Inside Scoop

[4] Character Names

How do you come up with character names?

Vicky_nfs: Trial & Error

Finding the right names for your characters, now that’s a process of trial and error for me.

There’s so much you need to take in consideration when you’re naming your characters. For example: Where and when does the story take place? What are the parents of your character like? Does he/she have siblings? If so, then perhaps you should come up with names that match – sort of. I think it’s rather rare to find siblings of which one has this very plain name and the other has one of those less common names.

Most of the times, we look for names with meaning and go with the story. So, at first I’ll be going through endless lists of names online, pick the ones I like and write them down.

Usually I just write my story while the characters are still left unnamed. It’s rather funny to read it afterwards with the referrals like “guy walks that way” or “girl does this”, I even go as far as naming them A, B, C, D, … And then when I have a list of names and my characters have been gaining personalities, I go through the lists and imagine my character with a certain name. It’s easy to eliminate the names that don’t match your character, however, when you end up with only a couple of names left, it’s rather hard to pick one. Then again, sometimes you can start writing and knowing it right from the start that your character is a Jenny, Keara, Anna or some uncommon foreign name.

When I began my first story, I only named my characters minutes before I uploaded to Wattpad. Then, after a couple of uploads I realized that I had made a rushed decision and by then it was too late to choose other names. But, as the chapters continued and the story evolved, the characters’ names didn’t really matter anymore since they grew as persons and admit it, in real life you have to learn to live with your own name, no? You don’t get to choose it either.

So, as powerful as a name might seem, in the end it’s only a name.

 [Of course there are stories where names are really important, so what I’m referring to is only of matter for the stories where the name of a character isn’t part of the plot]

Leigh19: A lot of consideration

Character names are the easiest.

First I think of the background of the character, where they’re from, what their ethnicity is and how I picture the character in my mind. For instance, if I have a strong female character I want to give them a name that radiates that feeling.

When you think of the right name it just clicks in. It does take a lot of consideration because you have to be fully satisfied with the name because once you start writing a story with a character of choice you can’t halfway through the story decide you don’t like their name anymore.

Sometimes I like to look up different origins of names online and their meanings and when one stands out in particular I scribble it down and go from there.

Emmiie: Stand out. Be different, unique.

Normally with a lot of googling! Haha. But seriously, I normally go for weird names I like, or search names in different language. In my opinion, the weirder the name, the better. I mean, when it comes to a story, you want your characters to be as unique, and to stand out as much as possible. But like most things in life, there is a line to how extreme you want your characters names.

Something like, ‘Marcello’ is good. Okay, so it’s not the most unheard of name in the world, but it was the first name that popped into my head. The main point to this example is that the name has to be comprehendible. Because if the characters name is too weird, it might turn a reader off reading your story…so names like, ‘Jauguhatweahssgx’ are a bit off putting, because even though your name certainly wins the award for uniqueness, trying to sound out a bunch of random letters can be hard.

However, there is an exception to this, because sometimes your intention is to have something difficult to read. Maybe your character just stumbled across a group of green aliens, and they speak another language..? In which case, my suggestion is to have someone sound it out, because it saves the reader the trouble of doing it themselves.

EG:

“Hey, my name is, Jauguhatweahssgx.” He introduced himself, translating for the other green guy who was perched closely by his side. He awaited his next words before continuing. “What’s yours?”

I arched an eyebrow, “Is that one ‘R’ or two?”

“It’s pronounced, Jau-gu-hat-we-ah-ssg-x” He sighed.

And now your readers have that complex, almost overwhelming word broken up for them, and can continue reading with ease.

Best of luck with your stories, and never forget that determination is the key!