Favorite Names for characters

unfabulousxox · Jul 30, 2006

What are some of your favorite Names for characters.

It could be just a single name, a first and last, a first and middle or a first, middle and last.

For Females Mine are:
Laura
Lauren
Olivia
Leila
Bailey
Wendy
Angeline
Grace
Marcey
Macey

Males:
Lanny
James
Nick
Chris
Kyle
Jordan
Devon

poetinahat · Jul 31, 2006

From the Lovejoy novels, I like Lovejoy's sidekick -- Tinker Dill. Dickens was great for names too: Uriah Heep and Mr. Micawber are two favorites.

Buck Mulligan, from Ulysses, is a good one too. Not bizarre, but just lands squarely for the character.

NightWynde · Jul 31, 2006

I always like it when I can come up with a name that's a bad pun (even if I'm the only one that gets the "joke") for some reason. I don't know why, but that's just the way it is.

For example I've had:

A werewolf named "Jack" (Wolfman Jack)

A psychic named "Crystal" (She was the only one who could see things "clearly")

A cursed villain with the last name "Blessed"

A poverty stricken fellow with the last name "Bredeaux" (bread, dough, get it? Oh never mind...I told you they were bad)

Serenity · Jul 31, 2006

poetinahat said:
Dickens was great for names too: Uriah Heep...

Ok, I saw this and my first thought was 'why would poet be naming a 70's rock band? Then the 'duh' moment hit.

Most of the books I read are fantasy oriented, so different names are pretty much par for the course. But when I write and create characters, their name gives the character meaning.

For an example, one of my characters is named 'Leila', which means 'dark as night'. She has a past that she keeps hidden from just about everyone around her.

Saundra Julian · Jul 31, 2006

I hate to read a book where the all characters have outlandish names.
Come on...what ever happened to real names like Tom, Dick and Harry? Mary, Alice, Carol or Joann?

Seems they have all died out and we must now endure...Lance, Latisha, Justin, Morgan, and Devon! :e2faint:

ChaosTitan · Jul 31, 2006

I've noticed that it's also important to make sure your names fit with the age of the person, or the time period they lived in. The Social Security Registry (I think) has a list of popular names for each year going back decades.

I wouldn't name an eighty-year old grandmother Angelina, just like I wouldn't name a twenty-year old college student Dorothy. Popular girl's names in 1986 were very different from names in 1926.

I like unusual names in novels. My first impression of a character is usually their name, and if it strikes me, I tend to like the character faster. A novel full of Joe's, Frank's, Mary's and Beth's tends to get tedious, and it makes me wonder if the author has any imagination.

Mix it up. I'll pull Desperation off the shelf just for a quick example. King has Mary, Peter, David, and Steve alongside Collie, Cynthia, and Audrey.

FloVoyager · Jul 31, 2006

I try to make my character names fit the characters. Don't really have favorites. I do try to make them easy to pronounce, even if they aren't common names.

zeprosnepsid · Jul 31, 2006

C. K. Dexter Haven...

kbax · Jul 31, 2006

I've noticed that it's also important to make sure your names fit with the age of the person, or the time period they lived in. The Social Security Registry (I think) has a list of popular names for each year going back decades.

Also, there's this. Type the name in at the top, and it'll give you a timeline of the name's popularity, as well as those of similar names.

BEWARE: This is addicting, and a ridiculously good timewaster.

unfabulousxox · Jul 31, 2006

Also with Naming I try to stay away from Soap opera character names, I hate soap operas because they seem so cheesy to me as well as the names so thats one thing I look for in names, I like to be creative though.

maestrowork · Jul 31, 2006

Jack, Chris, Ellie, Brian, Crystal, Jenny, etc.

RedWombat · Jul 31, 2006

The protagonist of the manuscipt currently wandering around to publishers is named Nurkus Aurelius Alonzo Electron Maximilien Shrew--but you can call him Nurk.

But it's children's fantasy and funny, so that probably has some bearing on it.

In my art, when I write the amusing/weird/nonsensical little captions, I have found that practically everyone in my world is named either Bob, Ed, or Snoggle. When I am forced to diverge from these names, you wind up with small turtles named "Balthazar" or "Elwood" and other horrors.

scribbler1382 · Jul 31, 2006

I'm doing something a little different with the names in my current WIP, but in the past some of my favorites were:

Jack, Tom, Ben, Ray, Leanna, Kim, Frank, Sam, Dan, Kerry, etc...pretty run-of-the-mill names, several of which I've reused over and over. It was pretty much when I recognized that I was reusing the same names over and over without being cognizant of it that I decided I wanted to try something different.

laurel29 · Jul 31, 2006

Jack and Samuel are two of my favorites (they're the names of my sons) I always think I see more characters in books and TV shows that are named Sam than actual people though. Jenna, Anna, Lily, Rebecca, Silvia, Paul, Michael (I always think Mike is a bad guy), Aiden, I could go on forever. . . I love names. It is so much fun to name a character.

I find myself looking for names that have a specific meaning more often than not. In the book I'm working on I need to rename the main character but I haven't found her perfect name yet. It is very disconcerting, knowing her so well, yet missing that vital piece of information. Her name used to be Jenna but she looks too much like another character (in a published book) who is also named Jenna. This was all brought to my attention by my ten year old son. He finished reading a book and told me the MC had the same name and physical description. (violet eyes) Though the characters themselves aren't similar I decided it was best to alter her name and parts of the description that weren't too important. It was a real bummer. Anyone have a good name that has to do with either light or music? It has to go with the last name Morgan.

ChaosTitan · Jul 31, 2006

Does anyone avoid using certain names?

I don't think I could ever name a character Kelly. Why? That's my name. It would feel too strange to have a character with my own name. I also don't think I could use the names of a few people in my life (parents or sister) without the same sense of weirdness.

I named a character in my trunk novel years and years ago. Now my very best friend has her name. It's weird, and sometimes I feel the need to change it. But I won't. Because the character came first. I just don't think I could consciously name another character after her.

colpo di fulmine · Jul 31, 2006

joey
jacob
ryan

sara
beth
samantha

colpo di fulmine · Jul 31, 2006

should I of said luigi, big al, & carmella?

Anonymisty · Jul 31, 2006

I usually just know what my characters' names are before I ever get to telling the story. Is that weird?

Somnilocus · Jul 31, 2006

I don't think I could ever name a character Kelly. Why? That's my name. It would feel too strange to have a character with my own name. I also don't think I could use the names of a few people in my life (parents or sister) without the same sense of weirdness.

Yeah, I agree. I would never name my character "Carys" for the same reason. However, I found an old baby name book that my mom had scribbled on with some possible names for me before I was born... because one of the main characters is, in essence, me, I decided to use the first middle name she considered for me. I also wouldn't use close family/friends' names for the same reason. I refuse to use names that have been used in popular literary works... "Harry" for example.

I love the names that J.K. Rowling uses.

My favourite names:

Female:

Abigail/Abby
Renee
Tara
Lydia
Alessa
Dahlia

Male:

Dallin
Jherek
Tobias/Tobby/Tobin
Finnegan
Dante
Bobby
Edwin
Ephraim

WerenCole · Jul 31, 2006

I have a family of Cole's. . . the one I use most is Carter. . . I just like the way it rolls off the tongue, Carter Cole. (Weren is his irrascible uncle. . . and my alter ego)

Sometimes I will think of friends who I grew up with and use their last names. Other times I will pick up one of my favorite series (The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan) which has tons of names and grab a few that I end up using as last names to give a character some flavor. . .

Naming my characters is always fun. . . though it can get a little tedious. Sometimes I will use the name of a particularily likeable character in a book I am reading. . . for instance the protagonist of my novel is Jake Weir (I was reading Stephen King's Dark Tower stuff) the last name is taken from the Grateful Dead guitarist Bobby Weir. (Strangely enough, I named his brother Jonathan. . . there turns out to be a US figure skater named Jonathan Weir)

Oh well. . .

LeeFlower · Jul 31, 2006

For fantasy, I try to stick to stuff that's easy to pronounce and free of fantasy-name Ztu'upideh-Tee. For scifi, I tend to go with names that are outmoded, because things that are trendy now aren't going to be trendy forever, and names, like everything else, move in cycles. I dig into old records from the renaissance and enlightenment eras... they're goldmines, if you can find them.

unfabulousxox · Jul 31, 2006

laurel29 said:
. . . I love names. It is so much fun to name a character.

I'm the same way, I make lists sometimes of possible character names and name combinations which is useless because I just end up coming up with another possible name, but I still like to make the lists just in case I decide to use them and because its fun, I love names

.

unfabulousxox · Jul 31, 2006

chaostitan said:
Does anyone avoid using certain names?

I don't think I could ever name a character Kelly. Why? That's my name. It would feel too strange to have a character with my own name. I also don't think I could use the names of a few people in my life (parents or sister) without the same sense of weirdness.

Yea, it would be too weird. Like you have a love interest with the same name as your brother, that's just weird. I don't use my name either, it would be like talking to myself, if that makes sense.

kristie911 · Jul 31, 2006

I always struggle with last names, so I normally end up picking up the phone book and flipping through it until I find something I like.

First names are never a problem...my characters just seem to come with them, it's never been a problem. Fortunately, they usually have pretty normal run-of-the-mill names like Sarah, Megan, Jack, Steve, David. But I occasionally like to check out on-line baby name sites for new ideas. Probably my favorite names are Gaelic and Irish names...though they don't always work for my characters. But my favorite name is Garrick...and I finally have a character that it works for! Now if I could just figure out his story...

Deenabythesea · Aug 1, 2006

I am addicted to names. My characters name can change as the character develops and I find out who they really are. For example in my new book THE LAST BOY, one of my main characters (a 16yr old girl) was named Samantha aka Sam, well as her character developed she was no Sam, and the name Taryn came to mind. That was it she was Taryn. Same with my first book, I had a character named Creg, as he developed he became Jonah a much more suited name for him.

I have used the name Adam in both my books,not intentionally, like I said I find the character tells me their name as they go along.

In my third book my main character was named Theresa until I had a dream about the title Colors of Mavi, Now her name is Mavi (like maw-Vee) I actually know a girl with this name and had NO intentions of ever using her name, but my character had other plans.
names I like right now for my new book
Liah (after my friend's daughter spelt the same way)
Kai ( after my youngest son's middle name)
Lonnie
Malcolm Gobbo (just love this name for my evil guy)
John
Amanda
Serena
Taryn
Raquel
Adam
Ben
Malik

Favorite Names for characters

unfabulousxox

poetinahat

Numbers are beautiful

NightWynde

Serenity

NCIS...

Saundra Julian

A work in progress

ChaosTitan

Around

FloVoyager

Will write for chocolate

zeprosnepsid

kbax

Refrigerate After Opening

unfabulousxox

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

RedWombat

Runs With Scissors

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

laurel29

has a lopsided smile.

ChaosTitan

Around

colpo di fulmine

colpo di fulmine

Anonymisty

Somnilocus

WerenCole

Funny what? Do I amuse you?

LeeFlower

Lurker Extraordinaire

unfabulousxox

unfabulousxox

kristie911

Happy to be here

Deenabythesea