Do names really have that great of an effect on a story?

Hapax Legomenon · Jun 28, 2007

Yes, I understand that you're not going to have a cast with Japanese names if the story is set in the US and not a particularly Japanese community, in a story about the Orb of J'gah's'bad in Whduuuuuuuriniski'p is most likely not going to have a protagonist named John Sawyer.

But, at the moment, I feel like I'm skating on thin ice with the names of my characters in my WIP. They're in a fantasy world that's suspiciously modern, and the main characters are Skippy, Li (short for Lianna), and Joshua.

I'm not really worried about Joshua. Lianna isn't really that uncommon of a name (if an unusual spelling), but I guess what I'm most worried about is Skippy. Yes, Skippy is short for Skipper, and that is his real name. I know that it is a rather silly name, especially given the character, who is extremely stoic.

I know that the actual name isn't really important, but when are you stretching it?

Shady Lane · Jun 28, 2007

I care about names. More than most people, I think.

I read this book where the main character was Mitty, and I couldn't get into it.

On the other hand, okay, I'll mention it again. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The main character's name is Charlie. Perfect, simple, adorable...and altogether nonconfrontational, just like the character.

Robert L.B. · Jun 28, 2007

Names are important, as they usually convey the character's personality or effect on the story, as [Slim] Shady pointed out.

For example, in one of my WIPs, the protagonist is named Doran in a fantasy world. But, his sister is named Nina, and there's a few other "modern" names mixed in in places.

So, name's do matter, but so long as they fit your character, the sky's the limit.

Will Lavender · Jun 28, 2007

I sort of like the name Skipper.

I guess with a name like that his personality would almost have to follow. Couldn't have a Skippy who was, say, overly contemplative. I imagine him being a happy-go-lucky sort, a kind of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.

reenkam · Jun 28, 2007

I think names are really important. If I'm reading a book and think the name of a mc is weird/annoying then I can never really get into the book. Skippy would definitely catch my eye...but I don't know if I'd find it distracting. It depends on the story.

Hapax Legomenon · Jun 28, 2007

Will Lavender said:
I sort of like the name Skipper.

I guess with a name like that his personality would almost have to follow. Couldn't have a Skippy who was, say, overly contemplative. I imagine him being a happy-go-lucky sort, a kind of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo.

Well, then I guess I fail. Skippy is a very unusual 13-year-old boy. He's extremely stoic, nearly mute, and barely does anything besides draw.

Did you read my whole post?

Danger Jane · Jun 28, 2007

In my WIP I more or less took the easy way out, because since it's based in mythology I just did a ton of research and used the names of the actual Harpies and assorted gods and goddesses who make guest appearances. The love interest is named Demetrios, which I wanted to use because it's from Demeter, who was the goddess of like...the earth and the harvest and all, in contrast to the MC who is of the sky. I guess that's mostly for me to enjoy, but I also in my research found a man who was a famous sculptor in Athens in the fourth century BC, and his name was Demetrios. And so I used him. Hopefully he doesn't mind.

As long as I don't really hate the name, it's okay.

Zoombie · Jun 28, 2007

Names are very important. One of the biggest changes from my first copy of E.L.F was I changed Pix's name to Pix.

Big change...mostly cuase, at first, it's full lenght was Pixie...but the second one was Pixel. Big improvment, see. Cause she's a cyborg.

megan_d · Jun 28, 2007

It used to really bug me that the main character of Raymond E. Fiest's Riftwar saga was called Pug. It didn't stop me from enjoying the books, but I always hated the name.

ShapeSphere · Jun 29, 2007

The only problem for me with Skippy is that in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K., it might remind people of an old but popular TV series about a kangaroo. (I hated the program).

Australia was responsible for creating Skippy, but "kindly" sent it to us Brits. Proof that they don't really like us.

But in North America or elsewhere the name might be perfect for what you need.

EDIT: I do attach great importance to names and selection. If you think of Dickens or Mervyn Peake they created something extra special with their marvellous monikers.

Shady Lane · Jun 29, 2007

It's a brand of peanut butter over here.

spacejock2 · Jun 29, 2007

Speaking of Skippy - did you ever get Charlie the Wonder Dog and Shirty the Slightly Aggressive Bear? Both were spoofs by The Late Show (ABC Australia), and very funny.

Inkdaub · Jun 29, 2007

Skippy sounds like something I could get used to.

I read a lot of fantasy books and the names are pretty important. I do not like names that are too barbarian warlord sounding...Gronkor or something like that would bug me. I don't like the main bad guy to be called Lord Evil or anything like that.

I just started reading the Dresden Files books and there is a pub named McAnally's in it. McAnally's? I don't like it.

Fritz Lieber is a great writer but I could never get used to the name 'Fahfrd' or however it's spelled.

LisaHy · Jun 29, 2007

Names are a thing of interest to me, but not vitally important. Like the poster above, I never quite liked Pug in Feist's books, but I got used to it. Similarly, Hyacinth and Jocelyn (spellings may be incorrect) in the Jacqueline Cary 'Kushiel' books - the names themselves are okay, but I'm most certainly not used to seeing them attached to men. They still cause me to giggle or groan whenever I read them, but neither them nor Pug affected my overall like or dislike of the books.

On the other hand, some names are just completely unsuitable. I read a fantasy novel years ago (at least, I began it) where the author had made an elaborate language for his 'civilised' nation and named his characters with tongue twisting constructions completely in tune with his language. I couldn't pronounce them, but okay. Then he brought in a 'savage' race and gave them - no joke- names like Kevin. For that and various other reasons, I quickly put the book down and stepped away calmly.

Cheers, Lisa.

sadron · Jun 29, 2007

I care for names too. My MC's name is Caladran (Sadron). Some of my names for characters have a meaning.

Spiny Norman · Jun 29, 2007

Some days I spend more time thinking about a character's name than I do thinking about the character.

swvaughn · Jun 29, 2007

Inkdaub said:
I just started reading the Dresden Files books and there is a pub named McAnally's in it. McAnally's? I don't like it.

Do you not like the name because it looks like it should read "mick-anal-lees?"

I believe it's supposed to be pronounced "mack-uh-nallies" -- that helped me when I figured it out.

Jamesaritchie · Jun 29, 2007

Names

Assuming you don't do something really silly with the names, then, no, I don't think character names mean much at all. The story makes the name, not the name the story.

I think it's a big mistake when new writers spend so much time on names. The results are usually pretty bad.

Sean D. Schaffer · Jun 29, 2007

Haphazard said:
Snipped...

I know that the actual name isn't really important, but when are you stretching it?

I stretched it with my self-pubbed novel a few years ago. Heavily. The names were virtually impossible to pronounce, both of the countries involved and many of the characters. I mean, when you're naming characters Tarlosia and Gerondik, it's pretty safe to say you're stretching it.

What I've been doing lately is changing the names I used in older stories into shorter versions of them that are much easier to pronounce.

For instance, Tarlosia became Tarsia. I took out two letters and it's already much easier to pronounce.

Another thing I've decided to do is modify real first names and use them as last names in my present WIP. I have a character whose last name is Rahn, which is a modification on my part of the first name 'Ron'.

Your names can be exotic, as I understand it. The problem comes when you have manifold syllables in each name and they're hard to pronounce. It comes to the point with some readers that they'll actually set the book down permanently because they're tired of trying to pronounce the names.

So my suggestion would be, if you want exotic-sounding names, be creative in how you make those names up. Find something with no more than two or possibly three syllables, and make those syllables fairly obvious in their pronunciation.

I hope this helps you out, and good luck to you.

Will Lavender · Jun 29, 2007

Haphazard said:
Well, then I guess I fail. Skippy is a very unusual 13-year-old boy. He's extremely stoic, nearly mute, and barely does anything besides draw.

Did you read my whole post?

I think I got to Skippy and fell into a wormhole.

It could still work, possibly. Irony is interesting.

But I agree with James: names don't usually mean squat to me. I hardly pay attention to them at all as I read, and when I'm writing I just use the first name that comes to mind.

I do think, however, that in science fiction they seem to be more important.

ccarver30 · Jun 29, 2007

Names are SOOOO important to me.
I think giving a stoic character such a silly name (as you put it) is almost, well, destructive... He should have a strong name or a "boring" name that reflects his personality. I dunno. JMHO.

maestrowork · Jun 29, 2007

If you think names are important to your children (or yourself), then yeah, names are important in fiction in that the names affect the characters to some extent. A character growing up with the name Christian is going to have a different perspective than someone with the name Meatloaf.

Spiny Norman · Jun 29, 2007

Names do matter, I think, because you read them so often that they eventually become representative of a character. You can tell in movies when a story or a character hasn't worked because people will refer to them as the actor, or as, say, "Tom Cruise's" character. When it DOES work, they say, "And then when Captain Jack..."

This may not translate into books so much, but names are linked with characters, and as we have no hardcopy image to match them with the name becomes the thing we work with.

I pay close attention to names. Sometimes just a change in pronunciation can throw me. Like, in one book there was an Englishman named "Guillam," which is French, so as I read it my head said, "Gee-yahm," but in the miniseries version all the English actors used an English pronunciation and said, "Gwill-ehm." Then when I went back and read it each time my eyes fell on that name my brain did the brain-equivalent of a double take to change over. It took a while to get used to.

Just to point out how much we associate with names.

mscelina · Jun 29, 2007

I think names are important. I don't go out of my way to create a lexicon of "BRAND NEW NAMES!" but I do think about each character and his/her role in the book when selecting a name for them. As a reader, I can get past an inappropriate name (and Pug is at the top of my list) but as a writer I can't.

Hapax Legomenon · Jun 29, 2007

ccarver30 said:
Names are SOOOO important to me.
I think giving a stoic character such a silly name (as you put it) is almost, well, destructive... He should have a strong name or a "boring" name that reflects his personality. I dunno. JMHO.

Well, granted, this story is somewhat comedic, but it's not as though anybody makes a big fuss over it -- Everybody's either used to it, or in Joshua's case, is like an alien or something so he doesn't really see anything abnormal about the name in the first place.

Do names really have that great of an effect on a story?

my name is hannah

Tao of Wonka

Everything is what it seems.

aka cupcake

Dragon of the Multiverse

Falling in the milk

Hello, Hooray

my name is hannah

wrapped in plastic

It's probably a tumour

Writing Dark Fantasy

adrift

Everything is what it seems.

Nicole Castro

Fear the Death Ray

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you