One of the things I enjoy most with historical fiction is the use of minor characters to flesh out a scene. These are usually people who show up in a single scene never to be heard from again. And yet, for the paragraph or even section of a chapter in which they reside, I believe they are as entitled to the same attention and detail as any of the major characters. After all, somewhere in the vast cosmos of imagination, they are real characters who may be the protagonist of their own book.
One of the challenges can be providing these characters with a name. Now, I suppose many people are comfortable with "third trooper on the right" or "second chorus girl in the front line" but, as a reader, I find it gets rather old. So, I like to try to come up with a first and last name as well as a description.
In the most recent book of my series, I have moved from the United States to Germany for WWI. Consequently, it was a bit more challenging to find names for the minor characters who happened to be German soldiers and townspeople. By doing a search in Internet Explorer, I found several helpful lists: one for surnames and one for first names. I was even able to use a similar search to find a first name and surname for a Sikh colonel.
In the seach line, just type in something along the lines of "German Surnames" or German Firstnames" (or whatever country of origin).
This device might enable you to add a bit of a color to secondary and minor characters as well as avoid unfortunate names that might make a native speaker guffaw. You can also use these lists to add a bit of personality to your characters by assigning a name that might resemble the character's physical attributes or birthplace. For example, a young man from a Bavarian farm might be called Erich Ackermann (farm).
One of the challenges can be providing these characters with a name. Now, I suppose many people are comfortable with "third trooper on the right" or "second chorus girl in the front line" but, as a reader, I find it gets rather old. So, I like to try to come up with a first and last name as well as a description.
In the most recent book of my series, I have moved from the United States to Germany for WWI. Consequently, it was a bit more challenging to find names for the minor characters who happened to be German soldiers and townspeople. By doing a search in Internet Explorer, I found several helpful lists: one for surnames and one for first names. I was even able to use a similar search to find a first name and surname for a Sikh colonel.
In the seach line, just type in something along the lines of "German Surnames" or German Firstnames" (or whatever country of origin).
This device might enable you to add a bit of a color to secondary and minor characters as well as avoid unfortunate names that might make a native speaker guffaw. You can also use these lists to add a bit of personality to your characters by assigning a name that might resemble the character's physical attributes or birthplace. For example, a young man from a Bavarian farm might be called Erich Ackermann (farm).
