Names, names, names?

[blue]

OK, I think I've finally got it! About freakin' time!

[Bruin Fisher]

Names sometimes trigger stories for me. I have a story about Theodore Farnsworth and another which includes a character Cholmondeley Farquharson (pronounced Chumley Farkerson). But generally I try to give my characters believable names and steer clear of cliches. For instance, can it really be true, as suggested by a quick trawl through Nifty, that all Gay American High Schoolers are called Tyler???

[blue]

Oddly enough, Tyler has been among the top 100 boys' names for a while now. -- But yes, some names do seem to get used often in (gay) stories. Is it a "friendable," approachable, "cuteness" factor? Is it something else? How does that relate to fictional names in general? I'm not sure, but there's something to why a given name is more popular than others, or why it seems to suggest various favorable qualities or some unfavorable ones.

[Chris James]

Names can be a burden, mostly to my characters. The star character in my next AD story will go by his initials, MT. That would be short for Marion Cotswold Teague...any wonder? But then he is a southern lad from Georgia.

I also have a story started, not sure where it is going, except it is about a boy who works at a large shopping mall. His nick name inspired the story, he calls himself Spaz. I worried about the connotations of that self inflicted wound, but then his name is Spencer Anthony Zorn and Spaz is the derivitive.

Names do inspire, but I like them short in any case. If they are unique all the better.

[blue]

It'd depend on his sense of humor, as to whether that would be a wound or a badge of honor. Spaz might be pretty cool, even if he's sort of a spaz.

You probably know it, but John Wayne's real name was Marion. So if it was good enough for him, y'know....

No, my first name is not Marion! ;D

[FreeThinker]

In the US, the Social Security Administration lists the most popular names by year. If I am writing period piece (and when am I not) I try to find names that fit that period. I wouldn't name a boy born in 1957 Jayden or Taylor. Likewise, it's unlikely I would name a boy born in 2001 Tom or Frank or Harold. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

My niece just named here son Tristyn, which I love and which I would love to use in a story, though I would probably not use the cutesy spelling. I would use it for the son of opera lovers.

I also associate names with specific traits. I would try to avoid Tim or Timmy because that just seems too... well, you know. Jeremy almost sound too sweet, although strangely every Jeremy I've ever met is an asshole. I like Jeff and that was the name I assigned my imaginary boyfriend when I was 13 in 1971. Jeff just seemed so All-American, confident, and happy. Strangely, there are a LOT of Jewish American boys from the 50's and 60's named Jeff. Researching things like that can help find the perfect name for a character.

People in America used to joke in the 80's about families who would name all their kids with "J" names. There were a plethora of Jeff Jeremy, Jordan, Jason,Jennifer, Julie, etc. Trends change from decade to decade. Biblical names, particular Old Testament names were big in the nineties. Michael is the most popular name over the last few decades, so if you want to avoid a common name, that might be one, or if you want someone from a conformist family- well, there you go.

Making up names seems the rage now. And, if your character is African-American, you have a lot of latitude in creating a name. Some types of names are more popular in different parts of the country. And what sounds euphonious in the South may be cause for laughter in New England, or vice-versa.

My favorites are the Farkle family on Laugh-In back in the sixties and their twin sons, Simon and Gar Farkle.

[FreeThinker]

Ooops--my comments about Jeremy's being assholes does not refer to anyone on AD!!!!!! God my mouth-or fingers-get me in a lot of trouble! There is someone here who goes by another name but was almost called Jeremy and who is anything BUT an asshole.

[Cole Parker]

In the US, the Social Security Administration lists the most popular names by year. If I am writing period piece (and when am I not) I try to find names that fit that period. I wouldn't name a boy born in 1957 Jayden or Taylor. Likewise, it's unlikely I would name a boy born in 2001 Tom or Frank or Harold. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/

My niece just named here son Tristyn, which I love and which I would love to use in a story, though I would probably not use the cutesy spelling. I would use it for the son of opera lovers.

I also associate names with specific traits. I would try to avoid Tim or Timmy because that just seems too... well, you know. Jeremy almost sound too sweet, although strangely every Jeremy I've ever met is an asshole. I like Jeff and that was the name I assigned my imaginary boyfriend when I was 13 in 1971. Jeff just seemed so All-American, confident, and happy. Strangely, there are a LOT of Jewish American boys from the 50's and 60's named Jeff. Researching things like that can help find the perfect name for a character.

People in America used to joke in the 80's about families who would name all their kids with "J" names. There were a plethora of Jeff Jeremy, Jordan, Jason,Jennifer, Julie, etc. Trends change from decade to decade. Biblical names, particular Old Testament names were big in the nineties. Michael is the most popular name over the last few decades, so if you want to avoid a common name, that might be one, or if you want someone from a conformist family- well, there you go.

Making up names seems the rage now. And, if your character is African-American, you have a lot of latitude in creating a name. Some types of names are more popular in different parts of the country. And what sounds euphonious in the South may be cause for laughter in New England, or vice-versa.

My favorites are the Farkle family on Laugh-In back in the sixties and their twin sons, Simon and Gar Farkle.

I too try to use names that, to me, denote personality traits. Of course, the way I react to the name Josh, for instance, could and should be must different from how other people do. So that's a problem. But not a big one because I'm creating them, I'm imbuing them the traits I feel belong with those names, and if other good folks don't agree, that's their problem.

I do like names that aren't overused. My latest protagonist is Troy. I don't recall having seen that used before. Same way with my protagonist in On the High Plains of Wyoming. I actually thought I'd made that one up: Elam. I wanted it to sound biblical because a lot of people in that neck of the woods are bible devotees. Belatedly, I found it was a biblical name. Who'd have thunk it?

I love the names Michael and David, so perhaps I'm a traditionalist. They just have a nice sound to me.

C

[Gee Whillickers]

I've discovered I've been unknowingly cheating when it comes to picking character names. I've had several names that I've picked out because they just sounded right to me, only to realize after the fact that I'm remembering someone I knew from my past with that name that shared a great many of that character's traits. oops. Good a reason as any I suppose, except that the names will only have significance to me.

[colinian]

Someday, when I have nothing better to do, I will read my stories and find all of the names I've used. For my serial novels that's easy: I keep information relevant to the story in a spreadsheet, including all of the names. Unfortunately, most of my short stories don't have such a spreadsheet. What I'll look for are protagonists' names (usually the good guys) and antagonists' names (usually the bad guys). I think that would be interesting. Given enough time when I have nothing more important to do.

Colin

[The Pecman]

I've discovered I've been unknowingly cheating when it comes to picking character names. I've had several names that I've picked out because they just sounded right to me, only to realize after the fact that I'm remembering someone I knew from my past with that name that shared a great many of that character's traits.

Oh, I do that deliberately. What the hell -- who else is gonna know? I only do this for first names; I'll use a completely different last name, most of the time.

I still say there's much too much of a trend for writers to use overly-hip names for guys in gay stories. There's nothing wrong with Bob, John, Bill, or Mike. Regular names can be great; it's the characters that have to be memorable. As long as you keep the names different between lead characters, I think it can work. God help you if you have two character names with the same first letter and the same number of syllables.

With historical novels, I think it's important to use names that work for the period. For example, in my long-lost (but not abandoned) story Pieces of Destiny, I have characters named "Travis," "Lemuel" (my grandfather's name), and "Jason." Travis is probably inspired by noted 1990s male model Travis Fimmel; Lem is related to me; and Jason was one of my best friends from school. All radically different people in the story, but that's where their names came from. I also had period characters named Micah (stolen from the old TV series The Rifleman), Jesse (as in James), and Seth (thin air). All different, all memorable, none too confusing or weird.

[blue]

You know, I have been using placeholders lately for some names of people and places. So notes on story ideas or even drafts of scenes/chapters will have Guy2 or Boy1 or BigBoxStore or U. of X. or Anytown, things like that. It seemed like a way to get the ideas down and find the name that fits later. That says to me I'm stressing too much over a name that fits.

I've considered listing names so I don't inadvertently wind up with two or three of the same names running around in unconnected stories. I find it hard to keep up with names anyway.

I am fine with using ordinary names or unusual names. (My own full legal name is unlikely, and Ben is my middle name, nickname, really.) So a strange or troublesome name is an everyday thing for me. (Dear Ms. W...) When they ask for my first name, though, I know they don't know me. :)

I have a quirk, though, about trying to avoid using the names of people I know, at least who I know currently. If I write a story about someone named Scott, for instance, will my real friend Scott feel like I'm making some comment about him? (In his case, maybe not, but in others, maybe so.) Or if I write about a Sean, well, a real Sean was one of my best friends, now deceased. I somehow doubt he'd mind now, but more, uh, lively friends (or myself) might feel awkward about it. -- This is probably something I need to get over, though.

I know several Mikes and James though, so I suppose that's fine.

I'll admit I occasionally do a double take when "Ben" keeps doing things in a current TV show. Weird, when you're not expecting it. (Even more so if someone calls "my" name when I'm out somewhere.)

Maybe I should just scribble out a bunch of names and play 52 card pickup. It has the advantage of I haven't tried it.

[DesDownunder]

I have avoided using names of people I know at AwesomeDude in case they should think I am somehow trying to make a comment about them. However, if the story is historical, or futuristic, then I wouldn't feel so restricted. I think that if the story was about a character who, for instance, liked to make long posts on a forum, then I would avoid calling him Ben.

However, I think that if I was writing a story about a man being gay in the Middle East, then I would have no problem calling him Ben, as the connection is to the man's ethnicity, and not to our Ben.

One of my little quirks that I sometime entertain is to give my lead protagonist a name which starts with a D. This is not to say that the character is meant to be me because my name starts with a D, it's just something I like to do for fun...sometimes.

Certain names do have a connection with character types, but naming a character against type is an interesting ploy that I find fascinating, even if difficult to pull off successfully. For instance, calling a charming compassionate man, Adolph, would be quite disconcerting for some readers, and care would be needed in such an exercise. On the otherhand if I were to call someone Mitt or Hilary, the political overtones might be too obvious to counter, unless you draw the obvious parallel as part of the story.

Then there is the writer's personal bias. I've never personally found some names to be associated with nice people, whilst others have never been anything but wonderful people. That makes name choice difficult at times.

[Merkin]

Whatever names you choose to use it's wise to keep a careful log of what names belong to what story, including flash pieces. I speak from the embarassing experience of having used the same character name twice, in two different pieces, and having bewildered readers ask me if one was intended to be a sequel to the other.

[The Pecman]

Yeah, I agree with Merkin. One way I get around this is to have an entire separate article (maybe just 3-4 pages) with short paragraph sketches on every speaking role in the story. I note their ages, physical appearance, basic personality traits and background, along with birth dates and ages. That way, I can see at a glance who's who and avoid the problem of overlapping (or identical) names.

[JamesSavik]

I'll tell you the secrets of my character names:

1) protagonist are going to have simple names because I don't want to write Abercrombie 6,000 times.

2) I am not a fan of cutesy spellings or fancy names. In fact, I can't think of any offhand. Except for maybe Eugene. I'd just have to kick his ass or make him a murder victim.

3) I get names from college and pro sports. It's easy and you can mix and match sir-names.

4) If I'm really stuck for a name, I can use Writer's Digest Naming Sourcebook. This book could be a whole lot better. As it is, it is helpful but I only give it a C+.

[FreeThinker]

Another source I use are the many baby-names sites, but only because you can filter for nationality when sorting. If I have a a character of say Scandinavian or Dutch decent, I can use that to find interesting names. You can also filter for Biblical names, although I probably wouldn't name a kid Boaz or, dare I say it... Onan.

[blue]

* Onan could be very popular in certain circles.

* Just noticed Onan is Nano- backwards. Which must mean that if Nano is Onan backwards, well, perhaps Onan is bigger? More popular, at least.

(Don't mind me. My sense of humor is warped today.)

(OK, maybe not just today. Shrugs.)

(Hmm, why didn't I find one of those circles? Oh yeah, because I was too uptight. Eh.)

[colinian]

Sometimes when I need a name and I have Naming Block I close my eyes, open the phone book to a random page, point to that page, and open my eyes. If I don't like the name I'm pointing to I'll look around on the two pages where the phone book is open and I'll always find a first and/or last name that works.

Colin

[Merkin]

Hang onto that phone book, Colin; Verizon has ended distribution of residential white pages, although the Yellow Pages continue. Shall we look forward to characters in your next story named Luigi Pizza and Ace Plumbing?

[Cole Parker]

I guess if you wanted a character's last name to be Plumber -- a not uncommon surname -- then Ace would do very well as a nickname.

C

[DesDownunder]

I had a bf who was an ace plumber...plumb the depths he did, every night.

[Paul_and_Paco]

I had a bf who was an ace plumber...plumb the depths he did, every night.

BAD Des, Baaaad!

[Rigel]

I have a friend named Boaz. Not as uncommon as you'd think. There are lots of good biblical names you occasionally encounter in real life: Reuben, Levi, Amos. Some you almost never do: Balaam, Oholibama, Korach.

I also have a friend from way back named Mason. When I met him about 40 years ago, it was an unusual name for a guy. Last year, it was the second most popular boy's name, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration list.

--Rigel

[JamesSavik]

If you ever see an Absalom or a Chaz in one of my stories, expect them to die in a gruesome manner.