On Names

When you start a story, a big thing you have to figure out is character names, something which will enable you and your reader to identify them. I have just a few points today.

1. Keep names simple. I've noticed that some of the most memorable characters in literature, TV, movies, or other mediums are the ones with simple names. Consider characters like James Bond, Harry Potter, Jack Bauer, Frodo Baggins, Katniss Everdeen, etc... Their names are not five syllables long or impossible to pronounce or remember. Now, I'm not saying going for names like "John Doe" or something bland. Find a name for your character(s) that is easy to pronounce, easy to remember, but also something that is distinguishable from other characters, whether your own or other writers'm, and the same thing goes for names you may make up for science fiction, fantasy, or related genras.

2. Make sure the name fits. There are some names that, when combined with a character, just fit perfectly; you can't imagine them having a different name. However, there likely will be times when you just can't find the right name. In one of my stories, my protagonist was called "Agnes" but when I started the second draft I changed her name to "Angelica." I'm still not happy with her name, and I'm still experimenting with other names to find the perfect one, though I'm happy with the names of the other characters in the story. If the name doesn't fit, then keep looking for the right one.

3. Make sure two different characters don't have similar names. Years ago when I was creating tons of names for a fantasy world that I was working on, there were a few names that sounded alike. It took me some time, but I eventually realized that readers would get confused about which character was which, so I started changing a few of the names. Within the past year, I had to do this again in a recent novel attempt, where I had a brother and a sister named Alex and Allie, both of whom had variations of the name "Alexander" or "Alexandra" as their full name. To help distinguish between the two (and to prevent the girl from having a name too similar to the literary character she was loosely based on), I changed the girl's name to Meg, which fits her much better. So, keep an eye on your character names and make sure that they don't sound too alike.

I may think of other tips later, but consider these points when naming your characters.