Overthinkings: Names

Names are hard. Real life naming kids is fairly tiresome and naming characters is not far behind. With my real kids I spent a lot of time rhyming and coming up with word associations that could haunt them through middle school; I also wanted names short and simple enough that they could write independently by kindergarten. Moss is my favoritely named child, but Violet and Linden are lovely as well. 

The thing about real people names is that they can be changed. Pepper hated her birth name (Ava) even before preschool. She informed me at some point that her name was now “Beeta”. She went through a few more iterations before landing on Pepper. I didn’t take it personally. When I named her in Germany Ava was an uncommon name; by the time we came back to the states it was #1 on the SSN list and hovered in the top three for the next twenty years. By kindergarten she wasn’t even just Ava R. because there were three Ava R’s. 

Naming fictional characters is only slightly less difficult because at least you have time to try out different ideas before committing. Sometimes I have three or four different iterations of a name before it sticks. Sometimes I just have a letter followed by a line for half the novel (R_______). 

You would think writing historical fiction based on real people would solve the naming problem. You would be wrong. In colonial days there were about three common names. Margaret/Mary, Elizabeth, and Hannah. I have so many Hannahs in my first book that I literally started calling a few of them “the Hannahs” (not to be confused with “Little Hannah”). I ended up choosing some characters just because their names weren’t on that Big Three list. 

Modern names aren’t any easier. 

Character names have a feel to them. Lloyd, Clarence, Frank, Ted evoke a very different protagonist than Lars, Chisel, Flash, and Troy. Bertram can only be British; Bentley’s mom grew up in a trailer. Clara is either an old woman or the child of ballet enthusiasts. 

Someone once told me that your protagonist’s name is the word you will write the most, so don’t hate it. I would add that if it has an uncommon spelling it will be flagged by spell check and your work will be riddled with obnoxious red lines until you go in and add the name to your dictionary. 

When you finally find the perfect name for that one character and write it for seven chapters, someone will read your work and point out that in fact, many of the names of your characters are quite similar and they can’t remember who is whom. (I am thankful that this advice came seven chapters in and not somewhere in book three.) Sure enough, humans like patterns and some of us have favorite letters. Mine is F. I still have three pivotal characters with F names, but that is better than it was. 

Now this is not just a rant about the difficulties of names; I do have a few well won suggestions for successful naming of characters. 

1. Get a book on the subject. I recently found one at a bookstall and promptly gave it to my friend who hates naming characters more than anything on earth, so I know they exist.

2. Name generators. The internet is a magical place with random name generators available. Friends use these for RPG’s and literary fiction alike. 

3. Ask a buddy. Some weirdos are actually good at naming. If you find one of these people, become pals and text them things like “Sexy protagonist with lisp who can’t have an F last name” and they will reply with a list of five perfect options. Treasure them. 

4. Reference books. I have a couple volumes of Bonded Passengers from America, and some general reference texts like Stackpole’s Old Kittery and her Families. Bonded Passengers is compilations of names in alphabetical order by last name. Stackpole’s book is a comprehensive list of generations of families found in one small area in Maine, but there are similar books written about many places around the world. I use the first when I am wanting to pull Western names out of a hat, and the second when I need something historically accurate to Kittery. 

5. Non western names shouldn’t be pulled out of hats. There is a balance between appropriation and representation. If it is not your culture, do the research. Find out what the names mean, how they fit into the culture from whence they come, and what the associations of those names might be. Don’t borrow carelessly. 

6.Names have power; nicknames can show power dynamics and relationship status. My best friend is head of a martial arts dojo and most people address him with a bow and a “Master Robert”. He’s in my phone as Burt The Younger, and his nicknames run from Rob, Robbie, Robbie-O, Rob-B, etc.

We’ve sung karaoke in two different continents, played weekly boardgames for the past five years, and he reliably tries anything weird after I’ve taken a bite and said “Gross! Try this.” I’ve earned the right to use those nicknames. 

The right nickname (or codename) can also save you from a Hannah situation. Elizabeth might be Bess, Betsy, Liz, Lizzie, El, Ellie, E, Eliza, Beth, etc. But just as a name has to fit, so doth the nickname. Bess and Lizzie are as different as Clara and Bernice. 

7.Change All. Both Word and Scrivener have a change all function that makes name changes a breeze. When you do land on a solid name, a quick word-processing function and boom, whole thing like new. 

Back to the “names have power” thought: In real life and on the page, there is a power to using someone’s name. It creates an intimacy between the speaker and the person being spoken to. There is inherent acknowledgment of existence in one breath.

And on that note, a non sequitur! Happy New Year from Mamasquatch and Family!

The last writing prompt of the year: “If only ____________’s mother had thought through her name choice a little better, the misunderstanding could have been avoided.”