What goes into names?

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

What goes into character names?

Research. A quite frankly embarassing amount of research. If my browser isn't convinced Im expecting a baby I probably haven't hit the sweetspot of function and symbolism.

Also mouth feel.

 

[KeithD]

Umm, OK, I don't see where that supports what you originally posted or contradicts what I posted. But, sure, OK. There's no reason other than the author being overly PC to have to write more than one of any particular ethnic group in a story set in California, or the moon, or anywhere else. It all depends on what the story is about. And to be bothered by that seems anal retentive to me.

 

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

Umm, OK, I don't see where that supports what you originally posted or contradicts what I posted. But, sure, OK. There's no reason other than the author being overly PC to have to write more than one of any particular ethnic group in a story set in California, or the moon, or anywhere else. It all depends on what the story is about. And to be bothered by that seems anal retentive to me.

Who is this responding to?

 

[KeithD]

Who is this responding to?

Sorry. Tenyari. I originally had a post queried, but Lit. did that irritating "Opps, it didn't take" thing with my post and when I reposted I forgot to include a quoted post.

 

[ronde]

I don't worry about repeating the use of a name in different stories. I do concentrate on making the name match the character because I think this happens in real life - people tend to have personalities that match their name they go by. It's stereotyping I know, but many people with names that contain soft vowels and more than two syllables tend to be quiet individuals on the surface. That's probably because the name was chosen by parents who are of like personality.

Names with hard vowels that sound rather staccato when spoken tend to be the names of people who are outgoing and adventurous.

The other thing that happens is if the name doesn't match the personality, the person will either use a nickname or will abbreviate the original name.

For example, I see Elizabeth or Marion as a quiet, polite woman who would never utter anything remotely crude. Trixie or Sandy is a woman who would probably be a lot of fun. The same can be said of William vs. Mack. Of course, if Elizabeth wants to be exciting to men, she'd probably use Liz instead of Elizabeth. Sandra would tell people her name is Sandy. If William is of the more adventurous type, he'd probably go by Bill.

I use last names to somewhat indicate ancestry, though this doesn't work for blacks after the Civil War. Most slaves had only a first name, and after freed, they chose a last name.

I use middle names to hint at the personality of someone who believes they're better than everybody else. If a character says his name is Winston Mathew Rothsburg, you can be sure he isn't one of the common folk. The exception to this is if I'm writing about the South. It's very common down here for people to go by two names, like Billy Dean, or Lucy Jo.

I do research for names used in former times and also for Native American names.

 

[MrPixel]

...if the name doesn't match the personality, the person will either use a nickname or will abbreviate the original name.

Frequently a nickname is coined by others. F'rinstance, "Steven" is formal, "Steve" is familiar, "Stevie" is affectionate, although "Steven" with the right inflection can convey an intimate connection.

 

[Djmac1031]

When I started writing, I basically just plugged in random names.

And a lot of times that's still the case.

There have been several stories, most notably The White Room and The White Room Revisited, where I chose specific characters names based on their meanings.

It's probably something readers won't investigate, but I did it for my own amusement.

Same with a new story I'm working on, I gave one character in particular a pretty deep cut obscure name that has a very particular meaning that fits in with the tale.

I'm not going to spell it out in story although I may mention it in the afterwards.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Most important to me is that they not be able to be confused with other names in the story

The only thing worse or more confusing is when the author changes a character's name multiple times within a story and doesn't catch it.

 

[KeithD]

I struggle a bit on when to use the given name in a story and when to use the surname. I find in my stories that have age differences, especially when the older character is sexually dominant, I use the given name for the younger character and the surname for the older.

An added name problem for those of us who write gay male and lesbian is the pronouns usage (he/he, she/she) and keeping the action clear. These stories are forced to use names for distinguishing more than a straight story needs to do.

 

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

I struggle a bit on when to use the given name in a story and when to use the surname. I find in my stories that have age differences, especially when the older character is sexually dominant, I use the given name for the younger character and the surname for the older.

An added name problem for those of us who write gay male and lesbian is the pronouns usage (he/he, she/she) and keeping the action clear. These stories are forced to use names for distinguishing more than a straight story needs to do.

Additionally some cultures put a lot of intimate weight on using someones first name.

While in english speaking cultures the surname naturally came about as a means of distinguishing between two people with the same first name. Which is why a lot of last names are occupations or geographic features. As if to answer the question "Which John?"

The answer could be "John the Smith"
Or "John the guy from the Miller"

Which inevitably shortened to John Smith and John Miller.

In many eastern cultures the reverse seems to be the case with first names only being used to dustinguish between people with the same last name. Last names historically signified clan membership and unless a person was also a member of the clan or tribe, there was very little reason to call them by first name.

When visiting a family its often customary to refer to each member by what role they have in the family. Ms. Smith, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Smith, Young Smith, Baby Smith, ect.

If you're like me and watch a lot of eastern media you might be aware of one major exception to the last names rule: Twins. As identical twins are by their nature the same age and gender theres no easy way to distinguish between them with most lingustic constructs (because its mostly signifiers of age, sex, social status, level of education, which are likely going to be the same with twins.)

It's not always considered rude to call a stranger by their first name if they are a twin.

Im not telling anyone what to do here, Im just sharing a find that I found interesting.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I struggle a bit on when to use the given name in a story and when to use the surname. I find in my stories that have age differences, especially when the older character is sexually dominant, I use the given name for the younger character and the surname for the older.

An added name problem for those of us who write gay male and lesbian is the pronouns usage (he/he, she/she) and keeping the action clear. These stories are forced to use names for distinguishing more than a straight story needs to do.

I wonder whether gay/lesbian stories are any more likely to be written in first person as a way to avoid that problem. I can't say I've noticed a tendency in that direction, but it's not like I've been keeping count.

 

[Bramblethorn]

In many eastern cultures the reverse seems to be the case with first names only being used to dustinguish between people with the same last name. Last names historically signified clan membership and unless a person was also a member of the clan or tribe, there was very little reason to call them by first name.

OTOH some cultures put the family name first, individual name last - Chinese names being a major example of this.