By Jonathan Strauss
“A rose by any other name would still be pretty sweet.” – Shakespeare, probably
One of the absolute most common complaints or concerns you will hear from an author-type is, “I don’t know what to name my character. What do I name them? It has to be good!”
I’m here to tell you it doesn’t.
Names are totemic by design. You say the name of something and it conjures up an image, followed closely by emotions felt due to that image. Brownies! I just said the name of something, you saw it, and then you got hungry. See? Totemic and pretty cool.
The power behind a name can be so intimidating to new authors, they forget that names we know and love now weren’t always known and loved. Lara Croft, Harry Potter, Dana Scully, and Jerry Seinfeld are all names you know – if you grew up when I did – but not because of their names. You know them because of what they have done and who they are. That is to say, names have no power until a character gives them context.
Yes, it’s true. No matter how strongly you feel about a great character name – like Iron Man (and I do love me some Iron Man) – you probably would’ve like that character by any other name, as long as they were the same person who did the same things – like Metal Man could have worked fine.
A Few Considerations For Character Names
Before you get too excited and run off naming your characters whatever you want, there is still reason to be thoughtful with your naming choice. My goal here is ultimately so you put thought, not anxiety, into naming a character, after all. Taking a second to mull over some considerations should help.
Ask yourself the following questions when naming your new character:
1. Should this name be special for a reason?
Some characters need a special or unique name due to a reason tied to the plot, or interesting circumstances in the book. Prophecies, lineage, settings, and roles, for instance, can shape a character’s name before you start to even consider it. Skeletor is a great example. He is a villain who looks like a skeleton, so he can’t really be called Smiling Bob, especially given that his stories take place in a fantasy world.
2. Would this character’s parents actually name them this way?
Get into the headspace not of yourself as a parent, but as the parents or guardians of your character, and see if they would choose a particular name. My parents named me Jonathan because they had a theme of all their children’s names starting with J. But if I was born into the family in the hospital room next door, maybe I would have been named Arthur because they had a devotion to ye olde legends.
3. Can I change this name later?
If you are writing your story and no one else in the world is seeing it as it develops, then you are free to change any name you want along the line. You never know what might strike your fancy. Posting a story up to a public blog or forum, though, makes ex post facto name changes considerably more difficult and confusing.
Middle Names Might Matter
While we are talking about names, don’t forget about middle names. Most people hate their middles names, and I do not know why. Mine is Edward and that is really cool. Oh, wait, my brothers each got an intentionally misspelled middle name by my silly parents, so maybe I know why middle names are often hidden.
That being said, you can have a lot of fun and find real meaning in the middle names you give your characters. In my “Evil” stories, our protagonist actually has a deliberately chosen middle name – no spoilers, though – while her first and surname were pretty much off the top of my head. Keep in mind middles names vary noticeably between cultures. Some people might have no middle names due to their family’s culture and beliefs, but another might have three specific middle names based on past family members, for example.
Pick a Name & Get Writing
In conclusion, do not let a name hang your story on a hook for days, weeks, or more. Ultimately, the name of your character does not matter right now. Hopefully it will become something said on the lips of millions of people around the world, but if that happens, it will be thanks to your story elements. I suppose it all boils down to the fact that an author is not making a product or a brand, but a person, so the name doesn’t need to be catchy, it just needs to be something.
