It takes me a really long time to name my characters. I have to write them down on a list. Then I categorize the list by type of character; main, secondary or villain. Then I break that down by how much I like the name. I never want to use a name I love, love, love for a secondary character because I might want to use that for a main character in another story. Also I am incredibly picky about names. It took me forever to decide on my kids names. I debated and debated.
I find girls names to be the hardest. There are so many I don’t like. I love different names and always have. If I name a girl character a common name you can almost guarantee I am not fond of the character and she’s bad or she will be.
I have to think seriously about the character and their part in the story. The name has to fit who they are and what they are in the story to accomplish. This is not an easy task.
Even last names give me trouble. I ponder and consider. What do they do for a living? Where are they from? Does that name fit their personality? Their family personality? What nationality are they? I have notebooks filled with information on my characters. Even the really seemingly insignificant characters have a history.
I tend to overthink things. But then again how can I write about someone I don’t know?
Naming a character is my favourite part! I like to trawl through baby name websites before I choose, often it just fits the character and sounds right, but sometimes the meaning behind the name fits as well.
🙂
I love naming them but I do take a long time. I definitely do the baby name website too. I write a lot of southern characters so I look for southern names. It is one of the best thing about writing! =)
I have written some thoughts on naming characters in 4 blogs found here, under the “Characterization” category:
http://www.theotherworlds.net/category/writing-craft/character/
Hope they will be of some service.
KC Herbel recently posted..The Origins of “Window”
I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to think of a good name for a female character I’m writing for days.
I don’t have a good system. I’ve tried using the naming tool in Scrivener and that gives me some very amusing results, but nothing really worth using.
I think it’s just a matter of working at it until something really stands out as the one true name.
I would try looking up names by nationality or by meaning. If your character has a particular character trait that stands out maybe look up names that mean that or something close to that. =)
I love the naming process and spend a lot of time choosing the perfect ones. For instance, the names of the brother and sister in my WIP are their grandmothers’ surnames. No one will ever know that tidbit while reading the book, but it’s something I know about my characters.
I also look for names that fit the character. Such as biblical names, name origins (country), and meanings. For surnames I use a phone book then look up the name’s origination. It can be time consuming but helps me get to know my characters.
Missy Frye recently posted..Author Spotlight: Kellie Elmore