What’s in a name?
The other day I realized I had a lot of L-names going on in my WIP, so I set out to change my antagonist’s name with the intensity, resolve and sadness of a new mom whose sister has a baby two weeks before her and chooses the name she wanted to use.
Although the name belonged to the character, it was no longer right. So these are the steps I employed to find the right new name – that I’ll be honest – still sticks in the keys when I type. But, when I settled on it, it was obvious to me that is who this character really was. Just like when I named my daughter and a relative said, “Thats some name you picked.” And how as the child grows they become their name no matter what it is, and you can’t imagine anything else on the plastic license plate twist-tied to the back of their bike.
I’m not there yet with this one, but I’m hopeful.
First, I figured out span of years this character would have been born. Math is not my strong suit. So if someone is about 25-26, and it’s a story set in the present, meaning whenever the story is published, you take the assumed, possible year of publication and subtract the median approximate age of the character. I came up with the character being born any time between 1983 and 1985.
Next, I made sure I knew where this character was born. What state. Which part of what state. What religion, what nationality, what socio-economic background.
Then, and only then did I go to the fabulous Social Security website that lists most popular names by year, by state, by state and year and it goes back way farther than 1983. YIPPEE. You can see 50 most popular names to 500 most popular. I’ve found that the top 100 is a good place to start, because I didn’t want Jennifer that cut off the most popular name for like a 15-year period of time.
A cumbersome step was to wear a few names for a while, carry them around with me in my pocket, try them on the character in a scene or two and read it aloud. Of course they sounded like gibberish at first, I stumbled, faltered. Then I tried to think if I knew anyone with those names – and how that would effect my own perception of a character already fully created. What images popped to mind? I didn’t want to change her, just rename her. I had to make sure that wasn’t the same thing.
Finally, I chose five names using year and state and emailed them to my CP and three beta readers, and in the end picked the one that I liked the most, which of course is also the one my sister-friend chose, and for the same reasons.
And then…I did a Find and Replace, and Nicole was born.
Wow, and I always thought novelists just picked a name out of a hat…
What a cool process! I have a hard time picking out names, too. The name absolutely has to fit, otherwise it just completely throws off everything else.
Amy, I had to do this after my second draft because all the men had Hispanic names beginning with R or M. Like fifteen people. I didn’t use the social security website but I did scour several names sites, particularly the ones with a hispanic focus.
After I did a massive find and replace, I had to keep a cheat sheet on my monitor because I couldn’t remember who anyone was, lol. I shuffled a few names along the way, but my biggest struggle was naming the stripper. Then I remembered a girl that’s always hitting on my husband, and Diana was christened.
So true, though! Names are something we don’t often think about (unless we’re christening a new baby), but they’re so important in WIPs.
Oh my god, and I thought it was rough living in my head! LOL You’re a secret research junkie aren’t you Amy? Come one, admit it.
Alicia,
If only! It would be a lot easier!
Amy
Melissa,
The funny thing is, the new name fits better than the old. I didn’t know that until I tried it on her!
Amy
Melanie,
OMG, that sounds like a nightmare, trying to remember who is who, not to mention what they’ve done. I think, with time, the search and replace function will firmly take place in our brains as well!! One can hope, right?
Amy
Janna,
I imagine it’s important to all writers. If I only used my favorite names it would be much less interesting!
Amy
Val,
You crack me up. I AM a research junkie AND my sister-friend has implored me many times to – way in the future of course – leave my brain to science so that some one can at long last figure out how it works!!
LOL
Amy
Oh I hate that! For me, the personality starts with the name. If I change the name, it always feels so… un-organic! (Just for me! I’m sure Nicole is fabulous! Btw, I love that name.)
We angst over naming our kids…so it’s not strange to me we do the same with our literary babies.
Spy,
I used that method to come up with my protag’s name, and it stuck since the beginning. She has evolved but remained essentially the same. I can’t imagine changing her name — no way!!
Amy
Angie,
It’s pretty cool that we can change character names whenever we want — don’t think my kids would take kindly to a random name change at this point!
Amy
Names are so important. Thanks for sharing that particular naming process.
Most of my characters arrived named. However, I find the international name/meaning sites enormously helpful when I’m flailing. The name’s meaning — be it complimentary or contrasting to the personality — has a lot to do with it for me.
Or, when I want to kill off a character, I name it after someone particularly annoying!
The character is always vastly different from the person who inspired it, but I borrow the name!
We, who are not writers, really have no clue what goes into writing. Makes me love being a reader–hats off to all you literary folks.