Sticks and Stones…, but names….
Call me Patricia is something my sister would never say,
thanks to me. If you would like your throat punched, you may call her Patricia. I'll leave that up to you. But at some point in our childhood, I decided to
change her name from Tammy to Patricia. I don't remember any good reason for calling her a different name (for a short time) except to be annoying.
Sticks and Stones may break my bones (and kill), but names will never hurt me. Umm, yes they do.
Sticks and Stones may break my bones (and kill), but names will never hurt me. Umm, yes they do.
There's power in a name. Some of the names I was called as a youth: Red (because of my
reddish brown hair), freckles (well you know why), and TP (for toilet paper otherwise known as my
initials).
Names are important. We think long and hard about naming our children the perfect name. Our pets often get the same treatment. We may move from a childhood name of Tommy to Tom or Kathy to Kathryn.
Names are a part of our identity.
Names are a part of our identity.
Here are book characters names you might recognize:
- Scarlet O’Hara and Rhett Butler. (Gone with the Wind)
- Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games)
- Harry Potter (no not the character from MASH), Lord Voldemort, Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter Series)
- Bella Swan, Edward Cullen (Twilight Series)
What about Rocky Balboa, Brad Pitt or Cher? Are these names you recognize?
When I'm looking to name a character, I look at:
- Movie credits
- Baby books
- Yearbooks (not my own, that could complicate things)
- Phone books
Here are some other people who have thought too much about choosing the right names for their characters.
Writer’s
Digest Magazine offers seven (brilliant) rules for naming Characters.
But if you can only handle six creative ways to name your
characters check out The
Write Life.
If you're feeling wild and crazy, peruse these top ten tips
for naming characters at The
Script Lab
My name means to reap and gather in or a harvester. Famous Teresa's are Mother Teresa, Teresa Brewer (singer) and Teresa Giudice, (Real Housewife of NJ who is in hot water). What does your name mean? If you're a writer where do you find your character names?
Comments
Coming up with character names can be tricky.
Lee
Tossing It Out
It was a life lesson: Though Roland was brave and a leader, pride was his flaw. It was his pride that led him to refuse to blow his great horn for help and so he and his men were killed. He loved his men, yet he killed them from his pride. Mother wanted me to learn to be brave ... but also to care enough for others to be humble.
Samuel, my prime hero, his name means God has heard. And his life is one of helping others, letting them know that God has heard the cries of those in need.
Victor Standish's name has a whole chapter in my first book on him to explain why Victor chose Standish as his last name. You see, his mother would never tell him who his father was. She gave him the name Victor because she meant to forge him into someone who would always be the victor in the struggles of his life.
Wow. Your post got me thinking ... and writing. Have a great day!
Names do have power. Mythology is full of the power of knowing a personal name.
I had to laugh when I read about names to annoy siblings. We all had *extra* names for each other, lol!
Sia McKye Over Coffee
I tend to go to google for ethnic names of any sort (including really common in the US like Irish or German) because ethnicity drives my character sketch somewhat and at least last names should fit.
My name means defender of men.
Most of my names I've brainstormed in thirty minutes or less. (Easy when they are science fiction names and you can just make up stuff.) But for the last book, I wanted the alien names to have a British flair, so I searched for British first and last names, and then mutated them a bit.
<3
Jen