I skirted this topic a few months ago in my post, A Cat by Any Other Name. But today I want to talk less about pets or real people and more about the characters who keep us glued to a story. Just how important is their name to the reader?
I like to think that most readers are like me. When I encounter a name I don’t personally care for or one I can barely pronounce, I imprint it visually on my brain so I can glide right past it. I recognize who the character is, but I don’t even pronounce the name in my brain anymore. I think I first learned this habit reading Dr. Seuss and it may be what trips me up when I try to read pure fantasy books.
But I’ve been tripped up by contest judges, reviewers and even my editor, who has questioned some of my character name choices. I had one literary agent reject LYING EYES because “even the character names are clichés.” Well, um, yeah. If you read the story, it’s pretty far-fetched and a little cartoon-y. I chose character names that fit that world. Cosmo Fortune the magician, Iris the heroine and owner of Lying Eyes, Mickey the petty thief, Jock and Pebbles the not-so-bright thugs, and Justin Hunter the cop seeking justice. Maybe they are clichés, but they were selected with reason.
My editor had a bias against men’s names that ended with -y sounds. She wanted me to change Mickey to Mick. Actually, Mickey is his undercover name. Truth to tell, I don’t care for the name Mickey at all. The character’s real name is Michael. But trying to change him to Mick made him sound too British for my Las Vegas setting. And it also sounded too much like Nick. And this may be a personal bias of mine, but I’ve read dozens of books with heroes named Nick.
In a recent review of AMBERSLEY, the reviewer felt the need to point out that Regency period characters would never name their children Amber or Derek. Well, for the record, my heroine is named Amber after her father’s estate (an estate she cannot inherit), and she then goes through the book known and commonly referred to as Johanna, her middle name. Okay, admittedly, Derek wasn’t common in early 19th century, gaining prominence in late 19th century, according to The Cassell Dictionary of Names (a great resource, btw). Here’s another case where I actually hate my hero’s name. But I tried for years during revision to find another name for him and he refused to allow it.
You see, that’s the thing with characters. Eventually they become so real in our minds that we can’t just railroad them with our opinions. They start to talk back—a bit annoying, really. But that’s when you know you have a character worthy of demanding a story.
I’m working on PORTMAN SQUARE right now, the second book in my Lords of London series. I’ve known all along that Harry would fall in love with St. John Trevarthan’s sister. In early drafts, I named her Marianne. But as I got down to the serious writing and developing all the characters and relationships, I couldn’t quite rid myself of my association with the name Mary Ann–you know, the cute castaway on Gilligan’s Island. I tried for over a week to rename this character. Miranda was my first choice, but I’ve actually got a story plotted with a Miranda heroine, and I don’t want to go changer her name. Then I thought of Melicent, and I even tested it in a number of scenes. But it was no good. While I’m not crazy about the sound of “Harry and Marianne,” this heroine is solid enough in my mind that I cannot change her name.
So, tell me, do you notice character names? Do you care whether you like them or don’t? Do you make automatic associations with names? Are there names you feel are overused?
That’s funny, I never really thought about it, but you’re right… I do skim over names I don’t know how to pronounce.
I have a character name in my ya that I’m not sure why I used and now its too late. I’m working on book 3 and everytime I’m writing his name, I’m like “why did i pick that?!” mostly because its not anything hip or cool. I have no idea really where it came from. lol
One of the characters in my Miracle Interrupted series reminds me of Sam Elliott – so I called him Sam, which I usually try to avoid. But it fit him. I had to keep it. It bothers me when a name in one of my books doesn’t fit. I hate that.
Oddly, when I read other writers’ books, their name choices don’t rarely annoy me. Unless the book has names that are so similar that they confuse me, I accept them, even if they’re names I normally dislike.
And, yay, I’m glad you’re writing again! I’m eager to read your next book.
Amy, this is one of the reasons I struggle with sci-fi and some historical books. Awkward character names and settings make me stumble and interfere with my enjoyment of the story.
When I pick a name for a character, I like the name to also morph easily into a nickname since nicknames are important to me. I usually spend quite a bit of time researching names and trying them out before I land on the right one. It’s a part of the process I really enjoy!
Btw, I’m fond of the name Amy. I never personally knew any Amys until I wrote the first Witches Anonymous story…and now I know half a dozen, including you! It’s like I wrote you all into my life.
Hi Amy,
For me the name has to fit the story and the character. Once I have a name for a main character, I can rarely change it. Secondary characters I can often change, particularly if they ended up too close to another.
Congrats on writing again!
Dale Mayer`s last blog was …Blog Tour for Family Blood Ties series – Vampire in Denial and Vampire in Distress!
I am partial to the name Amy in a story, too. Ha ha.
I’m a fan of really strong male names. Generally, I’ll have heroes who are given one syllable names (I read this study once that said people felt like a one-syllable male name was more masculine and commanding)…and since I write about alphas…;)
I like names that I can pronounce or if they are given nicknames that helps. I stumble over weird ones, but I do try to look up the correct way of saying it. For example “Rhys” was hard in a story since I didn’t know how to say it, but after googling it, I figured out it is pronounced Reese. There has only been a few times that a character in a story was named the same as my husband (Rob) but it was always a creepy secondary character so that sort of stinks. I am not too picky, though!
Amy, the hero in my wip, Miracle Lane, is Rob. You’re right, I don’t see that used often.
I need to read more of your books, Edie! I did read Dead People and really liked it (courtesy of Misty Evans)! Which of yours should I read next?
Ok, so the ones that drive me nuts are the ones that are pronounced so completely different than what they look like… I’m from the midwest… Goeffrey… and now, a friend has a nephew named that -
ok, neither the friend nor I am too crazy about the mom anyway… so I find the name rather pretentious for some kid from the midwest.. now if they lived on the east coast or in the UK.. it would be a whole other thing…
I love names. They can be as simple as Mary or John, but it’s up to the author to make me fall inlove with them and then, frankly, I could give a damn about their names.
Karin* Tabke aka Harlow!`s last blog was …CAPA Winner!
I also skip over names that have too many syllables or are difficult to pronounce. And I have to admit to deciding not to read a few books because the names were too cheesy, and I thought that was probably an enditement on the whole book.
When I write historical novels, I try to find out which names were most commonly used at that time, and pick some of those.