Name your characters

[Voboy]

That would be my assumption encountering a Kali in a story. It was a creative spelling of Callie or something similar.

My mind certainly wouldn't go to, "OMG, how dare you name a character after a Hindu deity."

This. I'd have the same exact reaction.

The whole naming issue is one where writers lose a lot of sleep over things readers don't really care about.

This reader does, though. I'm trying to understand where he's coming from; I find it intriguing. I know my own "name hangups" as a writer and a reader, and they're not the same as the OP's. Nor would it ever occur to me that a writer should cater to them, unless I was commissioning the story!

 

[Voboy]

No.

Giving them prosaic names conveys to the reader that they're prosaic, salt-of-the-earth type characters. And it makes them relatable. Part of the charm of the story is that it includes "regular people" types in the narrative and isn't 100% about exceptional individuals or exotic species of humanoids.

I mean, I don't disagree... but "making him relatable" was not why Tolkien called him Sam. Samwise is a gloss for something in Middle English, if I recall correctly; it's been awhile since I read HoME. I'll check and come back.

ETA: Old English, not Middle. Samwis apparently means "half-smart" or "kinda dumb." Tolkien meant to imply that Sam's gifts as a Hobbit do not include scholarly intellect (unlike Bilbo), self-sacrifice (unlike Frodo), or cunning intelligence (unlike Merry). He was meant to be... well, sorta what he is: steady, loyal, but not altogether bright.

I left Pippin out because I never would have sent him with the group. I've never seen much good he did, other than the whole Faramir Thing. And he was only there because he was such a colossal fuckup.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

This. I'd have the same exact reaction.



This reader does, though. I'm trying to understand where he's coming from; I find it intriguing. I know my own "name hangups" as a writer and a reader, and they're not the same as the OP's. Nor would it ever occur to me that a writer should cater to them, unless I was commissioning the story!

But as a writer you are a non-typical reader. When people are engaged in media in some manner they view it differently as a spectator.
A choreographer, or a dancer watching a musical sees things differently than a normal person.
Musicians hear music differently than normal people.
Writers approach reading from a different perspective than non-writers.

We ask ourselves these questions about names, dialogue and so forth, so when we read we are curious as to how others answered those questions. It isn't as important to normal readers.

 

[Britva415]

"making him relatable" was not why Tolkien called him Sam. Samwise is a gloss for something in Middle English

The two things can both be true. I'm completely convinced that calling him "Sam" was deliberate in a lot of different ways. It's probably why "Samwise" was chosen in the first place.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

The two things can both be true. I'm completely convinced that calling him "Sam" was deliberate in a lot of different ways. It's probably why "Samwise" was chosen in the first place.

Everything Tolkien did was deliberate in a lot of different ways. That's why he's the OG.

 

[Voboy]

The two things can both be true. I'm completely convinced that calling him "Sam" was deliberate in a lot of different ways. It's probably why "Samwise" was chosen in the first place.

I added some stuff. The implication was that Sam isn't very bright.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

With my characters, I'll sometimes consult databases as to the year they were born relative to when the story takes places.

I've seen relatively new stories in which teenagers/young adults year olds are given "older people" names like Randy, Dennis, Donna, Tammy, Barbara, etc. and that just completely takes me out of the story. So I try to a conscious effort to avoid things like that.

I have the opposite problem: characters with names that sound like they should be small children (even if now they're probably 18-20 in America). I actually have a character remark at one point, "Jayden? Are you *sure* anyone called Jayden is actually old enough to fuck?"

Random words or surnames as names take me out of the story, especially when it's unclear which ones are male and female (when that's relevant to the story!) I recall one with names like Gray, Chance, Topaz and Riley, and it got very confusing because I couldn't remember which two were girls even after the author finally made it clear.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I have the opposite problem: characters with names that sound like they should be small children (even if now they're probably 18-20 in America). I actually have a character remark at one point, "Jayden? Are you *sure* anyone called Jayden is actually old enough to fuck?"

Random words or surnames as names take me out of the story, especially when it's unclear which ones are male and female (when that's relevant to the story!) I recall one with names like Gray, Chance, Topaz and Riley, and it got very confusing because I couldn't remember which two were girls even after the author finally made it clear.

I agree, I avoid gender neutral names. It just adds an unnecessary risk of confusion.

 

[Cali_Love]

Whatever the case, pick names and stick with them. It’s so obvious when an attempt is made to change them later and it gets botched.

Be fun with it. Like my character Sandy who is a sand castle artist. Doh!

Or make the name terrible. Shorten it with a nickname that makes it worse. Better if the character doesn’t like it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

People are called Kali, some named for the goddess, others just from putting random syllables together, some from changing Carly to a different phonetic spelling.

This. It's not a particularly common name in the USA but it's not exactly exotic; in recent years there have been about 600 girls named Kali (or variants like Kalia) per million born in the USA, about one in 1500.

It's vastly more common than "Bart" (never higher than about 220/million, about 20/million by the time "The Simpsons" launched).

https://engaging-data.com/baby-name-visualizer/

Everyone's got names they dislike, but a woman called Kali wouldn't seem any more odd than a man named Jesus, for example.

Or for that matter Joshua, John, Adam, Elizabeth, Sarah, ...

English (and many other European languages) have imported a ton of Hebrew-based names because of their Biblical importance. In a secondary fantasy world that doesn't have Christianity or something equivalent, there's no linguistic reason why such names would be common in a faux-European culture.

But somehow people seem to be able to cope with names like "Jon Snow".

 

[MetaBob]

So ... how do you folks name your characters? For my own fantasy stuff, I just sort of pick syllables that sound namelike together in a fake Indo-European language I'm assuming my European-like characters speak, being careful not to use anything I recognize as a real name.

A male blues name generator (also works for some female jazz singers) in Backus-Naur Form:

<male_blues_name> ::= <opt_adjective> <opt_first_name> <opt_middle_name> <opt_last_name>
<opt_adjective> ::= <physical characteristic, usually size or infirmity> | <meat> | <childhood activity> | <childhood home> | <relationship to family> | <instrument played> | <musical style>
<opt_first_name> ::= <Robert (or diminutive)> | <Joe> | <John (or diminutive)> | <Albert> | <other diminutive, usually of William> | <wimpy first name> | <Buddy> | <initials> | <opt_adjective>
<opt_middle_name> ::= <Lee> | <Ray> | <Willie> | "<opt_adjective>"
<opt_last_name> ::= <strong last name> | <goofy last name> | <playful derivative of last name> | <made-up substitute for wimpy last name> | <ripped-off stage name> | <opt_honorific><opt_first_name> | <middle name>

Examples:

Big Joe Turner, Little Walter, Big Bill Broonzy, T-Bone Walker, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Kid Bailey, Skip James, Elmore James, B. B. King, Z. Z. Hill, Lead Belly, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, John Littlejohn, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson (number two), Pinetop Smith, Charlie Musselwhite, Charlie Patton, Jeff Healey, John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, Robert Johnson

Note that BNF is too geeky to have the blues.

And that Jeff Healey was Canadian.

The blues is existential, but only when unaware of this.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The blues is existential, but only when unaware of this.

Brilliant!

 

[Writer61]

Good question.

I started naming mine alphabetically.

At some point I began to use images of real people as inspiration (I find it easier to describe someone if I have a picture in my head) and I sometimes borrow their names too. Their character and behaviour is quite another matter.

A few names, including places, are jokey references.

My only 'rule' is to avoid repeating a name in my stories, even when I don't expect the characters to ever cross paths. I accidentally broke this once and it drives me nuts as it messes with my mental image thing. It's why I found a way to put the secondary character, who shares a first name with one of my leads, in jail!

Now I have a spreadsheet with all the names I have used in my stories to avoid this.

Although I don't routinely use them most of my main characters, and a few secondary ones, have a family name too. Somehow it helps me 'place' them.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

For me it's relatively simple - I collect names and words all the time.

I (hopefully) avoid the cultural sensitivity pitfall by sticking to cultures I am familiar with.
I also love doing little inside jokes, combinations that sound funny to me because of how they sound in my language, or what they secretly forshadow about the characters and the role in their story.

All of that is made possible because most of my stories, unless they are "high fantasy"*, take place in a specific setting, not our world but very close to it. I do a LOT of implicit world building (like in this story, where I imply a Southern hemisphere nation like Australia or New Zealand which has huge WWII style bunkers and EU-like agricultural policies).

*Though I also really enjoy giving fantasy folks completely mundane suburban names. Usually prefer that to coming up with new languages, actually.

One BIG story I am working on though uses the output of a language creation tool.
The main character is a girl called Simzawii Skullbreaker, bastardized to "Sam".

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

It's probably Kelly -> Kallie -> Kali, not unlike Carrie -> Kari -> Kerri, or Cayla -> Kayla -> Kyla -> Kylie. No big whoop. (shrug)

While I often check the most popular names by decade based on the character's age and story timeframe, that's how I ended up with a Callie as a "sassy" supporting character in one of my stories. A couple of minor tweaks to her major characteristic and I had the name. A few readers have asked for another story with her as the lead, but if that's ever going to happen, it's going to take a special mood and a tight plotline to write it and do her justice.

I also have a Character file with the names, the stories in which they appear, and any special characteristics that helps me keep from repeating names. This was after using Barry Pierce in one story and Brian Pierce in another. Yeah, it was planned, they're, uh, cousins.

 

[Tomh1966]

I get a kick out of all the June and Ellen characters born ca 1980 in modern stories. IE names rarely used by the time of birth of the character.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Oh! One other trick with naming. If you want to have a wealthy character (especially one of the more nouveau riche type), when using a "baby name 19XX" lookup, move forward 5-10 years. Names tend to move downwards in social strata over time, so names that are popular among the general population were likely popular among the wealthy before that.