Names facinate us.
From Romeo & Juliet’s famous “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” to In the Heat of the Night‘s “They call me Mr. Tibbs!” to Cats’ “The naming of cats is a difficult matter/ It isn’t just one of your holiday games/You may think at first I am mad as a hatter/When I tell you a cat must have three different names.”
Does a person’s (or cat’s) or character’s name matter? I believe most people, writers in particular, would answer with an unqualified “Yes!” Where would we be if Rhett Butler had been named Hiram Muddle? If Elizabeth Bennett had been called Maude Staples? If Heathcliff had been just Sam?
Names are so personal, so intrinsic a part of a person or character, that the writer must take care to select the one name that will crystallize that character in the reader’s mind.
Not that writers always have a choice. At least I don’t. Although most of my characters seem satisfied with the names I give them, there is a Tommy who tried to be an Andrew, but he’s pretty much given that up. However, in one story outline there is a woman who I wanted to name Celinda but who is adamant that she will be called Pamela. I have finally conceded to her demands, and given Celinda to a younger, more maleable character in a short story.
I am always interested in other author’s penchant for odd names. Jo Beverly’s medieval names in her Malloren series, Kathleen Woodiwis’ Aislinn, Synnovea, Cerynise, Wulfgar and a host of others, have delighted me and spurred me on to collect interesting names (or interesting spellings of names) for my own characters. Many names come from people I have met (Celinda is one, Jauric another) and some I have created on a whim or taken from an unlikely source (Cyntessa, Sistine).
What names to you like? Do you have a favorite name for a character? How do you come up with names for your characters?
Stop by and let me know what YOU think is in a name.
Jenna Jaxon Romance--because passion is timeless. 