Naming Fictional Characters
Choosing the Right Name for a Better Story
Sometimes, carefully choosing a character's name can be just as important as plotting the story and charecter development. Not convinced? Read on, then.
If you are writing a story, or novel, and haven't named your characters yet, you should carefully consider the monikers that you bestow upon them. Your name choice could be the difference between your story becoming popular with readers, and your story never even finding an audience. And it should be said that I am not only talking about first names, as surnames can be just as important.
Still not convinced our the importance of naming your characters? Consider these:
Call me Ishmael.- I daresay Moby Dick wouldn't be the same without Ishmael.
Hannibal Lecter- This name is instantly creepy and recallable.
Annabelle Lee- Poe used this name to help us picture his lost love, a young lady, innocent in death.
Firstly, a characters name can influence the way your readers perceive that character. Unless you are writing about a serial killer, naming your character Jeff Dauhmer maybe be a little too creepy for most. And you wouldn't want your reader to see your hero as a sadistic killer, would you? Likewise, too saintly of a name (John Paul II) can leave your readers with a bad taste in their mouths if your character turns out to be less than Godly (unless that was your intention).
A character's name alone can give information to time and place as well. If your character is a working-class Irishman, you wouldn't name him Sergei or Juan, now would you? If your heroine is a middle-aged man in the process of becoming a woman, he might choose a typical, old fashioned name like Rose or Betty.
In my short story, Still Life Paintings I chose the name Sari to show that my main character has an ethnic background. Additionally, I gave her an Indian Surname and a middle name that leans toward Shakesperian. I wanted to portray her mixed heritage with this name.
Inerestingly enough, you may use your name choices as additional clues for the reader, or to pay homage to another person entirely. In one of my creepy-psycho stories, I gave a character the name Mother Edgar, a silent nod to Poe, who wrote the kind of twisted stories that I associate with people like Mother Edgar.
I have named a dark-haired perky brunette Maryanne, to remind the reader of Maryanne from Gilligan's Island, so that when faced with her dark side, the reader is thrown off abruptly, after having thought of her as naive and sweet.
To have a believeable character, you must have a believeable name for that character. It is the foundation for who the character is, and can influence the reader far more than some writer's realize. And plus, what is better fun than layering your stories with subtext and later having a reader pick up on it?
For ideas regarding naming your fictional characters, try the phone book, or any of the baby naming sites on the internet. For historical or foriegn names, you can find a weath of informtation online as well, in the form of registers, public records and survey materials. So whatt are you waiting for? Go on and find that perfect name for your character!
