Names you hate?

[Guest]

Bah. You know, I hope, that I'm not saying that I am *right* about these names - only confessing my own narrow-minded prejudices. Pray don't take me too seriously.

Besides, I'm as bad as anyone. I've got a fantasy story in progress with the leads named Harulth and Aelwyn. Perhaps Aelwyn's three sisters, Aelethe, Freyna, and Janna, should be renamed "pot," "kettle," and "black." Oh, and I think it was Dr. M. who observed of my Victorian piece that naming a gay man "Julian St. Claire" really is the gay equivalent of "Fifi Va Voom." Let's not even get into what sort of mind names someone "Lord Sebastian Vayne" - why, is that a pseudo-exotic mispelling of a common word I spy?

Shanglan

I'll say it 10 times a day, and mean it every single time -- I just adore the horsey! I'll have your paper-n-ink love child any ol' time

 

[blackhaus7]

I hate names that are mispelled. Like Trystan, Kristel, Danyelle, Audree, Kayte. Blech.

Blech? I like Blech. Sounds like a Disney villian.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Bah. You know, I hope, that I'm not saying that I am *right* about these names - only confessing my own narrow-minded prejudices. Pray don't take me too seriously.

Besides, I'm as bad as anyone. I've got a fantasy story in progress with the leads named Harulth and Aelwyn. Perhaps Aelwyn's three sisters, Aelethe, Freyna, and Janna, should be renamed "pot," "kettle," and "black." Oh, and I think it was Dr. M. who observed of my Victorian piece that naming a gay man "Julian St. Claire" really is the gay equivalent of "Fifi Va Voom." Let's not even get into what sort of mind names someone "Lord Sebastian Vayne" - why, is that a pseudo-exotic mispelling of a common word I spy?

Shanglan

On a lark:

T'larin, Ral and Tess
Da'rithniel Chalandor, Tal'marin, and Dei
Jaan and Tuveleta
Jade and Angelina
Margo and Lana
Sotina & Jala
Lindsey & Simmons


My sins thus far

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Are there any types of names that you hate?--ones you just can't bring yourself to use in a story? Or can't use unless they're attatched to a particularly awful character?

Nope.

There's a time and place for everything, including names. But then I've known folks named: Opal, Homer, Iris, Dolan, Winona, Elam, Bernice, Abraham, and even an Adolph (Dolph).

The only names I try to avoid are those of friends and family members due to associations with them possibly messing up character development.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[BlackShanglan]

On a lark:

T'larin, Ral and Tess
Da'rithniel Chalandor, Tal'marin, and Dei
Jaan and Tuveleta
Jade and Angelina
Margo and Lana
Sotina & Jala
Lindsey & Simmons


My sins thus far

Clearly you must be chastized for them. I promise I'll be gentle.

Shanglan

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Clearly you must be chastized for them. I promise I'll be gentle.

Shanglan

Party pooper, and here I had my pony girl outfit ready

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I tend to dislike "trendy" names, names that are over-used just because they are popular today. Britney or Brittany, for instance. Ashlee (talk about mispelled!). And Paris- since when was that a girl's name, anyway? Same with Jen. I prefer Jenny to Jen. It seems less trendy and more down-to-earth. Some old names are nice. Some are just stuffy, like Agatha. And last names suck as first names. Taylor, really? Unless you are a Boston Brahmin, you have no business with a last name for a first name. Just my two cents.

 

[oggbashan]

I have a collection of Baby Name books, about 50.

They don't make naming my characters any easier because I have thousands of choices.

I still tend to use vanilla names or just simple identifiers 'mana', 'manb', 'womanc' in the early drafts until the characters have developed enough to give me a sense of which names might be appropriate and which would not be.

I try avoid any names that have associations with TV shows that are popular in the UK.

So many names have characteristics built in.

For example: what are your impressions of these names?

Male:
Augustus
Drew
Eugene
Marmaduke
Oscar
Ralph
Sidney

Female:
Abigail
Ayesha
Biddy
Christabel
Gladys
Lavender
Ursula

Which would you use for the handsome but stupid hero? Which would you use for the beautiful and talented heroine?

And Yes. I do have favourites from those lists for the roles.

Og

 

[JackHarrison]

As a reader and a fan, I don't care to read pseudo-African names. Moesha, for instance. Not my thing. If they were truly African, that would be one thing. I'm no bloody racist. I just don't care for fake African culture.

 

[Guest]

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I was curious... so I checked...

Most of the names I've used: (on Lit at any rate)

Lizzie
Sarah
Don
Chad
Lynn
David (too many times to count, I seem to have an affinity for this one, dunno why!)
Tim
Ronan & Celia (it was a French story, k?)
Sam
Maggie
Lily
Adam
Luke
Amy
Chris
Ginny
Sean
Michael
Nick
Catherine
Dawn
Darla
Carrie
Lee
Irene
Gus
Maureen
Mariam & Yeshua
Susan
Jennifer
Seth
Dennis
Samantha
Del
Beth
Ray
Jack
Shawn
Ellie
Tom
James
Scott
Katie
Sabrina
Tara
John
Kelly
Nicky
Jesse
Chad
Sam
Annabelle
Steven
Emily
Danielle
Billy
Sunny
Anana
Davis


I'm surprised, aside from David, Tom, and I think Lynn and Jennifer, how few doubles there are...

 

[Aurora Black]

As a reader and a fan, I don't care to read pseudo-African names. Moesha, for instance. Not my thing. If they were truly African, that would be one thing. I'm no bloody racist. I just don't care for fake African culture.

So far I've managed to avoid those.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

As a reader and a fan, I don't care to read pseudo-African names. Moesha, for instance. Not my thing. If they were truly African, that would be one thing. I'm no bloody racist. I just don't care for fake African culture.

I can respect your opinion, but as an author, if i am writing an african-american female, and I want to keep some realism, she probably isn't named Jane Doe.

Obviously she wouldn't have to have an unusual name, but she very well could have one. Using one is not a staement on my part about african heritage, pro or con, it's simply in keeping with the concept of the character.

 

[Guest]

I have a collection of Baby Name books, about 50.

They don't make naming my characters any easier because I have thousands of choices.
/QUOTE]

I have several such books (no where near your collection!) My favorite is a book of names from famous works of literature, with little snippets about the character named. Sometimes I leaf through it and some character will pop up and say "Oh, that's me! that's me right there!" -- rarely having anything to do with the snippet I read, but apparently connecting somehow!

 

[JackHarrison]

I can respect your opinion, but as an author, if i am writing an african-american female, and I want to keep some realism, she probably isn't named Jane Doe.

Obviously she wouldn't have to have an unusual name, but she very well could have one. Using one is not a staement on my part about african heritage, pro or con, it's simply in keeping with the concept of the character.

You mean what her mum would have named her? A valid point, I suppose. It just never made sense to me. I would think that mothers would look up actual African names, not politically correct ones. But I grasp what you mean, I think.

 

[JackHarrison]

So far I've managed to avoid those.

Ah, good news.

 

[Guest]

You mean what her mum would have named her? A valid point, I suppose. It just never made sense to me. I would think that mothers would look up actual African names, not politically correct ones. But I grasp what you mean, I think.

the interesting point on this that comes to mind is -- what if the mother in question is someone who ascribes to pseudo-African culture (or Celtic or Chinese or whathaveyou)? That could be an important part of who the character is -- that they have this fakey ethnic name that fits in with what the people in their social group think is good, etc. etc.

You can do a lot with a name.

 

[JackHarrison]

the interesting point on this that comes to mind is -- what if the mother in question is someone who ascribes to pseudo-African culture (or Celtic or Chinese or whathaveyou)? That could be an important part of who the character is -- that they have this fakey ethnic name that fits in with what the people in their social group think is good, etc. etc.

You can do a lot with a name.

I suppose that you have a point, darling. I don't expect to see a regular bloke or lass being an expert on African culture, after all.

 

[Aurora Black]

Ah, good news.

As an author, I give my characters the name that suits them the most and sounds natural. Color, until recently, was never an issue in my writing. I can only speak for myself when I say that stereotypical sounding Black/African/whatever names like Shaquanda or Nabeesha (bullshit examples) absolutely make my skin crawl.

ETA: Here's a random piece of trivia that I heard a while back.

The largest percentage of people with Greek names, besides native Greeks and Greek-Americans/Europeans/Austrailians?

Answer: African-Americans.

 

[JackHarrison]

As an author, I give my characters the name that suits them the most and sounds natural. Color, until recently, was never an issue in my writing. I can only speak for myself when I say that stereotypical sounding Black/African/whatever names like Shaquanda or Nabeesha (bullshit examples) absolutely make my skin crawl.

ETA: Here's a random piece of trivia that I heard a while back.

The largest percentage of people with Greek names, besides native Greeks and Greek-Americans/Europeans/Austrailians?

Answer: African-Americans.

LMAO.

 

[Aurora Black]

LMAO.

I'm dead serious.

 

[JackHarrison]

I'm dead serious.

That's fucking scary.

 

[Aurora Black]

That's fucking scary.

Eh?

 

[JackHarrison]

Eh?

That statistic is. Just bizarre more than scary, I should say.

 

[Aurora Black]

That statistic is. Just bizarre more than scary, I should say.

I was surprised when I heard about it, yes.

What I mean to say is that I don't assign colors to names or vice versa. We're all members of the human race, so all my characters can have any name they want as long as it suits their personality. Equal opportunity all the way, baby.