Name Those Characters!!

I'm always on the hunt for unusual yet traditional names. I know that sounds like an impossibility, but it's not.

I read a lot. Nothing bothers me more in something I'm reading than a boring name. It doesn't have to be an exciting, exotic name, but it needs to be something that fits the character and is "different" than every other Emily, Caitlyn, and Sarah out there.

So when I'm ready to write a novel, I hunt down names for all of my characters before I begin. The process is actually rather involved sometimes; I have my 6,000 Baby Names book, but that's not always enough. I like to feature at least a few characters in my books from countries other than the U.S., and they need ethnic names. There are some great name sites out on the 'net, and I use those to get names for those foreign characters. But for my American characters, the name thing is often a conundrum for me.

I try to think about the character and what it would sound like for someone to say their name in anger, or in glee, or in love. I try to match the character her or himself to the personality and position they find themselves in. Sometimes it needs to be a Biblical name. Sometimes something more unusual.

I am thankful there are so many sources on the internet for names and their meanings. Back in the day, when I was in college, we didn't have computers or the internet. I would look for names in the phone book, or use the first name of an author I liked. I would even use the names of my friends or roommates or professors. And of course bad guys (or girls) got the names of my nemeses (as in more than one nemisis) in grade school and high school.

But it's still a challenge for me. This year's characters are being named as I dream them up, and so far, so good. We'll see.

At least in this day and age with word processors, if I end up not liking a name, a simple find and replace will take care of that little problem.