Mary-Sue: Who is She?

Romeo and Gertrude?

“Names.  What’s in a name, really? I mean, besides a bunch of letters or sounds strung together to make a word. Does a rose by any other name really smell as sweet? Would the most famous love story in the world be as poignant if it was called Romeo and Gertrude? Why is what we call ourselves so important?” (Julie Kagawa).

I’ll answer that question with another quote:

“I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I've never been able to believe it. I don't believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage” (L.M. Montgomery).

Names, despite its seemingly simplistic role in society, do have some importance, even in fiction.  So how do you name your character?  Names aren’t just an arrangement of letters that sound cool or unique; they have meaning, language, and culture behind them.  Names are so important, that, in real life, people are discriminated by their namesake.  People with foreign names, whether their ethnicity roots to there or not, have a harder time finding jobs.  Before he won the election, there was a rumor that Barack Obama wasn’t even American.  Even between feminine and masculine names can affect what a teen will want to learn, and not to mention the bullying a kid can go through because of their name.  And it’s the parent’s choice (fault) for choosing the name for their child to live with.

However, names are no more important than choosing what color hair or skin the character has.

In my first guide (“Things you Need to Know”), I only mentioned that it had to be of the universe’s region of the character birthplace’s culture, but there can be exceptions.  In Degrassi: The Next Generation, which takes place in Canada, Spinner’s sister is Chinese, but was adopted into his family.  While we don’t know if it was a foreign adoption or strictly within the country, they named her Kendra instead of looking up Chinese names, but they probably had a reason.  Finding the meaning to Chinese names, along with respecting the Chinese rules on how to name a child is difficult, even on the internet.  So, as a slight revision, whether the child was born there or not, whether the child is still with his or her parents, or someone found him or her, name the child with something that is available to the parents, or the adopting parents, who deem fit as a name.

On a side note, I stick to what I said about your name and self-inserting (“Things you Need to Know“).  Even though you’re most likely not of the region the story takes place in, unless you’re saying you moved there as part of the plot, change the sound of your name to fit into the culture.  There are plenty of Japanese name translators, so I’m sure you can also find other cultures and countries to translate your name to.

The reason I say that names are no more difficult than choosing a hair color or skin color, is because they both represent the same thing: genetics and culture.  Just as blonde-haired people are more probable of European descent, as people having red hair can mean they have Irish or Scottish blood.  Alternatively, it could just be a random genetic quirk.  Although not a lot of people think that hair color is as important as something like eye shape or skin color (unless it‘s a color like bright blue skin in a non-skittles universe) it does play a part in appropriateness.  Just as African Americans can’t be redheads unless dyed, certain names won’t be appropriate.  Names, while not everyone will have that original culture in them genetically, do have the same kind of history, and it will affect the character somehow.

The chosen name also reflects the person who chose the name—the parents or guardian.  Are they more free-spirited and choose an unusual name, or more elegant and choose an Elizabethan name?  This kind of choosing will reflect more on how the guardians raise the child than why the parents chose this origin with this meaning (if they know the meaning at all).  More often than not, though, in most fiction, the story of how the name came to be is usually never told.  The parents aren’t always the ones who choose the name, it could be the grandparents, a friend, or even the nurse, so if the part of the naming the character isn‘t in the story, you don‘t have to sweat about the parents too much.  This goes with the nicknames as well.  If there is no source of who started it, it shouldn’t matter.  If the name does have an accurate source, then think of how the namer would behave, their hobbies, or acts to reflect the name that they chose.