They All Can't Be Named Rover
by Kimberley Allen McNamara
One of the tasks of a parent is to name their child (human) or their fur-feather-scale baby (think cat, dog, bird, fish, lizard, snake, mouse…). But naming for most people isn’t just limited to their children or pets. People name their houses, boats, planes, cars etc...We also name places (mountains, deserts, swamps, lakes, rivers, streams, fishing holes... Perhaps it’s just a human condition to want to “name” an item that is dear or necessary to us.
Naming is necessary - let’s face it having three dogs all named Rover would be a bit confusing for both you and them. Naming is a job that carries a lot of weight. Naming matters, so choose wisely.
As writers, we choose our characters names and likewise must be aware of the connotations that a name can carry. Readers will often decide if they like your main character (MC) by the name you’ve given them. This is a huge responsibility. Luckily other writers offer some tips to help ease this burden.
Elizabeth Sims in her article for Writers Digest: The 7 Rules of Picking Names for Fictional Characters recommends that you should check out the root meaning of the name, the era of your character, practice saying the name (it should flow for audible ease) etc..But the one that registered with me was that of alliteration. Sims also says one should consider the allure of alliteration names in making your character memorable.
Alliteration. A technique used by poets as in Poe’s famous “while I pondered weak and weary..” and advertisers with brand names: Coca-Cola, American Airlines… And by authors, consider: Severus Snape by JK Rowling and author, Ashley Weaver’s main character Amory Ames, amateur sleuth and socialite, and star of the Amory Ames mysteries. There is power in alliteration. Consider: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Gilmore Girls - clearly alliteration is present and consider further, that Mrs. Maisel is actually Miriam “Midge” Maisel. And if you doubt the importance of names, consider further still, that it took a whole season before Midge Maisel chose her stage name. Names matter.
Writersedit.com offers in their article 5 Steps to Naming Your Character Effectively offers similar considerations as Sims: you should consider the Time Period of the name, the Culture/Backstory/Family connection of the name, the Meaning of the Name … but they also cite that certain genres have their own “brand” or methodology for naming and if you are genre specific perhaps you should consider these unwritten/but known rules. Further, Writersedit.com urges you to consider who gave your character the name in most cases it’s the parents of the character so what type of name would the parents of your character give your character? Lorelai Gilmore named her daughter Lorelai “Rory” Gilmore.
Sometimes, you may find that the name you’ve chosen for your character just isn't working. Annie Hartnett, author of Rabbit Cake and GrubStreet.org novel generator instructor, recommends changing your character's name because by doing this - by giving your character a new name you may write about them differently and learn something new about them and their story. Changing your character's name can then result in a newness or a greater fullness of your character.
Now if you’re stuck on picking a name there are several sites you can visit to help with this exhausting and taxing task. Among them:
Nameberry.com a site will help you find popular names, or rather a names popularity, create a list, generate names, explore lists of names that are already categorized as “Vintage”, “Cool”, “Unusual or Unique”, “User generated”. You can also find the meaning of a name and names that are similar to a name ie: Emma, according to nameberry.com Isabella, Grace, Emily, Rose, Olivia are all similar to Emma and may provide you with inspiration or a sibling name. There are also forums you can join or post questions re: the names or nicknames for a particular name.
Namegeneratorfun.com - is also a helpful site as it can generate a First, Middle or Last name. All you have to do is pick what type of name you are looking for: First, Middle or Last, then fill in the blanks that you already know ie: looking for first name and last name is McNally, or it can even generate a nickname for your character from the simple to the complex ie: Katherine McNally could be Katherinetta, Lady Katherine, KatherineMcKatherine, Katherine “Skywalker” McNally…. And if you don’t like the choices you can hit the generate button again and another name will be generated. They may at some point repeat but it’s a start.
You can also visit graveyards, peruse playbills, choral and band recital programs, vintage yearbooks, birth, death and wedding announcements or phonebooks, if you can find them, looking for names.
Of course, just like you, your character can also change their name or be known by a nickname but make sure you explain this somehow especially if the nickname is not obvious. For example: Kat for Katherine is an easy connection but calling her Birdy might not be as easy of a leap for your reader hence Catherine, Called Birdy, the author, Karen Cushman put it right there in the title. Or if the name is unusual, as in Marisha Pessel’s Special Topics in Calamity of Physics where the MC is named Blue because as she explains “My mother decided to call me Blue, because...the Cassius Blue was the only butterfly Natasha (mother) could catch.”
If you do choose to use names that are too on the point in terms of meaning and connection you can always have a character diffuse this situation by pointing this out as Alice McDermott does in her novel Charming Billy. McDermott’s main subject character, Billy Lynch, spends much of his youth and energy mourning the loss of Eva and winds up marrying Maeve. Billy becomes a full blown alcoholic and Maeve means the intoxicating one while Eva is a form of Eve, the first woman, or in Billy’s case his first love. These facts do not escape Billy’s cousin Danny Lynch, who points them out at Billy’s funeral; but Danny’s conclusion is dismissed by Dennis Lynch, another cousin and Billy’s best friend. When Dan confronts Dennis with the irony of the names, Dennis “nodded again, shrugged a little as well, as if to say he would be careful. He would not make too much of such things” (McDermott, page 176, Kindle)
Interestingly, Karen Russell author of Swamplandia!, named her MCs, Ava and Kiwi, bird related names. Ava, as meaning from aviary, and Ava, is very much like a caged bird, trapped in Swamplandia! and then in her mission to save her sister. A kiwi is a type of bird that doesn’t fly, and yet, that is precisely what Kiwi, the character, does do, he flies the coop (home) and later a plane.. But like Dennis Lynch, perhaps, you shouldn’t make too much of these things. Of course, nothing is said of the name Dennis, which hails from the god of wine, Dionysus, and that Dennis is the best friend/savior/warden of Billy the alcoholic, but that is another matter.
Not all readers will make a connection between the name you give your MC and the meaning of the name, but some will directly. Others will connect to the MCs name origin but on a subconscious level and others may not even register the meaning of the name of your MC at all. And your readers may very well simply render your MC as likable or trustworthy based upon all the other Jennifers or Jasons they’ve known in their lifetime.
The takeaway: Names matter. Names carry weight. Names influence you. Your character’s name will have an influence on your reader and on you as you write them into existence. Remember there’s a reason why you can’t just name them all Rover.
