By James R. Callan
A Rose by any other name –
-
would still have thorns. What’s in a
name? If it’s the name of one of your
characters, it could be important. The right name can point the reader in the
direction you choose.
Years
ago, I hate to admit, I would pull down an old phone directory, open it at
random, and grab a name. Or maybe I’d
get the first name from one entry and the last name from another. I put no thought into what impression I
wanted to give. Suppose Margaret Mitchell had named her protagonist Jane Smith?
Would we have started with a different mental image than we did when we read
about Scarlett O’Hara?
Consider
the names used by J.K. Rowling in her immensely successful Harry Potter
books. Sirius Black, Ron Wesley,
Griphook, Nymphadora Tonks, Draco Malfoy. She didn’t find those in my telephone book. Nor did they just pop
off her tongue. She obviously put in some time to select just the right name
for the character. Harry Potter? She wanted a rather ordinary name for Harry,
not only as a contrast to the others, but also to match his perception of
himself.
You
can select a name that compliments some characteristic of your character. Ian
Fleming named his antagonist in The
Richest Man in the World Auric Goldfinger. Matt Baron, principal character in Jory
Sherman’s Grass Kingdom has many of
the qualities we associate with a baron.
Donn Taylor’s book Deadly Additive
has a character named Brinkman, who operates on the brink. Was that name an accident? I doubt it.
This
attention to names should also apply to the names of fictitious places.
Sometimes, the name can be a contrast to the character or place. David Balcacci in his book Divine Justice names a town “Divine” to
contrast to the true nature of the place.
If
you are writing historical novels, where do you get good names? Forget the phone book. There may not have been phones then. But, the U.S. Social Security Administration
maintains a website that will give you the most popular names for babies born
in each year since 1879. The URL for the
site is: www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames. It lists the
top 500 names for boys and the top 500 names for girls for each year. You can also elect to get those names by
state.
Another
site, www.babyzone.com/baby-names/ , will give you the meanings and origins of names.
They’ll also provide names by categories, such as “old lady names,” or
“billionaire names.” And there is www.babynames.co.uk if you want a more British name.
If
it seems appropriate for your book, you can simply make up a name. And anything goes. I read only yesterday of a man whose first
name was Dependent. And actress Shannyn
Sossamon’s son was named Audio Science.
Frank Zappa named his daughter Moon Unit. There are no limits.
So,
what will you name your characters? It’s
your choice. All I’m suggesting is that
you give some serious thought to selecting names for your characters and places.
Don’t just grab a name and go with it. Consider what first impression the
reader will get from the name. Consider what feeling throughout the book the
reader will have from the name you chose.
And
remember the advice from Proverbs: “A good name is rather to be chosen than
great riches…”
-
would still have thorns. What’s in a
name? If it’s the name of one of your
characters, it could be important. The right name can point the reader in the
direction you choose.
Years
ago, I hate to admit, I would pull down an old phone directory, open it at
random, and grab a name. Or maybe I’d
get the first name from one entry and the last name from another. I put no thought into what impression I
wanted to give. Suppose Margaret Mitchell had named her protagonist Jane Smith?
Would we have started with a different mental image than we did when we read
about Scarlett O’Hara?
Consider
the names used by J.K. Rowling in her immensely successful Harry Potter
books. Sirius Black, Ron Wesley,
Griphook, Nymphadora Tonks, Draco Malfoy. She didn’t find those in my telephone book. Nor did they just pop
off her tongue. She obviously put in some time to select just the right name
for the character. Harry Potter? She wanted a rather ordinary name for Harry,
not only as a contrast to the others, but also to match his perception of
himself.
You
can select a name that compliments some characteristic of your character. Ian
Fleming named his antagonist in The
Richest Man in the World Auric Goldfinger. Matt Baron, principal character in Jory
Sherman’s Grass Kingdom has many of
the qualities we associate with a baron.
Donn Taylor’s book Deadly Additive
has a character named Brinkman, who operates on the brink. Was that name an accident? I doubt it.
This
attention to names should also apply to the names of fictitious places.
Sometimes, the name can be a contrast to the character or place. David Balcacci in his book Divine Justice names a town “Divine” to
contrast to the true nature of the place.
If
you are writing historical novels, where do you get good names? Forget the phone book. There may not have been phones then. But, the U.S. Social Security Administration
maintains a website that will give you the most popular names for babies born
in each year since 1879. The URL for the
site is: www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames. It lists the
top 500 names for boys and the top 500 names for girls for each year. You can also elect to get those names by
state.
Another
site, www.babyzone.com/baby-names/ , will give you the meanings and origins of names.
They’ll also provide names by categories, such as “old lady names,” or
“billionaire names.” And there is www.babynames.co.uk if you want a more British name.
If
it seems appropriate for your book, you can simply make up a name. And anything goes. I read only yesterday of a man whose first
name was Dependent. And actress Shannyn
Sossamon’s son was named Audio Science.
Frank Zappa named his daughter Moon Unit. There are no limits.
So,
what will you name your characters? It’s
your choice. All I’m suggesting is that
you give some serious thought to selecting names for your characters and places.
Don’t just grab a name and go with it. Consider what first impression the
reader will get from the name. Consider what feeling throughout the book the
reader will have from the name you chose.
And
remember the advice from Proverbs: “A good name is rather to be chosen than
great riches…”
A Ton of Gold
A contemporary mystery / suspense novel
Can long forgotten, old folk
tales affect the lives of people today? In A Ton of Gold, one certainly
affected young, brilliant Crystal Moore.
Two people are killed, others threatened, a house burned and an office
fire-bombed – all because of an old folk tale, greed and ignorance.
On top of that, the man who
nearly destroyed Crystal emotionally is coming back. This time he can put an end to her
career. She’ll need all the help she can
get from a former bull rider, her streetwise housemate and her feisty 76
year-old grandmother.
A
Ton of Gold
By James R. Callan
From Oak Tree Press, 2013
Meet James R. Callan
After a successful career in mathematics and computer
science, receiving grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA, and
being listed in Who’s Who in Computer
Science and Two Thousand Notable
Americans, James R. Callan turned to his first love—writing. He wrote a monthly column for a national
magazine for two years, and published several non-fiction books. He now concentrates on his favorite genre,
mystery/suspense, with his fifth book released in 2013.
Great post and enjoyed reading how you get your names, James!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Caroline. Sure helped when I lost that telephone book.
DeleteJames, Enjoyed the article and I agree on all points.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nike. Glad we agree.
DeleteI agree names are so important to a work. I look through the obits to find the names of older, minor characters in my novels because I want authentic New Orleans names, especially Creole. I also do searches of name meanings to find names for characters. My protag in my novel series and my antagonist in my most recent screenplay both have their mothers' maiden names as their first names, which is common with the upper class in New Orleans.
ReplyDeleteIn my New Orleans works, I stick to real streets and parts of town, mostly because there is so much identifiable about the city. If I visit a real city I've read about in a novel, I'll try to find the landmarks or streets, unless it's too dangerous.
Excellent point, Holli. You want names that are appropriate for the location of your story. Thanks for pointing that out.
DeleteOne of my favorite places for character names is old newspapers. Some of the Christian names have grown out of favor today but often seem appropriate for the characters I write about.
ReplyDeleteAnother good choice - if one has old newspapers. I'm amazed, though, that some of the old Christian names seem to be making a comeback. Maybe it's because they read your stories and like the names. Thanks for the comment, John.
DeleteNice post, Jim, and thank you for the links to baby names. Names are SO important, and the more I think about them, the more intimidated I feel by the subtleties needed for correct selection of same.
ReplyDeleteThe good things is, you are thinking about names. Some writers really do just grad any old name and go with it. Thanks for the comment, Marta.
DeleteI agree that character names must be chosen carefully. When I chose Mallory Petersen for my main heroine, her name pretty much popped into my head. Same with Detective Harry Reznik's. However, I use one source for nearly all of my other character and business names. I read through the list until I find one that sounds good and fits.
ReplyDelete"Sounds good and fits." You've said it right there. I wish the "right" names would pop into my head. I'm jealous. Thanks, Stephen, for the comment.
DeleteNames are important to writers and to people in general. Take mine, for example. Mom chose to name me what was at the time I was born a boy's name, and then she chose to spell it in an odd manner. The problems I had with my name would fill a book. The boys' gym class in junior high, would you believe?
ReplyDeleteI was forced to rename a character in one of my books. I did it, but I still think of that character by his original name.
Know what you mean, Lesley. Not that it happened to me, but I had a friend whose parents gave him a name that gave him lots of problems. And that very thing might be a good ploy in a novel. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteThought provoking. Names do evoke images of the character. For my inspiration Western historical I go to the U.S. Census list for that year and state.
ReplyDeleteFor example, what were common names in Texas in 1885.
Thanks for the information, James, especially the links.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I use a thesaurus to look up a certain quirk or characteristic to see if there's a word that would sound right when used as a name.
(BTW - the body of the post was repeated twice.)
I love this blog, Jim. The name game. Remember the song of that title back in the 1960s? I have a new carpenter working for me, a Ecuadorian whose first name is Edison. I couldn't make that one up. This is still another facet of characterization and,because we need names for places, plotting is part of it. Thanks for this -- and for including those links. I may use this in my classes, giving you credit, of course.
ReplyDelete