What's In a Name? How names relate to character development.

Hmm. I did the survey, but I'm not sure how useful itis. The essay question section might be useful (although I put "n/a" for each one).

The multiple-choice part reflects, I think, informed estimates more than any kind of irrational prejudice. If I guess that a "Ruth" is probably older than a "Tiffany", it's because of a casual awareness of cultural trends in baby names over the past several decades.

I selected a name (Leonard) for a secondary character because he needed to do something brave. I was looking for something that meant "good friend" but couldn't find a name related to that.

You might want to check out The New Baby Name Survey Book as well.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0684031647/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

JamieB said:

I'm doing a survey/study on names and if different people assign the same character traits based on names alone.

For example, some of my teacher friends agree that girls named Lydia are smart.

I would love as much participation as I can get! Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the survey!

http://surveys.polldaddy.com/s/8F852089DF42BBF6/

Results will be posted sometime in May on the GotYa blog.

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How the heck can a name make a kid smart? I've only known a few women named Lydia, but a couple of them had teh I.Qs of a potted plant.

Now, I can understand a name having serious consequences if it's a really bad name. I once knew a man named Richard Head, and this gave him problems his entire life.

But an ordinary name? I think that's nonsense.

What's In a Name?

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"Call me Frank."

I think names most definitely have an effect on first impressions. It's an interesting survey -- I just wish there had been an option to select more than one race for each name.

I took it.

Whether it is right or wrong people make assumptions about people based on names - if they've not seen the person. I’ll be interested in the result too.

Libbie said:

I think names most definitely have an effect on first impressions. It's an interesting survey -- I just wish there had been an option to select more than one race for each name.

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I agree. However, given the variety of social experience, I think those first impressions can vary wildly. I've met a lot of people. And the impact they had on me, especially if it was back when I was a kid, strongly colors my initial attitude toward people of the same name I meet today. For instance, when I was about 14 a woman named Jennifer did a huge injustice to my favorite uncle. For years I had a strong negative bias against women named Jennifer. But then I actually became friends with a Jennifer and the characteristics I associate with that name changed again. It's pretty subjective.

On the other hand, though, there are some names take on certain characteristics on a cultural scale because of similar portrayals of that name in the media, or because it has become synonymous with a particular celebrity, or (as has already been noted) was more common in a certain generation. For example, the name "Farah" only made me think of Farah Faucet.

Just did the survey too.

FreeWhistler said:

It's pretty subjective.

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This.

I mean, last names can show nationality (McDonald, Duff, Wang, Lee...) but first names can vary. I think where you heard that name first or know the person who is most memorable, with that name, will color the personality whenever the same name resurfaces.

Some names are way too famous (Oprah, Elvis) so you could get away with specific bias a reader might have, but even then, such names come with those famous people's personality/background attached.

Of course, you can always play on that too, I think. (Though I think a Latino gangster named Jesus may have been over-used in fiction....albeit probably true in real life.)

I'd also be interested to know if anyone has used a name for a baddy in their novel, based on the fact that when they were a child they may have been bullied by another child with that name?

jvc said:

I'd also be interested to know if anyone has used a name for a baddy in their novel, based on the fact that when they were a child they may have been bullied by another child with that name?

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I don't know about a baddy, but Jeff Lemire, who writes/draws Sweet Tooth comic book (DC/vertigo), named the main protagonist Gus, which is the same as his son (<2 yrs old).

I'm not sure if he named his son after the super hero or vice versa, but I think that's a really neat connection.

I'm having trouble with the names for my characters in my current WIP, so much so that for a good portion of the novel, I've simply put "MC" for the main character's name, "(Daughter)" for the daughter's name, and so on.

I wanted a name for my MC that conjured a practical woman, thirties or older, not too adventurous. I ended up going with Edith...but I'm not completely happy with it. It starts with the same letter as the daughter's name (also subject to change) which is currently Emily.

For some reason, the names seem really important on this one, so this thread is timely.

Associating names with characteristics like intelligence is often a subtle form of classism.
Some names are simply more popular in certain milieus than in others.

sohalt said:

Associating names with characteristics like intelligence is often a subtle form of classism.
Some names are simply more popular in certain milieus than in others.

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Perhaps. But I don't think most people can help it.

If you had two names, say, Pinky and Brain...which one would you say is the name of a genius? (and I mean world-dominating type )

sohalt said:

Associating names with characteristics like intelligence is often a subtle form of classism.
Some names are simply more popular in certain milieus than in others.

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This is true. I once asked on another site whether people who gave their children unusual names looked down on those of us who give our children ordinary names, and, as far as I can see, they don't. But there is a lot of prejudice the other way. I see it in myself. And yes, it's a class thing, or an education thing, or an etiquette thing, maybe. I feel as if they "don't know better," as if they'd used a knife to eat mashed potatoes, or yelled "Amen," in a non-Amen type church, or worn a gold lame dress to the picnic.

But names that to me seem like child abuse, to the child often seem both natural and beautiful, so I'm the one who's wrong, here.

Does that mean I'd name my heroine Porsche? No way.

I took your survey! It seems to me like there should be a broader range of questions...

If my personality went by my name, I'm a dumb, bimbo/ho, cheerleader from the 80's. Interestingly, none of these things about me are true. Le sigh.

Although an interesting subject, I feel that using names as stereotype identifiers is not exactly useful and does not reflect on "real life." The relative socioeconomic strata that goes with that name changes. A Tiffany may have been a rich girl's name in 1970, while by 2000 it might have been lower income. Marion or Madison or Leslie used to be a men's name, and now are almost exclusively female names. You also might run into racial stereotypes. I write as a Southwestern writer even though I am now in Nebraska. I have quite a lot of Latino characters, so my characters are equally divided across socio-economic boundaries. But what of someone who decides that all the "servants" in his book are "Pedro," or "Ramon" and all the high powered businessmen are "Chuck," and "Bill?" If they are working in meat packing, or if it is 1950, you could get away with this.

Names have nothing to do with the people who have them. Children are given names by their parents, usually because their parents like the name. A name cannot magically endow a baby with certain attributes.

Use Her Name said:

]
Names have nothing to do with the people who have them. Children are given names by their parents, usually because their parents like the name. A name cannot magically endow a baby with certain attributes.

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In real life, yes. But I think the point of OP was more for the characters on a sheet of paper, who might have only a few lines of description and attribute to spawn an image in reader's mind.

You do bring up a good point in that, perhaps, there should be a bit more research.

If you ARE writing a 1950s piece, then it would make sense to use such names like Pedro and Jose for farm workers.

I wonder about Tom Swift though...

I took the survey and some of the names like Ruth because I read the Bible I just related that the book of the same name. So I think it is who you relate the name too and draw comparisons.

Another poster said all they could think about was Farah Fawcett with the one name and it was the same for me.

Use Her Name said:

A Tiffany may have been a rich girl's name in 1970, while by 2000 it might have been lower income. Marion or Madison or Leslie used to be a men's name, and now are almost exclusively female names. You also might run into racial stereotypes. I write as a Southwestern writer even though I am now in Nebraska. I have quite a lot of Latino characters, so my characters are equally divided across socio-economic boundaries. But what of someone who decides that all the "servants" in his book are "Pedro," or "Ramon" and all the high powered businessmen are "Chuck," and "Bill?" If they are working in meat packing, or if it is 1950, you could get away with this.

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This is actually part of the point, as far as I'm concerned. I want the name to seem common for the situation into which my character was born...to use your examples, if my story was in 1970 and I wanted a rich girl's name, I might choose Tiffany, but maybe not in 2000. If my book was set in 1950, I probably wouldn't spread all races equally across socio-economic boundaries; servants would be less likely to be named "Chuck" and more likely to be named "Pedro".

But there are also stereotypes associated with certain names, for good or for bad. People have grinned or raised eyebrows when I've mentioned my friend Bambi, but I've never gotten that talking about Elizabeth. A good friend of mine, whose name is MaryJean, goes by Mary professionally and Jean amongst some of her friends, and MaryJean amongst another set of friends. She does this at least partially because she gets different reactions amongst different groups of people based on the name she uses. Is "Jean" more fun than "Mary"? No, because they're the same person. But to a lot of people "Jean" sounds more fun than "Mary", so if MaryJean is presenting herself as fun and outgoing, she's more likely to go by Jean. To add another wrinkle, Jean also goes by "Harley", a name that's just a little more "wild" than "Jean".

So I think that a little bit of all of this comes into play...the time and socio-economic status of the character's birth, the location of the character's birth (names in France are different than in Texas), AND, as a quick characterization, the stereotypes associated with the character's given name.

Jamesaritchie said:

I've only known a few women named Lydia, but a couple of them had the I.Qs of a potted plant.

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You've outed me, James.

The dirt here is lovely, by the way, so rich and moist and full of worms, but would you be so kind as to pluck my wilted leaves for me (I can't quite reach them all) and perhaps spritz me with some fresh water? Aaaah. That's better. Thanks.

Now... what were we talking about? Silly me, I seem to have forgotten.

I made up a name for my antagonist -- Kedzara. I shortened it to Zara throughout the novel.

My protagonist's name is Hayley -- a soft sounding name like the character.

I wrote a novella that's a simple, amusing romance story. The characters are Valentine Day, Easter Day, Christmas Day, Richard Headley, Corazon Rojas, Daphne, Jameson, and Hartley Warburton-Darling. The book is called, "Madame Woo." Madame Woo is the name of Hartley's company, started by his mother, Woorsulah.

When I name my characters, I take their position in the story and their personality into account.

I've found that having the names gives me a lot more insight into the character, but generally not because of the meaning of the names. Usually, it's just because it cements down certain personality aspects that have been floating around. Once I know their names, I feel like I know them better- like that regular customer at work when you finally ask their name.

I've been laughing (mostly kindly) at my sister the past few days because I told her I'd give her a character in one of my upcoming projects, and she's been trying for three days to come up with her name. Makes me feel a little vindicated for all the times she made fun of me for fussing over a name not being quite right.