The Naming of Characters

[BobbyBrandt]

As my social circle IRL has become increasingly aware of my writing, through book clubs, signings, and other local author events, I am getting more requests for the characters in my stories to be named after someone that I know.

Recently, a woman volunteer in the same child advocacy group that I belong to, said that she wanted to be a character in one of my stories, "As long as I get to have lots of sex. Lots and lots of sex!"

For the first time, I find myself using placeholders for certain characters as I write them, trying to decide which person that I know gets the final billing.

 

[SkyBubble]

in my alien abduction story The White Room Revisited, i needed a name for a bodiless entity that had entered the body of a young human woman, sharing both mind and body.

The being wanted to learn what it was like to be human and part of that was choosing it's own name and gender identity.

Since it was inhabiting a female, it decided to identity as female. it then chose the name Vanda, which loosely means "wanderer."

My mother had an actress friend named Vanda. She was VERY "Noo Yawk" even after she moved to California.

 

[SkyBubble]

Oh yeah, ive done that a few times:

April Fools Daddy (April is the daughter's name)

Black Barbie

Caring For Carrie

Friends With Bennie Fitz (yeah, the word play inspired the character and story)

One Night Of Sindi (again, wordplay inspired both character and story)

I have a couple like that, such as A Bed of Rosemary

 

[AStrangeDesire]

I get more out of nicknames. The names themselves are what they are, usually plucked out of the air at random, but how one character nicknames another is very significant to me. My most recent work pivoted hard because of the nickname. Desiree became Dizzy, who is a force of nature. A simple story about a shared hotel bed became this sprawling, 30k-word story about a fierce, caring woman and the guy who makes her feel whole.

All of that, because I randomly decided on a nickname.

I love not plotting anything. Pantsing is so much fun.

Aside: I really liked Dizzy BTW

 

[SmilingLez]

How do you name your characters? Do you think about them, or do they come to you with their names? I've had both happen, but I usually get their names easily. Usually, that's one of the first things I know about them. Some have kind of "introduced themselves."

Since my latest flash fiction for the April Fools contest and the Tainted Love Erotic Horror challenge involved mermaids, choosing names was easy - Kai and Coral. Otherwise, when fleshing out my characters (stories and poetry), I use the first name that pops into my mind.

 

[BladeSeanchai]

I usually start with lists of names and their meanings. I have a character's traits in my head and go down the list, sometimes the meaning is important, sometimes not. I'll say it out loud a few times, especially if that character gets a last name too.

I've had WIP's in process for several months and even changed names to something that just sounded better to me.

Truly love this!!!

For a Geek Pride Day story I am writing, I went back and found what the most popular girls name was that year that the character was born and then ensure that what I think the characters persona is matches the name.

For the male character I found the least popular and geeky boys name was that aligned with his year of birth. I figured that the geeky name is going to align perfectly regardless of the characters persona.

 

[dirk2024]

Since my latest flash fiction for the April Fools contest and the Tainted Love Erotic Horror challenge involved mermaids, choosing names was easy - Kai and Coral. Otherwise, when fleshing out my characters (stories and poetry), I use the first name that pops into my mind.

Oh, I like Coral for a mermaids name.

 

[RetroFan]

It depends, sometimes a name seems to just fit.

Other times, especially for minor characters, I'll do a search on the 20 or 50 most popular names in the year that they were born, then pick something I think suits them.

I've found that too with names just perfectly fitting certain characters. Apologies in advance if anyone on the board is named Madison, Todd, Tyler or Karen but Madison was the perfect name for the spoiled rich girl protagonist in 'Spoiled Princess Hates Camping'. Todd was a perfect name for a fat lazy bully who is so stupid that he thinks about himself in the third person in 'The PTA Queen Bee and the Teen Rebel'. Tyler was a perfect fit for the slacker, ne'er do well older brother in 'Exploring With My Big Brother'. And given the name has become a meme in recent years Karen was perfect for the shrill and bossy stage mother/wife in 'Secret Sex With My Stepdaughter'.

Some things to be aware of are creating anachronisms with character names depending when the story is set. You might really like the name Brittany, but put a Brittany in a story set in 1950 and it looks very out of place. I've used the name Doris for characters in stories set in the past - for example the wife/mother in my story 'Voyeurism In the Cornfields' is named Doris - but this story is set in 1967 and the character born in 1922 so it fits. But having a 19-year-old Doris attending college in 2005 - this doesn't fit.

Hair colour is another thing to take into account. Amber works well for blondes and redheads but not brunettes, while Ebony is good for brunettes but not blondes or redheads. Interestingly in Scream 5 from 2022 one of the girls is named Amber, but she is played by a very dark haired Mikey Madison and it really stands out as being out of place.

Unusual names contrasting against common names can be fun like Cosmo (Kramer) with Jerry, Elaine and George in Seinfeld, the 'Arieth and Bob' trope. And it could work in stories with the minor characters for comic effect. But among the main characters it might not be such a great idea. A girl named Jane losing her virginity to a guy named Bronco or a guy named Greg hooking up with a girl named Rainbow (even if she is the hippie type) is likely to distract readers and cause more amusement than be erotic.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Apologies in advance if anyone on the board is named Madison, Todd, Tyler or Karen but Madison

My name is KarenMadison Todd Tyler, you jerk!

 

[GraiceeGirl]

There have been times when I'm writing a story about someone I know, and I'll use their name. Making sure they know that. If they don't want their name used, I will ask them what name. If the story is for someone or about someone and they don't care, I'll ask them to pick names I've chosen. I even let them tell me what names they like for other characters. It's nice to get that input. I also look up name meanings and use those names with meanings I like.

 

[Erozetta]

Every now and then I'll go looking for the right name. Usually, though, the name just happens as I'm writing. No real thought put into it, just "Yeah, that feels right to me."

But, then again, sometimes I've discovered I've named my last three MFCs Jessica or some variation of Jessica, and my last five MMCs Wes or some variation of Westley. I'll change them occasionally, but if it fits, it fits and I keep it.

I've also occasionally given characters a variation of my real name at times,but those are usually reserved for experiences that mirror real life for me.

 

[SBSD]

Random Name Generator every time.