Six Quick Tips on Character Names
November 2, 2007 by John Hewitt
I’m going to be very busy with NaNoWriMo this month, so my postings are going to be short and to the point. Some people will probably prefer this. By the way, my current word count is 529. Thats low, but I worked an eleven hour day yesterday so I was just glad to get started before I fell asleep.
- Character names should be easy to tell apart from one another.
- Character names should never be distracting or annoying .
- Try to avoid stereotypes in your character names.
- Pick names that reflect the time, region and culture that your character is from.
- Two excellent sources for names are baby name books and phone books.
- Be careful when choosing names that rhyme or are alliterative.
Additional Reading:
- 20,000 Names
- The Secret to Naming Characters
- Name That Character!
- NaNoWriMo Character Name Discussion
Related links
- Fifteen Writing Exercises (0.500)
- How to Create Fictional Characters Using Adversity (0.500)
- 12 Exercises for Improving Dialog (0.500)
- How to Format a Short Story (0.500)
- An Analysis of Indian Killer, To Kill a Mockingbird and Daisy Miller (0.500)
Contact John Hewitt
Writing Content and Web Consulting
Email: hewitt@poewar.comPhone: (520) 261-6104
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Twitter: @poewar
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Thanks
My NaNo novel from last year was based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale of Snow White and Rose Red, fleshed out and given a modern setting. I named the Snow White character Blanche. I thought of Scarlett for Rose Red, but that name has been used so much that I looked for something else, and came up with Carmen – as a version of carmine, another word for red.
The bear who is finally revealed to be a prince is of course Ted, of the King family. The character based on the nasty little dwarf ended up being called Mal – officially an abbreviation of Malcolm, but in its own right a word for bad.
And so on. I had fun with the names, making them appropriate for the characters’ fairytale roles and also believable in an everyday context. (Blanche and Carmen have a hippy mother – who else would live way out in the bush, I mean forest, like that? – so their rather exotic names are explainable.)
The names provide one kind of clue to the origins of my plot, and there are some other clues. Hopefully it is possible, but not essential, for readers to pick up the allusions.
The name of my NaNo is “The Round Table and the Oil of Abramalin.” Chapter I is titled “Magick Coffee,” and Chapt II is “A Tall Tale.” I am at 3600 words today, and lovin it. I could live like this. Cahpter III which I have just started is called “The Genie’s Bottle.”
http://www.babynamesworld.com is also very helpfull!! You get the meaning and origin of names aswell.