By Caroline Clemmons
Who knew choosing names for characters was such a big deal?
When I first began publishing, choosing a name wasn’t so
hard. I looked for strong names for men and era appropriate names for women.
For villains, I used names of people who had, historically, caused my family
harm. As my list of books grew, so did the difficulty of choosing character
names.
I have to admit I’ve goofed a few times. I have two stories
in which the heroine is named Beth, short for Elizabeth, because that’s a name
I love and one which repeats in my family. In two books, I use McDonald as the hero’s
surname although the books are not linked in any way.
For each series, I keep a bible (not as in The Bible) of
facts and characters. Each character’s name includes a brief description and
occupation if important. You’d think this would keep me on target, but I still
goofed on the Stone Mountain (Texas) series. A deputy sheriff started with the
nickname Buster (named for my wonderful late brother-in-law Buster Reed) and suddenly
appeared as Sheriff Butch Parrish in a later book. Oops! I’d plead temporary
befuzzlement because I’d just written a post on Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid for another blog, but that’s really no excuse.
Now I keep a list of each book’s title plus names of hero
and heroine and heroine’s hair and eye color. Since my personal hero has dark
hair and blue eyes, so do my storybook heroes unless I need (rarely) to vary
the pattern. I did for Eduardo Montoya in the Stone Mountain (Texas) series and Nathaniel Bartholomew in the Kincaid series. For historical names, I rely on my ancestry. Our family used some
names that are real doozies, but I love unusual names of each period—Parmelia,
Delthene, Atheline, Venice.
One year I attended a seminar at a Romance Writers of
America Conference on naming characters. The presenter suggested using names
with strong consonants with a hard sound of K, D, and T for a hero. Also, she
suggested strong mental images for a hero's name. I hope I’ve done that for the surnames of
Stone, Hunter, Kinkaid, McClintock, Knight, and others.
Authors of numerous books face this challenge. I’m sure of
this because on author-only loops I see posts asking for name suggestions. Eventually we become stumped.
Sometimes,
we let readers choose a name as part of a contest. I did that for O’NEILL’S
TEXAS BRIDE, McClintocks book 2. Linda Clayton won naming rights but couldn’t
decide between Stella and Nettie Sue Clayton for the heroine. I made Stella Clayton
the heroine of that book and the heroine of
McCLINTOCK’S RELUCTANT BRIDE, McClintock’s book 3, became Nettie Sue Clayton.
That was fun, so I thought I’d do that again. Someone who
leaves a comment on this posts can choose the name for the heroine of an
upcoming book—IF I haven’t already used the name. Upcoming books include a heroine in 1887.
Any suggestions? If so, please leave them in a
comment. In addition to character naming rights, the winner gets a $20 Amazon card.
Keeping the names straight would be tough without keeping records.
ReplyDeleteA fun contest thank you.
I have always loved Clementine as a name.
That's a good name, Mary. Makes me want to sing the song, but I don't want to scare anyone. LOL
DeleteConradine
ReplyDeleteMartha
Jasmine
Charlotte
Pamela, keeping with the A on the end of name.
Emila
Avery
Kaly
Choosing a name is hard to do. I waited until I saw my babies to name them. To get a sense of their personalities.
Several good ones, Charlene. Thanks.
DeleteZuleska(Polish) Zully
ReplyDeleteI love that. Wish I'd known it a couple of books ago because there is Polish man in the Bride Brigade series who has sent for his fiancee in Poland.
DeleteDaisy or Ophelia? Rose or Delilah? That's all I can think of right now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestions, Karren.
DeleteDestiny Louise.....Mable Ann
ReplyDeleteThose are both good suggestions. Thank you.
DeleteAlma, Lula, Stella or Agnes. My grandmother and her sisters all born late 1880's
ReplyDeleteThank you for those suggestions.
DeleteFern
ReplyDeleteCena
Lana
Thank you for your suggestions.
DeleteEthel, Fannie, Bethelda, Tamalthy, Darcus, Emeline, Bethal, Sylvany. Zilphy (I like this one).
ReplyDeleteI like Zilphy, too, Pam. I've never heard it used, which is good.
DeleteArizona (Zonie) or India
ReplyDeleteI know someone named India. I like Zonie.
DeleteZella maternal great grandma
ReplyDeleteLouise paternal great grandma
Great names, Mercedes.
DeleteI love names that stick out or are extremely unique.... I have always thought Delphine was beautiful and Darley.... Norelle...
ReplyDeleteDelphine is a great name! Sounds elegant and mysterious, doesn't it?
DeletePriscilla (Prissy)(Cilla)
ReplyDeleteNaoma
Ruby
Adrianna
Gia
Vanessa (Van)(Nessa)
Darlene (Dar)
Keziah
Abigail
Opal
Scarlet
Kristie
Jenna
Pearl
Wow, you have some great names here!
DeleteThank you, these are all family names.
DeleteOk, you asked for it! Lol! I went through 1800s names and there were so many I loved that I'm going to list them all (even if it feels like I'm cheating here). So here goes: Catherine, Julia, Eva, Mattie, Lillie, Lucille (or Lucy), Leila, Sadie, Florie (what we called my aunt Florence), Lydia, Lottie, Georgia, Emily, Charlotte, Pauline, Evelyn, Birdie, Sylvia, Dollie, Loretta, Winnie, Adeline, Abbie and Flossie. Phew! :-)
ReplyDeleteJudy, you listed some great names, a few of which I've used, but most haven't been used. I've used Catherine but with a K, Lydia, Charlotte, Birdie, and Abbie. Still leaves a lot to work with.
DeleteDorothy
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteCorinne, Marguerite, Madge, Alathea
ReplyDeleteThese are all family names. The first two were my grandmothers, the next is a great aunt (never married, died at 100) and the last was my husband's grandmother.
Lovely names. I've always thought Corinne sounded elegant and can't think why I haven't used it. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI kind of like Virginia, its an old name.
ReplyDeleteI like it too, but I used it for a secondary character. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI like Arabella can be Bella or Bell for short or simpler names like Jean or Nora are good.
ReplyDeleteAnnetta Sweetko
Arabella, called Belle, was an important secondary character in the first two Kincaid books. My cousin's name is Belle, named after her paternal grandmother. Lovely name.
DeleteSuper post. I really get into my name choices, too. Have used a lot of family ones myself. Glad Beth is a favorite with you. :)
ReplyDeleteNames are so important. I can't begin a story until the main character(s) have a name.
Beth, character names are really important to set the mood of the book.
DeleteThis is a fun post. How about Ivy or Magdeline/Magdelena lots of nicknames here Maggie, Del, Lena.
ReplyDeleteGreat names, Gini.
DeleteAlso the name of my mom's neighbor, Delene.
DeletePenelope, Mable, Ariana, Alessandra. Good luck with your name search
ReplyDeleteOh, those are good names. I'm already using Penelope in a time travel I'm writing, named for my sister-in-law Penny.
DeleteMy grandmother's name was Luella. Old Scandinavian name. This is fun seeing all the choices.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how many great names have been suggested?
DeleteWhat a difficult decision! I chose vmcbride77 as winner of the $20 gift card and Judy Loughman as runner up for a $10 gift card. I'm saving the list of names and of those who suggested them for the future. If I use a name you suggested, I'll send you a gift card. Thanks to everyone who played!
ReplyDeleteWow, Thank you for choosing me as your winner!
DeleteYou need to send me your email so I can send you the gift card.
DeleteReply and IM sent. Thank you.
DeleteWhat fun!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Reina.
DeleteMy grandmother, Margaret Nottingham, was born in San Antonio in 1886. She was called "Maggie" and after she married my grandfather, George Ben Silcock, she was known as Maggie Silcock.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I had an aunt Margaret called Mag.
DeleteHow about Pauline? My grandmothers name
ReplyDeleteA pretty name. Thanks for commenting.
Delete