How to Write a Good Story

Naming your Characters

Naming your Characters

(By Gayle Moran)

Whether you're writing a short story or a novel, you have to find names for your characters. The names you choose, in most cases, just need to be ordinary names. But occasionally, for a variety of reasons, you may want to think through your name choices carefully. Do you want an opportunity to infuse your characters' names with meaning? Should the names be ethnic sounding, unusual and eye-catching, or something that symbolically advances the meaning of the narrative?

For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch has the name of a bird, which helps represent the theme of innocence and puts him and his children, Jem and Scout, on par with the mockingbird of the title. In Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is indeed a low-man, and in the Star Wars movies, Luke Skywalker's name describes what he does. Similarly, the protagonist in The Last of the Mohicans is named Hawkeye, which describes his pathfinding capabilities.

Some of the best character names I've ever run across are in Catch-22 where Joseph Heller created characters such as Major Major and Colonel Korn.

There are some good sources that can help you find appropriate names for your characters. The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, available from Amazon at

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1582972958/fictionwriting-20 
contains more than 25,000 first and last names organized by meaning and ethnic origin. It also includes naming strategies and information on how to create original names.

In addition, there are some good online name generators that are helpful. The

*Seventh Sanctum name generator

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=quickname 

generates names, character descriptions, set descriptions, and more.

* The Random Name Generator

http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm 

uses data from the US Census to randomly generate names for both males and females.

The names you give your characters can add meaning and texture to your work. These tools can help you find the perfect name.

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Here are links to a few more name generators you can try out:

* Rinkworkds

http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/

* Fantasy Name Generators

http://fantasynamegenerators.com/

* Fantasy Name Gen.com

http://www.fantasynamegen.com/

* Behind the Name

http://www.behindthename.com/random/

P.S.

On another note, I've seen lots of debate on what KIND of name should be used in books, genres, etc. Personally I like strange names, sometimes with odd unreadable symbols, etc. To me the pronunciation doesn't matter. What is your opinion? *shows you to the floor* *hands you the mic*