Finding the right name for a character

Not be confused with finding a name for a character—indeed, I have a surfeit of such. Rather, I have no idea where the fine line is between cool and ridiculous, especially when trying for a Meaningful Name (e.g. Everhart or Flynn.) Even when writing a normal name, I'm not really sure what constitutes "normal"—is Maxwell too weird a name? How about Kaylee? And to what degree does it depend on the setting?

edited 5th Jun '11 3:49:52 PM by feotakahari

The setting is unquestionably the single largest factor in character names.

Incidentally, I am not fond of Meaningful Names - I consider them incredibly cheesy.

Maxwell is a bit odd, but Max isn't. And my bet is that many Maxs are actually Maxwells.

Kaylee seems to be a fairly common name nowadays, but it didn't used to be.

The setting is definitely important. If you're using non-made up names care should be taken that they all fit. A Turkish name in a sea of late Roman names stands out like a sore thumb and if the person with the Turkish name isn't meant to be foreign... well, I know it jars me.

Gut nearly any irl name. You'll find the name has a meaning and that meaning is often cool.

Maxwell is not an odd name. Kaylee I dislike only because the -lee suffix is etymologically meaningless.

Bahahaha, nearly all names have meaning. All you have do to is give me your first name and I can tell you what it means.

edited 5th Jun '11 6:36:26 PM by annebeeche

^ Wikipedia suggests that the suffix may be derived from the given name "Lee", meaning "pasture" (also "wood" or "clearing"), but it looks like that could be Original Research because it's marked as^{[citation needed]}. They also suggest that the name could be derived from "céilidh", which would be sweet, though if so it must be a corrupted spelling.

While almost all names have meanings, not all names relate to those who possess them. I think Meaningful Name can be a bit weird in fiction since it'd have to be a hell of a coincidence for the character's parents to accurately predict their adult personality when naming them.

edited 5th Jun '11 6:49:07 PM by BobbyG

Well it's actually true, so yeah.

Name meanings, like prophecies, are vague, so the meaning of most IRL names can be interpreted to mean something to do with the bearer, just like how a prophecy can be interpreted to mean an event that is actually happening.

edited 5th Jun '11 6:53:45 PM by annebeeche

Actually, Meaningful Names are much more understandable (and interesting) when they reflect the status and expectations that those who gave them the name had for them.

Upon doing some research I found that my name may have been derived from a word for "short". FUCK YOU, FATE.

Well, in that case, bright fame here I come.

This is what I meant. All names have a meaning (if you go back far enough, anyway), but that's not what a Meaningful Name is - that's where the meaning of the name relates in some way to the character's personality, and that's what I find incredibly cheesy. It can be possibly justified by having the character's personality derive from trying to live up to their name's meaning, but I would find even that fairly annoying.

I have a culture in my main setting (Elphamic Piskiekind) which choose their own names, or take those assigned to them, derived from their personalities. Is that any better?

i more or less keep meaningful names restricted to stories set in fuedal japan, and often make them the opposite of what the character actually is, for some irony.

other than that, i occasionally use meaningful names outside of that setting, but i care more about the name being used in the setting of the story (eg: if its a new zealand like setting, use maou names or something), or fitting with the character's lineage.

so if you're using meaningful names you dont have much to choose from id assume, but if you're simply using any name that fits the gender, setting and lineage of the character, you have a lot to work with and you should just pick a name you really like above all others. wether they're cool or not doesnt really matter, and from my experience when you're picking a name, you're thinking along the lines of "what name suits this character" so a name you like above all others will usually fit them just fine.

sorry if i rambled and didnt make much sense.

edited 6th Jun '11 6:32:46 AM by Tarsen

The thing about names, is that names are given by parents, not by the character. Any name will say infinitely more about the parents (and hence, background) of the child than it will about the child as an adult. So, use names to remind people where that character started.

Example: You remember in Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, how Elizabeth started as this high-society aristocrat-to-be? The name 'Elizabeth' really fits there. But cut to At World's End, she's a swashbuckling Pirate Queen. 'Elizabeth' doesn't fit there quite as well, but the name still fits the character because it hearkens back to where she began. If that makes sense.

She could be referred to as "Liz" or something like that though.

So many "anglo-american" names mean something awesome in Hebrew, Greek, or German that meaningful names don't have to be obvious.

If you name a Knight Templar type well intentioned extremist Daniel (God is My Judge) it's probably not going to seem anvilicious to any readers; similar if the The People's Victory (er, Nicholas) leads a rebellion.

And concepts can just sound like weird names sometimes. Euphemia for instance isn't probably supposed to be a name but is a Greek word and sounds like it could be an ancient name. You could probably do the same (as a surname) for latin or greek root words like Ataraxia without it getting too ridiculous (that is, for a fantasy/scifi setting, without it just sounding made up or far too meaningful to the casual eye).