Random thoughts on character names or A rose by any other name would probably be a tomato

(Cross posted on Genre Bender)

Okay, first up the latest name I need to use somewhere, Jerico Higgenbottom.

No, really, isn't that a cool name? And both the first and last name are real people's names, they just don't appear together (or at least I haven't seen them together).

Secondly, I was once asked where I got the name of a certain character (the person asking had the same unusual last name, and given the "rightness" of the first name I'm sure they knew someone with that name). The last name was Waterdown, and it first came to me as an homage to Richard Adams' Watership Down, but there's also a Waterdown just down the road from Niagara Falls, which I've visited a few times so I'm sure I saw a road sign for it. Plus the name had a nice staid feeling about it, a plumpness and security I wanted to use in the story.

Thirdly, I've had characters that stubbornly refuse to cooperate unless I find their "true name" ("true names" in case you don't know, have immense power in fairy and sympathetic magic). Once while writing a story I changed a secondary character's name for story purposes, and that character took their little red ball and went home. Until I changed it back and then they started helping again. Having the character's name correctly doesn't stop me from writing a story, but it certainly helps having the right name. Currently the love interest in a story I'm writing only has a "working name" (like a "working title"). The name just doesn't fit her. Right now she's not on stage, yet. I know by the time she is I'll need to know her name.

But that doesn't help us in finding names, which is what authors normally get asked about. Well, I have several strategies.

First off is knowing a whole bunch of very diverse people. From them you can find names of cousins, other friends you don't know, mothers, brothers, etc. Now, you shouldn't lift a name wholesale, that would be wrong unless you're intentionally making a Tuckerization. However you can extrapolate from what you know of your friends to make appropriate choices for family types and economic backgrounds.

Another strategy is to use the numerous Baby Names lists (just Google "Baby Names"). These lists are especially helpful if you're trying to find an unusual name, one that has a certain meaning, or one that fits an ethno-type you wish to portray. What they normally won't help you with is family names (although you can fake it) or relevancy (such as not many teens carry the name Ethel these days). If you know lots of people you can mitigate that issue by induction.

Still another way is to haunt graveyards. This is especially good if you're writing a period piece and you have access to graves (hmm, I mean a grave site you can visit) from that general time period. Tombstones and markers are also good for other things that concern writing, especially if you know a little symbolism and the "language of the graves." There's an author with the name Storm Constantine. I've always loved it and wished I could use it, but it seemed to iconic. Until I discovered that name on a grave in Painesville, Ohio (late 1800's).

I have another way, but it's not going to help you all that much. For my day job I plate at least a hundred business cards a week. They are a constant stream of source material (and humor) for both names and business titles. My most favorite title, and one that I need to use somewhere is "Senior Unexploded Ordinance Technician." Really, somebody has that job. But I guess this is just saying that keeping your ears open and knowing a lot of people always helps in choosing names.

There's also the phone book. It's chock full of names and can definitely help choose a name to evoke regionalism in your story. Names do tend to cluster regionally (and by economics and ethnicity). I doubt very much I would use the name Eustice for someone from the Yukon.

Finally there are tons of considerations to take into account when choosing a character's name. Fit is one, does the name fit the character. If you have a Vietnamese-American Tai-bo master named, "Shakira" I think you're going to have to explain that one. The opposite of this (or a concern for me at least) is to shy away from the "morality play name," like Prudence, Handsome, Charity, Peace, names that match a character's role or personality type directly. Also there's the timeliness and appropriateness. You're not going to have a modern day twenty-something named Ebenezer Escrutias or a late Renaissance power player named Phodaddy Big. At least not without a lot of explanation.

Names also come with baggage. An Ebenezer is going to be considered a Scrooge unless you quickly discourage that. Names portray history and lineage. So choosing a name needs to be done carefully.

All that said, usually the first name that pops to mind for a character, just like using the first word that comes to mind for a sentence, it usually is the best. Trust your instincts. Much of our culture is so deeply ingrained in our consciousness that you'll "feel" the correctness of names.