The most common name for a character?

catian · Feb 23, 2012

I find naming characters quite tricky.
It is very easy to fall into the routiness of ,Jo/Mary and Fred Blogg and so I try and steer clear from it.
I make up my own names totally new (at least I would hope they are).
I also find characters named after objects, like House the canadian series quite baffling and irritating.

To call a main character House to me was just 'the icing of the cake', on top of making him sound canadian when he was baffling it English. I lost interest there and then. That was one series out of the window.

Small details are very important to me as a viewer/reader.They do say 'the devil is in the details', so it is obviously not being practiced or taken seriously by so called big and professional directors/writers.

What would you say is the most common name for characters and does it worry that your story might end up sounding the same as another because of the commoness of the names?

Zombie Kat · Feb 23, 2012

I prefer normal names personally. Made up grates on me as it often feels like an author is trying to make a character oh-so-special by picking a unique name. I see a lot of Kats and Cassies or their derivatives in unpub fiction, but don't think same name as other book matters. If my book sounds similar to someone else's just because of a name, something has gone horribly wrong with the story!

You know House is a surname, right? His first name is Gregory.

Dreity · Feb 23, 2012

There does seem to be an appalling amount of spunky, "I just want to be normal" sort of heroines named Alex, but that's the only one I can think of off the top of my head.

I never dismiss a book or TV series based on the character names alone, but cliched and/or stupid names can sometimes be part and parcel of a bigger problem that ultimately causes me to lose interest.

As a friendly aside, you do realize that it's Dr. Gregory House, right? No sillier than having a last name like Snow.

Mr Flibble · Feb 23, 2012

They made him sound Canadian? Cool beans, when the dude is the best Bertie Wooster ever. And calling him House is no different to him being called Wooster. It's, I don't know, a name. One that fits the world he inhabits.

I'd be put off if everyone was called Desdimona Flibbertigibbet and Griswald Flunkerdude.

If your MS is set in the here and now, most of your characters will have relatively normal names, or your MS will sound silly. This is not wrong.

eyeblink · Feb 23, 2012

IdiotsRUs said:
They made him sound Canadian? Cool beans, when the dude is the best Bertie Wooster ever. And calling him House is no different to him being called Wooster. It's, I don't know, a name. One that fits the world he inhabits.

I'd be put off if everyone was called Desdimona Flibbertigibbet and Griswald Flunkerdude.

If your MS is set in the here and now, most of your characters will have relatively normal names, or your MS will sound silly. This is not wrong.

Way back in secondary school, I co-edited the school magazine one year. The printer sent us samples of other magazines they'd printed, including one from a very posh girls' school. One name that stuck in my mind forever was Desdemona Vaughan-Arbuckle. Is she known as Des to her friends? And where is she now? You'd be accused of taking the piss if you used that as a character name. There were many other double-barrelled or even triple-barrelled surnames there, but I can't remember them now.

Some people do have unique names, but some unusual ones aren't as rare as you might think. The writer China Miéville is the only person of that name on the UK electoral register, but he said in an interview that the name China was in the air around the time he was born. The same year (1972), Grace Slick and Paul Kanter of Jefferson Airplane named their daughter China.

Mr Flibble · Feb 23, 2012

Some people do have unique names, it's true (One of my teachers was called Desdemona)

But if you peopled all your stories with them...it's going to look damn odd if no one is called anything usual. Writing off a series because someone doesn't have an outlandish name seems...outlandish?

Or maybe I should just call all my characters Mr Fishfinger. Internet brownies if anyone gets that reference

cara · Feb 23, 2012

I find books with realistic names for MCs more believable, otherwise they're a bit of a 'special snowflake' character. The name isn't too important, so long as it isn't associated with a very popular character/person and isn't silly/offensive unless intended to be. I think it's more about the character and their personality.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

eyeblink said:
Way back in secondary school, I co-edited the school magazine one year. The printer sent us samples of other magazines they'd printed, including one from a very posh girls' school. One name that stuck in my mind forever was Desdemona Vaughan-Arbuckle. Is she known as Des to her friends? And where is she now? You'd be accused of taking the piss if you used that as a character name. There were many other double-barrelled or even triple-barrelled surnames there, but I can't remember them now.

Some people do have unique names, but some unusual ones aren't as rare as you might think. The writer China Miéville is the only person of that name on the UK electoral register, but he said in an interview that the name China was in the air around the time he was born. The same year (1972), Grace Slick and Paul Kanter of Jefferson Airplane named their daughter China.

Interesting story for some reason I assumed that China Mieville was a woman.
I would not personally call anyone by a country or city's name. I tend to draw the line there.
As to House well I would like to think of it a Dwelling/somewhere where people live and not a person's name or surname.
I like to keep things separate. That is how I am. It is not something I chose to do it is something in me.
An object name is one and a person's name is another.

Mr Flibble · Feb 23, 2012

catian said:
As to House well I would like to think of it a Dwelling/somewhere where people live and not a person's name or surname.
I like to keep things separate. That is how I am.

You must have a problem with a lot of surnames then.

I am not dressed in armour, riding a horse for instance. Mr Wood isn't full of trees. etc. etc.

Surnames are often also objects. That doesn't mean they are bad to use as character names.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

Interesting name that is
desde/mona
desde in spanish mean since/ from
mona is (which again I thought it was of a feminine origin)

Norse mythology, Máni (Old Norse/Icelandic "moon"[1]) is the moon personified. Máni, personified, is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. Both sources state that he is the brother of the personified sun, Sól, and the son of Mundilfari, while the Prose Edda adds that he is followed by the children Hjúki and Bil through the heavens. As a proper noun, Máni appears throughout Old Norse literature. Scholarly theories have been proposed about Máni's potential connection to the Northern European notion of the Man in the Moon, and a potentially otherwise unattested story regarding Máni through skaldickennings

It is also:
Monday, a day of the week named after the moon in Germanic societies.

It is interesting that is a female name when the origin of moon in germanic is actually masculin.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

IdiotsRUs said:
You must have a problem with a lot of surnames then.

I am not dressed in armour, riding a horse for instance. Mr Wood isn't full of trees. etc. etc.

Surnames are often also objects. That doesn't mean they are bad to use as character names.

Oh no there is nothing bad about it, it is just that I straight away notice a name such as House becomes it reminds of a house as I know it.
I can't explain it.

Mr Flibble · Feb 23, 2012

Actually, I *think* Desdemona is from the Greek for 'Ill-fated' or 'Ill-starred' from dysdaimon, that is demon bound or superstitious.

AVS · Feb 23, 2012

House was called House to link him to Sherlock Holmes, I think. It's possible he also lives at 221b.

dpaterso · Feb 23, 2012

The thing that bugged me about "House" was the fact it told me absolutely nothing about the series -- there's no clue it's even a medical drama. Once I learned the series was about a doctor, I couldn't help but think "house doctor". But no, it's the MC's name. Huh. What brainbox thought that up? The previous flagship TV medical drama was called E.R. The UK's flagship TV medical drama is called Casualty. The clue's in the title!

Anyways, when I'm stuck for a character name (which isn't often) I look at the closing credits of any TV show or movie and mix the first and last names up. As long as it's not a famous actor name like Depp or Clooney, who's to know? No need to angst or procrastinate -- pick a name get on with your writing!

-Derek

catian · Feb 23, 2012

AVS said:
House was called House to link him to Sherlock Holmes, I think. It's possible he also lives at 221b.

Is 221B an address to House?
Holmes and House are similar if you take the L out.
It makes sense if that is the intent.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

dpaterso said:
The thing that bugged me about "House" was the fact it told me absolutely nothing about the series -- there's no clue it's even a medical drama. Once I learned the series was about a doctor, I couldn't help but think "house doctor". But no, it's the MC's name. Huh. What brainbox thought that up? The previous flagship TV medical drama was called E.R. The UK's flagship TV medical drama is called Casualty. The clue's in the title!

Anyways, when I'm stuck for a character name (which isn't often) I look at the closing credits of any TV show or movie and mix the first and last names up. As long as it's not a famous actor name like Depp or Clooney, who's to know? No need to angst or procrastinate -- pick a name get on with your writing!

-Derek

Hey house doctor sounds better to me. Haha.
E.R is presumably Emergency Room right?
As to Casualty I never watch it.
Casualty as I understand it means when things go badly wrong and so it usually end up not recovering as a result of it.
Going to a doctor/medical is usually to get better too and so it is not always a casualty.
I find the title misleading.

Mr Flibble · Feb 23, 2012

/shows age

Casualty is what they used to call the Accident and Emergency department.

(It also means an accident, or someone/thing who is injured/harmed - or killed destroyed.)

/end shows age.

Laure de Sade · Feb 23, 2012

Although I do find weird-for-the-sake-of-weird names annoying, mundane character names like 'Sarah', 'John', etc. don't really do it for me. Unless a name seems especially befitting of or essential to the protagonist, I prefer to leave them unnamed. I think mundane names are acceptable for minor characters though.

I've seen some pretty cringe-worthy, 'allusive' character names - e.g., 'Lolita' for a slutty young girl outside of the Nabokov novel, or 'Ophelia' for a girl who drowns herself.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 23, 2012

I tend to call male protags Jack, as it's been the most common name for male babies here in the UK for a while now. I like the name, and it's unexciting. But people say I use it too much, lol.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

Laure de Sade said:
Although I do find weird-for-the-sake-of-weird names annoying, mundane character names like 'Sarah', 'John', etc. don't really do it for me. Unless a name seems especially befitting of or essential to the protagonist, I prefer to leave them unnamed. I think mundane names are acceptable for minor characters though.

I've seen some pretty cringe-worthy, 'allusive' character names - e.g., 'Lolita' for a slutty young girl outside of the Nabokov novel, or 'Ophelia' for a girl who drowns herself.

Contreversial story is contreversial.
The story such as Dolores/Lotita is contreversial enough but to call a book Lolita is perhaps not a very good idea.
This is from a name point of view, although I profoundly condemm the book as being slightely on the 'sick side'.
What I am trying to say it would be best to keep the name to its book.
I can't imagine anyone would want a name such as this for their offsprings.
Just saying like.

catian · Feb 23, 2012

Buffysquirrel said:
I tend to call male protags Jack, as it's been the most common name for male babies here in the UK for a while now. I like the name, and it's unexciting. But people say I use it too much, lol.

It is amasing how names can be thought provoking.
Jack goes back to victorian times and does remind of the infamous jack the ripper.
But then that is just me.
Oh and I hear that capital J in Jack is different from non capital j as in jack.
Apparently it means something, I cannot remember what it was....

Buffysquirrel · Feb 23, 2012

There is Jack the Ripper, that's true. I also worked with a man called Jack for some years, though, and he was a friend. Sometimes I think that's another reason why I have affection for the name.

Lhipenwhe · Feb 23, 2012

My stories tend to take place in non-Earth settings, and I (attempt) to avoid direct analogies with existing nations. It gives me leeway in making names; Kenth, Kale, Lexel, ect ect. My MCs usually won't have names longer then two syllables, and if they do I can shorten them, i.e. 'Riella' to 'Ella'. It's mainly laziness on my part; I find it difficult to keep track of more complex names in a large cast of characters.

Zombie Kat · Feb 23, 2012

Buffysquirrel said:
I tend to call male protags Jack, as it's been the most common name for male babies here in the UK for a while now. I like the name, and it's unexciting. But people say I use it too much, lol.

I had a thing for Will for a while. Until I made the disasterous decision to Find and Replace it in one book. Never again.

shaldna · Feb 23, 2012

catian said:
I find naming characters quite tricky.
It is very easy to fall into the routiness of ,Jo/Mary and Fred Blogg and so I try and steer clear from it.
I make up my own names totally new (at least I would hope they are).

The problem with making up completely new names is that it often doesn't work, aside from being confusing and annoying, it's also one of the biggest mistakes a new writer makes.

A name that is unusual for the sake of being unusual is annoying and amaturish.

I also find characters named after objects, like House the canadian series quite baffling and irritating.

It can work. In terms of House, it was a surname. A surname which, incidently, dates back to the 7th Century.

To call a main character House to me was just 'the icing of the cake', on top of making him sound canadian when he was baffling it English. I lost interest there and then. That was one series out of the window.

You gave up on a series because of the characters name, which is not uncommon to be honest, and yet you opened this thread by saying that you like to make up your own names that are 'totally new'

What would you say is the most common name for characters and does it worry that your story might end up sounding the same as another because of the commoness of the names?

There are always a hell of a lot of John's in science fiction, I've noticed that much.

IdiotsRUs said:
Some people do have unique names, it's true

I think the key here is SOME people.

I'm sure we can all name folks who have unusual names - I know of people called Pretty Butterfly (I shit you not), Mango and Lonestar.

But if they all appeared in a book then it would be annoying and a little farcical.

Incidently, I remember a book from when I was younger called 'A Name Like Bunny' which used the unusual name in an interesting way - The MC was embarassed by it and lied about it to a boy etc.

catian said:
I like to keep things separate. That is how I am. It is not something I chose to do it is something in me.
An object name is one and a person's name is another.

But many names, including a HUGE proportion of surnames, are objects, colours, verbs etc. There's no real way to keep them separate to be honest.

IdiotsRUs said:
Actually, I *think* Desdemona is from the Greek for 'Ill-fated' or 'Ill-starred' from dysdaimon, that is demon bound or superstitious.

it's derived from dysdaimon which means ill fated

catian said:
E.R is presumably Emergency Room right?
As to Casualty I never watch it.
Casualty as I understand it means when things go badly wrong and so it usually end up not recovering as a result of it.
Going to a doctor/medical is usually to get better too and so it is not always a casualty.
I find the title misleading.

Casualty is what the emergency room or, as it's now called, the accident and emergency department, used to be called. Most folks of a certain age still refer to it as casualty though.

It's not misleading at all. Quite the opposite. At the time that the show came into being everyone in the country knew what the term 'casualty' meant and used it in the context that the show used it.

The most common name for a character?

catian

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