s important to stick by it. But if you’re unsure about how other’s will receive it you may want to consider a change.