The Name Game

One thing that every single fiction writer has to do is find names for their characters. This could be as simple as using your own names (I'll admit it: I've written at least two stories using myself as a character.) or it could be an agonizing process where absolutely nothing seems to fit.

Right now, I'm in the latter stage. I spent all afternoon pouring over baby names on websites and a friend was helping me out on twitter, but so far I haven't come up with a name that just clicked. I have a vague idea of the character in my head, and nothing has fit her perfectly. It's either too sophisticated or too boring or old fashioned or too flowery...

Before now, names haven't been hard. The character of Wander, actually, was created to fit her name. I remember searching for Ida's name, and the instant I found it I knew it was right. In 'Because You Laughed' the MC was originally named Maddie; not an ugly name by any means, but fairly nondescript. Her name doesn't actually appear in the manuscript at all, but it'll still always be Maddie to me. :)

My favourite way to find names is to think of a couple words to describe the character. For my new story, a couple would be: Strong, Cheerful and Spider (don't ask!). If you're using an internet database of names (it's easy to find one with Google) then you can often search for meaning. Aside from that, when I think of 'strong' I think of names beginning with 'strong' sounds, like K or T. If I think of cheerful, I might try ones beginning with vowels (I found a lot of 'A' names I like.) And as for Spider, I could chose 'Arachne' which means Spider, or I could go and find a name beginning with S, which could evoke a certain sinister feeling if used correctly...

I think the most important thing about a name is that you, personally, as a writer, have to feel like it is the character. You don't necessarily have to have it on your list of 'Names for my kids whenever I have them'. You don't even really need to like it. For instance, I would never think of naming my kid Phoebe, but for some strange reason I think it just might fit this MC...

That's enough rambling from me. Any thoughts on naming your characters? Do you find it hard to name your MCs? Is it easier to name a minor character? Have you ever given a character a name you loved, and then it turns out people hated it?