I'm not going to title this "What's in a name?"

[Agiel]

Yeah, it was Starship Troopers.

In the 1970’s there was an English dance group who were regulars on tv. They danced very suggestive routines, particularly for the time, and one of the dancers was Sarah Brightman. They were an act who sent an enjoyable tingle through many men. Including me at 30.

They recorded I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper with Brightman on vocals. After she left she took a dramatic change of direction in her career. Dueted with, among others, Andrea Bocelli and originated the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera. Married Andrew Lloyd Webber which didn’t do her career any harm.

 

[Maxiine]

I have fun with naming characters.

Many are based on nicknames I have for my friends and family. Culturally based names are often foods (a mafia story with Frank Calzone and the Stromboli brothers). I have written a story where every proper name began with the letter "A" (Abby Adams who was getting an Associate of Arts at Abernathy was enjoying Adam Andrews in her a...). And in one I/T story, Darrill, the FMC had lots of brothers, cousins (not all of whom were male), and a sister. There was Darrel, and Darel, Darrul, Darrell, Darril, Daryll, Darryl, Daril, Darryll, Daryyl, Darriill, and two Daryls.

"First Bruce: Is your name not Bruce?

Michael: No, it's Michael.

Second Bruce: That's going to cause a little confusion.

Third Bruce: Mind if we call you 'Bruce' to keep it clear?"

--Monty Python E22

 

[RowanWrites]

I spend way too much time on names. Researching history, meaning. All my names have some thought behind them. It's a monstrous waste of time, because nobody cares, but it's part of the fun for me.

 

[Duleigh]

When I name characters, I try to make the names simple but distinctly different so the readers can keep them separated in their minds. I usually have an Asian or Latino in the story because I loved living in Asia, and I love my Hispanic children, friends, and hot ex-girlfriend. I do have a bit of an issue finding appropriate names when naming my Asian characters because you really can't trust baby name lists when dealing with the real world. I will reach out to a Vietnamese friend and ask them "If you had a son, would you name him Huy?" (A common Vietnamese name) and often I get the answer "What's wrong with Tom or Dave?"

When doing fantasy, I have a RIOT making up names. The queen of the warrior bunnies was named Mary Atchi, so I made up names for her daughters based on well-known Mariachi songs. The all-time favorite song done by mariachi bands is Guantanamera (which Michael Nesmith called "One Ton Tomato") became the great warrior Hahn Tahn Amaya (For rescuing 73 prisoners she was awarded with two bucks!!! (it's definitely not what you think)) Her sister was Leah Cookie Rocha (La Cuckaroacha) With the elves I just go crazy, the males have simple names like Dayv Jownz, the females are named like Lolah Klaatu Ando Sivan. I will have a family with names that are very similar to each other, (Lolah, Lelu, Layla) and our protagonist will ask "Isn't that confusing?" and the answer will be "No, not in the least, why do you ask?"

 

[AloneTooLong]

I will give you some actual/real names of some of my (deceased) husband's relatives: Atha, Maudeen, Kyra, Milo, Myla, Athene, Emory, Blevins, His family seemed to enjoy naming kids 'unusual' names.

 

[shakna]

Well, my two most popular characters' names are Toofy and Bubbles. And they're from a world where names are specifically chosen and mean a lot more than they do round these parts, so that's a lil bit different.

But for more slightly less fantasy world things, I choose names on a perception of attractiveness. There are a lot of names out there that carry a lot of weight. "Karen" ain't going to make people leap to the concept of cute and demure.

I also try hard not to let any of my characters from differing stories share names. I fail, sometimes, but I try. So if you can remember my name and a character's name, a search will only bring you to the one place.

 

[tenyari]

I usually pick names for their meaning if it's a major character, followed by the mood the name evokes when I hear it in my head.

I pull out name websites for various nationalities when I do it, to give my characters a wide spectrum of options.

My current protagonists, Silverio Soto and Ángelita Primera...

Silvario's name more or less means he's a lord of the forest. His first though on seeing Ángelita, who's a "little green alien" was that she looked like an angel, and she was on the 'First Contact' of the aliens in my little sci-fi story, thus the surname.

In another story, 'super hero genre' as a rewrite of my old abandoned story, and was meant to be my 'next' before I got sidetracked, I have a main protagonist named Adaora - which is Nigerian for daughter of the people, and her adopted sister Mariposa, Spanish for butterfly.
- These names are chosen for the nature of the first's powers / role in the lore of the setting, and a personality quirk of the other. The surname for them is still being worked out, as my original choice was a bit stereotyped to indicate that Mariposa was Native American.
In this case, once the plot hits a 'point of clarity' I will back fill surnames in an edit.

 

[Maxiine]

"Dad, where do we get our names?"

"Well, son, traditionally the mother of a newborn chooses something memorable that occurs just after the child's birth."

"Why is that, father?"

"It is said to be an omen from the gods."

"Oh..."

"Why do you ask, Two Dogs Fucking?"

 

[MetaBob]

I should not be on here when I'm tired. What I meant to say was: Like when Homer and Marge Simpson decided to name their son Bart, so he wouldn't get teased in school, because they couldn't think of anything rude that rhymed with that!

No, no. Matt Groening named Homer and Marge (née Wiggum) after his parents and Lisa and Maggie after his younger sisters. He changed his avatar's name from Matt to Bart for the show. He also had an older sister named Patty.

FWIW, I try to not use surnames, though sometimes they just come out. I also try not to use two characters with given names that start with the same letter. And I try to limit the number of characters in my stories, because as soon as you name one, they then have a story to tell, that has to be told, and your story becomes that much longer. Exponentially, unless you keep a tight rein.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

With longer stories, if I don't give 'em surnames I limit the range of interactions between characters other than very close associates.

I think I'm going to rename the Hopkins character "Schwarzenegger." It's distinctive enough to be memorable without having any well-known associations.

Yeah, kind of like when Homer and Marge Simpson decided to name their son Bart, knowing he wouldn't get teased at school, because they couldn't think of anything rude that rhymed with that!

 

[PennameWombat]

No, no. Matt Groening named Homer and Marge (née Wiggum) after his parents and Lisa and Maggie after his younger sisters. He changed his avatar's name from Matt to Bart for the show. He also had an older sister named Patty.

FWIW, I try to not use surnames, though sometimes they just come out. I also try not to use two characters with given names that start with the same letter. And I try to limit the number of characters in my stories, because as soon as you name one, they then have a story to tell, that has to be told, and your story becomes that much longer. Exponentially, unless you keep a tight rein.

Um, Marge’s maiden name was Bouvier, not Wiggum. Many of the other names in the Simpsons came from streets and other landmarks in Portland, OR. Such as Burnside (dividing line between North and South Portland, the Willamette divides East and West), Kearny, Lovejoy, Quimby and Flanders (in the Alphabet District, aka Slabtown and Pearl), van Houton (near Univ. of Portland), Terwilliger (winding road in Northwest and Southwest Portland). Groening grew up in Portland on Evergreen Terrace… Might be others, those are off the top of my head.

I have a 16,000 word story here that used no names. None. And, that story has an FMF three-way so it was an interesting writing exercise.

I generally have surnames for my characters but only use them when the flow of the story would entail their use. Two characters who know each other won’t say “so, Bob Jones, whaddya think?” Unless, well, it’s an odd conceit for that character.

Otherwise, for most stories I assign and assume no meaning for names. They’re tags. Same with when I read. Names having Meaning just doesn’t compute for me. I look for names appropriate to the cultural and societal backgrounds of the characters but otherwise use whatever sounds right and doesn’t seem like it will get in the way of a reader’s enjoyment.

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

In a lot of my work, characters are based on real people I’ve known, or are composites of several people. And our names do contribute to shaping our life experiences. Growing up in the same place at the same time, with similar socioeconomic backgrounds, two white girls named “Jane Margaret Smith” and “Sunshine Waterlily Smith” are going to have some very different experiences of the world. I grew up and went to school with a lot of kids with pretty standard Anglo surnames, and copped shit for my longer and more unwieldy “ethnic” surname.

So for me, when I write, names do matter, and I can’t fully conceptualize a character until I find a name that fits their personality and backstory.

 

[MetaBob]

No, no. Matt Groening named Homer and Marge (née Wiggum) after his parents and Lisa and Maggie after his younger sisters. He changed his avatar's name from Matt to Bart for the show. He also had an older sister named Patty.

Um, Marge’s maiden name was Bouvier, not Wiggum.

Um, Marge Groening's maiden name was Wiggum.

 

[tenyari]

And I try to limit the number of characters in my stories, because as soon as you name one, they then have a story to tell, that has to be told, and your story becomes that much longer. Exponentially, unless you keep a tight rein.

THIS

Is such a point of annoyance for me with a lot of many-chapter long 'genre fiction' stories. Those stories where the main character collects a cast of people they have sex with that somehow allows them to be 'amazing'...

These things always end up with casts of hundreds of characters that are amazingly forgettable - who's only purpose is to show how the main character is so amazing at sex and/or building a new 'post-prepper-era' society.

Even in great stories, it starts to bog down.

I'm having a major crisis in my own current in-work right now because my current plan has my main character in a 3-couple polyamorous relationship and showing the story of 6 people means diluting some of them. When I also have some relatives and their relationships - I see my cast spinning out of control and have been going through it looking for people to crop out.

I'm also reading a 'magic in the modern world' story that has a set of people living in a secret place and as magical people keep joining them, the cast is getting into the dozens and I've had multiple moments where I have to stop and scan to remember whoever that last character was...

 

[EarlyMorningLight]

Okay, what about pet names? I just called a character’s cat “Raymond Purr” — too much?

 

[shakna]

Okay, what about pet names? I just called a character’s cat “Raymond Purr” — too much?

I have a catgirl called "Bubbles", whose nickname is "Kitten". There is no such thing as too much.

 

[MetaBob]

I have a catgirl called "Bubbles", whose nickname is "Kitten". There is no such thing as too much.

I had one of my characters nickname another "kitten" in my about-to-be-published second novel, because:

[blockquote]“Aw, poor baby, you’re terrified! You’re like a little kitten that’s been taken away from his mother!"[/blockquote]

The nickname stuck.