What’s in a Name?

When you’re writing a piece of fiction, you’re creating an entire world, and it’s your responsibility to fill it with people and places. But that world, those people, those places, they all need names.

Choosing the names for anything and everything in my world is important to me in many different ways, and it can also be difficult. If you use a common name, you open your character up to misconceptions that the reader will have, based on their own life experiences. Perhaps there’s a Mike that made your life miserable. Before you even know anything about the character, when you discover their name is Mike, you’re going to have a hard time giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Names also have a connotation, and a symbolism. But these can also vary between readers. For some people, a Cathy could be associated with a ‘Chatty-Cathy.’ Or it could also be someone whose stern or a little uptight. The connotative implication of a name can also rely a lot on it’s aesthetic. How does the name sound as you say it? Does it have a lot of harsh stops, or smooth undertones? Rick is very short and staccato, while Amelia is very fluid and graceful. The tones and feeling of a name can make a difference.

Everyone has a style when it comes to what names they like, and what names they don’t. That’s why people can have a hard time agreeing when they’re coming up with baby names. If one person tends towards names that are elegant and end in ‘a,’ and the other person prefers names with more of a finality at the end, they might find if difficult to choose one they’re both happy with.

One thing that I spend an excessive amount of time over is the definition of a name. I like to look at the roots of the name and where they originate from. Different areas of the world use different textures in their names, and they derive a lot of the roots to their names from their language.

Beretta is a woman’s name with Italian roots. A Beretta is also a gun manufacturer. Most of the name is made up of stops, but it ends with that unfinished ‘a.’ Combined with its origin, a female character named Beretta might be a fierce protector and indomitable opponent, who isn’t afraid to stare danger in the face and be the first to strike. There’s plenty of ‘word’ names derived from languages that I could spend weeks dissecting (and believe me, I have).

A place is far easier to name. You don’t have to take into consideration whether it’s an odd name for a person. Places are far more flexible. Does the name give an air of safety and comfort, or perhaps mystery and danger? A town called Wisteria Valley is probably a quaint country town, where as a house at the end of Bleary Lane could potentially be haunted.

So when I’m naming a character, I take a lot into consideration. Where is that characters background, where are they from? What are their core values? If I had to describe them with just one word, what would that word be?

The character’s in these books have highly cultivated names. I wanted to find the right balance between new, interesting names, and ones that were easily discernible. A lot of the book is steeped in Greek and Roman mythology, religions throughout the ages, and metaphysical, mystical elements. So these are prominent themes with the names I chose. For each one, I looked up it’s origins, and dissected its root meanings, finding exactly what would fit with the character, and the role they’ll play in the story. So, when the book comes out later this year, keep an ear out for character’s names, and see if you can find any hints about that character before they’re revealed.