Every Tom, Dick and Harry

How much thought do you put into naming your characters? Some writers are fastidiously obsessive about it, naming characters in almost ritualistic ways - you wouldn't believe the stories I have heard:

Louella starts with an "L", right? And so does LOUISIANA and if you spell that backwards, it's Anaisiuol which is the name of the village in France where my grandmother was born and IN that village, there really WAS a myth of a night-roaming elk with a thirst for blood! Uh, yeah, okay.

Name your characters in a way that inspires you. If Louella brings up all sorts of feelings about grandma and France and elk, and that fuels where this story is going, go for it.

Because we are writers we know that words have a musicality to them. And certainly, names connote qualities, and images, don't they? No offense to any Wavers, but how smart does Dwayne sound? How sweet does Rebecca sound? How bitchy does Courtney sound? We make associations, either in pop culture or just simply by the sound the name makes when it rolls off the tongue. Duh-wayne. Twangy, simple, it sounds like a guy from Arkansas.

There is no one, preferred, smartest way to name your characters, in fact, I am curious about the method Wavers use. But in my experience as a reader, here are some of my thoughts, things that stand out to me when I read:

THUMBS DOWN
Writers who name characters in a rural setting hick-names like Wayne, Dwayne and Louella. This is 2008, folks, and how stereotypical is that?! If you have a character living in NYC or LA whose name is Wayne and maybe he has a slight accent - okay that I can go for because now at least you're setting up a fish out of water. But still, not everybody who lives in the country and specifically the South is a hick with a name straight out of an episode of Hee-Haw. And if you're too young to get that show reference - it was before country music was remotely cool. If you could call it cool now.

Writers who name characters glaringly obvious names: the serial killer named Damon Killough, the temptress named Josette L'Urid. The macho, temperamental Italian shoemaker named Manolo Gotti. The goody two-shoes named Faith Hart. You think I'm kidding, you think I make this stuff up.

Writers who name characters by glancing out the window at the mail guy going by. Bob, Mike, Ted, Joe, Steve, Cindy, Tina, Susy - every name in the script is so ordinary they blur together and just don't stick.

Two names from the television slate:

Rebecca Freeley on Miss Guided - it works, it's perfect.
Lucy Spiller on Dirt - overkill, we get it.

THUMBS UP
Characters with names that connote characteristics in a subtle or ironic way. What if the the temptress was named Faith or Hope? Okay that's kind of interesting, isn't it? That means her mom named her this wholesome name but Faith/Hope rebelled against that. It connotes a backstory, doesn't it? What about a violent mafia guy named Carol? Ahhhh that's pretty interesting.

What do you name your characters? What is your reasoning or methology? Do you have a methodology or do you just give them names you like, names of family members or neighbors? What if you named your antagonist after the kid you hated in grade school? If that evokes some feelings in you, the writer - that can work. But what will it evoke for the reader or the audience?

Postscript:

Rouge Waver D. Montoya has suggested two great character name resources, The Baby Name Wizard and Behind the Name. Big cupcake for D. Montoya!

If you enjoyed this post, follow me on Twitter or subscribe via RSS.