How important can character names be? I mean, if an orphan heading to wizard school were named Robert instead of Harry, would it really matter? How about an old miser named William instead of Ebenezer? What would you think of George the White? Not quite as catchy as Gandalf, is it?
Finding the just-right name can be bothersome. Some authors spend hours, days, or even weeks trying to name their characters, both major and minor. Combing through phone books, searching cemeteries, reading old family trees—there are dozens of ways to find names, and any one of them could net you an iconic name that will be talked about for years…or trap you into a name…and a character…that is soon forgotten.
Names to Avoid
Naming your characters is similar to naming your children…very similar. You don’t want your children to be saddled with a name that will cause issues later in life (think of a boy named Sue), nor do you want the same for your characters. Some names are to be avoided…unless you really need that kind of character.
As simple and straightforward as it is, the name John has a lot of baggage dragging along. Men seeking prostitutes are always called John. When nature calls, you want a John. And you’ll find that there aren’t any Johns in the royal line…all because of King John, brother of King Richard the Lionhearted, purportedly the worst king in history. Go ahead and use that name…if that’s who your character is, but use it carefully.
To avoid confusing your readers, some editors recommend that every character have a name that starts with a different letter of the alphabet. That means if you have a Bill, you can’t have a Bob or a Betty. Mike prevents a Mitch or Melissa. A Robert precludes a Richard or a Rebecca. Tom blocks Terry or Teresa. For those of you writing immense tomes or a series, that would mean you can’t have more than 26 characters! We know that’s not true…as many of the walk-ons will never even get a name…but do try to keep the names you use different enough so that your readers don’t get the folks mixed up.
Selecting a Name
Names bring with them much more than the obvious. If your character has the wrong name, he might betray the inbuilt personality of the name. That could ruin the expectations of your readers and disappoint, or worse, annoy them. Many Name The Baby sites list etymologies, histories, and source languages of names. Check them out.
Gender assumptions are important, too. If you have a boy named Sue…or a girl named Bill…you’ll want to establish the non-standard name early on…unless you’re intending some sense of confusion in your reader, planning a surprising reveal later.
Also remember that many names get shortened down to nicknames, either by the author or by the other characters in the story, so make certain those diminutives fit as well.
Generators
As would be expected, the web is full of name generators. We’ve experimented with a few for you.
- Reedsy allows you to pick from various languages sources, historical time periods, several deities, fantasy, and character archetypes (as well as having a lot of interesting articles that may help with writing in general).
- Fantasy Name Generators has a long list of generators based on lots of different books, movies, and games, so if you’re into one of them, you’ll certainly find an appropriate name there.
- Behind the Name lets you pick from a large list of nationalities as well as other sources. They also have an option to create a Life Story…rather interesting if you’re stuck for ideas.
- Be A Better Writer some helpful ideas, then a quick generator that has only one option: gender. After that, you just keep clicking until you see one you like.
- The Story Shack gives you six names at a time, either male or female, but you can flag them as favourites and see them all in a list. They also have waay too many other name generators on all kinds of topics…keep scrolling through the list and see what inspires you. (Lots of adverts, too.)
- Pantomime Pony generates pairs of names with the same last name…siblings or spouses? It also has random plot, writing exercises, blank page, plot twist, character profile, first line, and location generators! If you’re stuck for ideas, here’s the place to go.
- Masterpiece Generator has quite a few options and will even build a profile for you. Plenty of ideas here.
- Name Generator Fun builds a quick list of 10 names and has options for other name categories.
Check out a few of them…if for no other reason than to see the wide expanse of options.
Test Them Out
Once you’ve narrowed the list down to a few potential names, you need to make certain they will work for your story. Also, some names could be pronounced differently, so you want to check to see how others might interpret your choice. What you need to do is take your list…just the bare list…and present it to your Critique Group, your friends, your family (I’ll bet they’re getting tired of all these requests by now), and ask them a series of questions about each name:
- How would you pronounce it?
- Is this character a good guy? or bad?
- What time period, culture, or society do they belong in?
- What kind of house do you see them in?
- Who do you picture in your head?
- What do they do for a living?
- Does this name remind you of anyone?
If your test group has the same impression of the name as you hoped for, then you’ve got it.
BUT, if you still can’t come up with an appropriate name, just stick in a temporary one. You could call them badguy or girlfriend. (Remember to flag those temp names somehow. I use square brackets [], so I won’t miss seeing them…and accidently leave them in.)
Then, later, when the right name comes to you in the middle of the night, you can go back and switch them out. Just be careful—global search and replace may change Fran to Kate, but it will also change San Francisco to San Katecisco!