# Character Names and Story Titles



## OurJud (Aug 2, 2013)

This is a double-barrel, multi-layered question.

At what point do you title your short story/novel? How important do you feel it is? And how do you usually come up with the name?

How important do you feel characters' names are, and how do you chose them? *



_* Taking for granted that you would give a German character a German name, and so on._


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## Accentuated atmosphere (Aug 2, 2013)

I've yet to entitle my own story. I have a couple of ideas but nothing sticks. It's all set I Ireland (mostly) so I opted to just use biblical names and a couple of Irish origin names (in the Irish Language.)

The main character is named Kieran O'Hanlon. His father is named Ethan Callaghan and his mother is named Caroline O'Hanlon. There's a police chief called Adrian Bailer and there is a girl from England named Annmarie Barton. Her parents are Giles and Glenda. And then... Stuff happens...


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## Sintalion (Aug 2, 2013)

I name it last. I don't consider title at all important until the story is complete and I have a good idea of what I absolutely want it to convey. A good title can tell you a lot about the novel, without necessarily saying anything in particular. 

I choose them based on what makes sense for the time/area. Typically I just scroll through a list of names fitting the culture/time/nationality and pick what fits, then a surname. I don't look for extra meaning or thought other than that it fits the character's parents (or whomever names the kiddo). Most of the time, I am more concerned with getting the story right. Whether the character is Ashley, Jill, or Simba is less important to me. Any or all three can grow up to be the hero. My parents didn't name me Kellie because they thought I was a warrior maiden. They wanted a name that made you smile when you said it. I knew a Chris Cross; hated his name, but he's a great doctor. 

Some names I just come up with on the spot. 

They don't need to have a special name meaning 'fire' or some such thing that I see all the time (unless the plot specifically is written that way).


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## Kehawin (Aug 2, 2013)

My romance novel - the one I wrote 14 years ago - didn't get a title until about halfway though.  The title it ended up with was something that came to me when I had the character imagine what her name would be when she married.  It worked out that her married name was a catchy title:  Rose Steele.  I debated between Steele Rose and Rose of Steele, and the latter seemed more descriptive of the character, so it stuck.  It wasn't something I planned, really.  As for character names, there was another thread about that not too long ago.  I am of the camp that feels very strongly about my character's names, and I put a lot of thought into them.  I don't like them to be too "obvious", but each and every name of even the most minor of characters in my book has meaning - either to me personally or in a traditional sense.  The character in the romance novel was named after two of my own ancestors who lived during the time-frame the book in set in, the male characters (twins) were given biblical names - Ezekial and Zakariah (based on  the brothers "Jacob have I loved, Essau have I hated" from the Bible - yes it was a good twin evil twin story) names that were popular during that era (post civil war).  Their last name was chosen because of their character traits.

In my current WIP, the names of the characters are, as always, significant.  Meredith is a Welsh name translated in several different ways, all of them appropriate.  Ian is the Irish version of John - significant because of its Christian connection.  Carrie's full name is Ceridwen, but she doesn't go by that except "over there".  Tanister, Carrie's last name, translates from Old English as "second in command".  Maddox, Meredith and Ian's last name, is a nod to the legend of Maddoc and the Welsh Indians.  DJ is the name of the senior class president/football player when I was a junior in HS who against all odds was actually wholesome and pure but few people knew it - who holds a dear place in my heart.  So, yeah, my character names are planned.  BUT, when I read a story, I don't go researching the name the author chose to see if there's hidden meanings.  It's just something like a game I like to play with myself when I create them.

Don't worry too much about either issue.  The names can always be edited if you change your mind, and the Title can remain "WIP" right up until it is polished and submitted!


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## OurJud (Aug 2, 2013)

For the record I don't worry about this. It wasn't so much a question because it's something I struggle with. It was asked more out of curiosity.

I title my work immediately, but never spend more than a few seconds doing this, and it's only ever a 'working title' anyway. As for character names, I find this website invaluable: Generate a Random Name - Fake Name Generator


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## Jeko (Aug 2, 2013)

There is a point at which I title any piece of writing, and it's always different, and once I have a title it almost never changes. I come up with the title by writing the story. For me it's important hat the title ties in clearly with the events, characters or themes of the story; else it wouldn't be the title of that story.

I either make a name based on the character or make a character based on the name. Either way makes good characters for childrens' fiction. 

And I despise random name generators as much as I despise Anton du Beke's face.


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## bookmasta (Aug 2, 2013)

Title doesn't come to me until I finish it most of the time. Names are the hardest part for me. Its hard to find one that fits certain characters the way I want it to.


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## OurJud (Aug 2, 2013)

bookmasta said:


> Names are the hardest part for me. Its hard to find one that fits certain characters the way I want it to.



How so, bookmasta? What's your chosen genre?


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## J Anfinson (Aug 2, 2013)

Titles, to me, are like the essence of the story. Sometimes I'll write a line of narrative or dialogue and it'll hit me that what I just wrote would make a great title. Other times I have to sit and ponder over it for days or weeks. And sometimes I'll have a title before I even have a story. So yeah, I find the title important. For character names I'll usually use whatever first pops into my head just to start writing. At some point during the process I'll have a different name come to me, and if it seems perfect for that character I'll use Word's "find and replace" feature to change it over.


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## tabasco5 (Aug 2, 2013)

At some point the title chooses itself.  Sometimes it may be waiting on me when I start, sometimes halfway through, sometimes a few months later when something spurs my brain.

I consider character names to be of tier one importance.  Nothing says more about your character than his name.


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## gmehl (Aug 2, 2013)

I go with the title first (probably a carry-over from non-fiction work) and lately even have cover concepts, which I print out and tack to the wall just to help focus on the goal line.  Character names come in a variety of ways, but it's important that I can type it easily and it kind of rolls off my tongue smoothly (first, last, first-last, nicknames if any) and "fits" the image I have of the character.


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## Staff Deployment (Aug 2, 2013)

fenbields5 said:


> I consider character names to be of tier one importance.  Nothing says more about your character than his name.



There are many of whom would strongly disagree with you on this point.

Luckily, I'm not one of them! Names are very important. Though I don't stoop so low as to attach any metaphor or symbolism to names (wouldn't name a betraying brother "Cain", for instance, or a dark-haired girl "Raven" dear lord no), I do allow some sort of personality to emerge.

Titles, on the other hand, are more difficult.
My best titles are self-consciously long-winded and inane like "Whoops Sorry George Didn't See You There, Did You Get the Drinks" (which is _totes_ gonna get published) but those have their own inherent problems, i.e. nobody can remember them / refer to them in passing. No possibility of word-of-mouth.


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## Dictarium (Aug 2, 2013)

I think it's important that names are memorable enough that nobody will ever have to think about who a character is, and yet not so distracting that it takes away from the story whenever you mention a character. J.K. Rowling, in my opinion, did this well. I'd never once heard of lots of the names in Harry Potter -- Severus, Argus, Albus, Minerva, Rubeus, Draco -- and yet, as a first grader, I found myself questioning neither their peculiarity nor their foreignness to me. It was the Deans, Seamuses, and Nevilles (the more commonplace names) that I found more difficult to distinguish from one another at first.

A name has to sound good and unique while also not being distracting. And, if you can throw in a bit of meaning with a butchered latin word or two, have at it.


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## Tiamat (Aug 2, 2013)

I'm gonna answer this in reverse order.  Character names, for me, come about before I've even figured out the plot.  Case in point, for my latest WIP, I knew I wanted to write something allegorical.  A love story, but with more far-reaching themes.  Rose and Will.  Rose Elizabeth Thomas and William Zachary Hobbs, if you want to get particular.  Those are my two MCs.  I picked their names before I had a clue what the story was going to be about.  I don't buy into that theory that the name has to be just right for the character.  I think the character becomes their name, not the other way around.  Do you have any idea how many people have told me I look like a Stephanie?  And it's true--I do.  Because I am.  But I know at least a dozen other Stephanies, and I don't look even remotely like any of them apart from having the same reproductive organs.

As to titles, that's a much harder beast to conquer.  Unlike your characters' names, the title is generally the first impression anyone gets of your book.  It has to stand out.  I've bought books solely because I loved their titles.  (Moonlight & Vines by Charles De Lint and If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor, to name a couple.)  For my writing, I usually come up with a working title, just so I can save the file once I've started writing it.  For my WIP, the working title is Dissolution.  That is definitely not what I'm going to call it, but it works for now.  I'm about 93,000 words into it and I'm considering changing it to Tell Me I'm a Raindrop, but I'm not sure I'm sold on that one either.

For my previous novel, the working title was Stone of Ages.  The final title is Wielder, and I didn't settle on that until it was fully written and edited five or six times.  I obsess over the title--probably much like how some people obsess over character names.  I just think the title is considerably more important.  If your title isn't interesting, there's a good chance nobody's gonna open your book and find out what awesome names you've chosen for your characters.


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## Grape Juice Vampire (Aug 3, 2013)

I currently have a working title that I may or may not stay with upon completion of my novel. It's a chapter title from a very old iteration of the story, and I'm oddly attached to it. I may change it as I have a few others that may work better later, but I am not too worried about it at the moment. Character names are usually the first thing I know about a story usually because the character themselves have, in no uncertain terms, told me their names.


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## bookmasta (Aug 3, 2013)

OurJud said:


> How so, bookmasta? What's your chosen genre?



It varies drastically since a lot of my books are in varying genres. Its mostly for main characters to match their personality and character traits.


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## Jeko (Aug 3, 2013)

> _I consider character names to be of tier one importance. Nothing says more about your character than his name._



What if the character doesn't have a name? what if they're introduced without one, or never have one in the story?

Names are like an envelope for me - they bundle the whole character into one package. But they don't say anything for me - rather, they either compliment or contradict how the character is presented and developed. They can give impressions, but it's what you do with that impression that counts. You can't just leave a name alone and call it a character.


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## Robert_S (Aug 3, 2013)

I have a placeholder title for my screenplay, but nothing I'm happy with. I hope to conceive a better title later. The names of main characters I have down already. I chose the MCs' names for their hidden or etymological meanings. Some authors don't go that far, simply drawing names out of a drawer and that works fine too, but I like names that add a another layer to the gestalt to the story.


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## Greimour (Aug 3, 2013)

Staff Deployment said:


> There are many of whom would strongly disagree with you on this point.
> 
> Luckily, I'm not one of them! Names are very important. Though I don't stoop so low as to attach any metaphor or symbolism to names (wouldn't name a betraying brother "Cain", for instance, or a dark-haired girl "Raven" dear lord no), I do allow some sort of personality to emerge.
> 
> ...




If I seen that title on a shelf in a book shop (or whatever) I would definitely pick it up off the shelf and read the bit on the back to see if I want to buy it.



My titles are usually done first. The title often tells me much of the story before I even begin. There is a few exceptions, like several finished short stories with no title at all... But I still consider them unfinished (and not because of the title)

... Names are important to me. Very much so.
On that note, I am of the opinion that the Title of a book is "*The name of the book*" and therefore it as equally important.



~Kev.


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## midnightpoet (Aug 3, 2013)

My first novel, I chose for my protagonist the name Johnny Mack.  Since my character was a P.I., a hard-boiled type, I wanted a name that sounded tough - so I took the first and middle names from one of my cowboy movie heroes, Johnny Mack Brown.  I do similar things on other names  - how do they fit in with the story.  Titles, similar, whatever fits the story.  I usually pick one at the same time i pick my plot.ey


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## Deleted member 49710 (Aug 4, 2013)

OurJud said:


> At what point do you title your short story/novel? How important do you feel it is? And how do you usually come up with the name?


At the end, when I have to (submitting or some such) or when something awesome pops into my head, whichever comes first. For me a title usually articulates a major unifying theme of the story. Alternately it might be the setting or a motivation for the actions described.



> How important do you feel characters' names are, and how do you choose them?


I don't think they're _that_ important, really. Often I choose them semi-randomly (first name that comes to mind within general category). Other times I'll choose names that refer to other fictional people with whom I think my character has something important in common. I try to make this non-obvious, using a nickname or changing the ethnic background. It's just fun for me to name this way, and I like to imagine it might be fun for the right reader to suss out the reference.


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## 1st Spear (Aug 8, 2013)

I always assume the title should have something to do with the story.

The story I'm writing, I've titled it 'The Wolf and The Raven'. I might give it a Dual title such as "*(XX): The Wolf and The Raven*", similar to "Star war: empire strikes back"
And the titles only connection to the story is the two main characters. The wolf is a character who wears a wolf pelt over his armor, and the raven is a woman her refers to as 'little raven' because of her size and raven black hair.

At first it sounds like a children's story, but ultimately that doesn't matter. Cover art and genre will get people to read the synopsis on the back, and once they do that they will judge it based on what they read there.

As for names, just avoid cliches, and don't rely on the name to make the story. You make the characters, and the characters and their actions make the story.


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## Greimour (Aug 9, 2013)

Cadence said:


> What if the character doesn't have a name? what if they're introduced without one, or never have one in the story?.



Layer Cake. 

At no point during Layer Cake do you find out the Protagonists name, to the point at the very end he says: "I bet even after all that, you still can't tell me my name." and thats when you realize you have no idea what his name is!


As stated in a past post, I am a believer in the importance of names.
Even no name is a name. I believe it was Einstein who said 99% of the Universe contains nothing, including 99% of what men are, if you combined all of the matter that makes up man, it would fit in less space than a sugar cube... and went on to prove that nothing is actually substancial and exists not as _nothing_ but as 'something' which is in fact just nothing. If that makes sense to any of you... which I point out only because "no name" is as great a name as any name there could have been.

The title of a book is the _name of a book_ and it is important... But that doesn't make it something you should stress over. All names are potentially worthy names... but if we think about it, how many fictional heroes are called Frank, or Steve, or Brian ???? 
Now think of *Clark Kent*, with the repeated k' soundings and the uniqueness of Clark transforming into a nickname CK and an alter ego of Super man.
Move on to *Megamind* for a villain - it sounds like a bad person and has the repeated M's in its sounding.
*Peter Parker* with repeated P's in the sounding, named after a saint which already carried heroic potential... and his alter-ego "Spiderman"
*Bruce Banner* - Repeated B's and uniqueness of Bruce - including the alter-ego that is "The Incredible Hulk"
*Bruce Wayne*, Uniqueness of Bruce and then the easy flowing sound of the two names combined, with the back of the mind link to John Wayne - including also the alter-ego that is batman... allowing someone who knows his identity to accidentally begin his name "Bruce" during dialogue but successfully mask it with "Batman" > Bru-Batman > passed off as a stutter due to being in awe of him... (example)

Even in harry potter, with so many names flooding in, throwing out Parvati Patil, Luna Lovegood, Bellatrix Lestrange, Cedric Diggory, Peter Pettigrew, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Cornelius Fudge... so many names carry such easily rememberable qualities and sounds and personalities... throw in_ I am Lord Voldermort_ and re-arrange it for _Tom Marvolo Riddle_ ... genius... and I could continue to point out names that follow the fashion of the above heroes in other books, not just harry potter... names are memorable and valuable.

That's my opinion.


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## Jeko (Aug 9, 2013)

I agree that names have pivotal importance, even if they are non-existent, but I think that the features of a character that accompany the name are more important. They are the devices with which the story is told.


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## Shadoe (Aug 10, 2013)

Usually the character names come first, well before I've finished the plot. Though the names can change. I have to come up with some kind of story title, but that changes regularly as new names come to me. I don't usually have a final title until the story's finished. 

That said, I have some stories that have titles but I haven't started the plot yet. Depends on what works at the time.


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## MaeyMaeyCute (Aug 10, 2013)

This is a fantastic question!  It is always interesting to see how other writer's creative juices flow and how they put their stories together.  Personally I never title a story first.  I find that I can't really come up with anything very interesting or fitting without knowing the plot, characters, themes etc.  It's almost like trying to sew an outfit for someone without knowing their measurements. Though, I've heard of many writers who come up with a title as a sort of base and use it as an idea starter but I've never had success with this method.  My stories tend to sprout from the characters rather than the title or plot.

I think character names are extremely important.  They are like a symbol that represents your character.  When creating characters I almost always visualize their appearance first.  Then I draw it out and begin to figure out their personality through the pencil strokes.  After this is when I decide to give my characters a name.  I usually like to give my characters unique names, foreign names, or made up names because it fits their fairy tale-esque world.  When I name characters I take many things into account such as personality, social class, syllables, sound, and of course, my own personal taste.  I don't really care for English object/thing names like "Crystal" or "Sky" I find them rather cliché.  Though, if a character is say, an ice witch for example I think it's cool to Frankenstein words together for a meaningful yet unique name.  Combining the Greek word "vrohi" which means water and the female name ending "hilda" creates the name "Vrohilda".  I enjoy giving characters meaningful names but I think they should be slightly veiled.  I'm also not a big fan of random name generators.  It takes out the creative fun for me.  Baby name websites are extremely useful to me though.  They have lists of names A-Z from tons of different countries.


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## Greimour (Aug 10, 2013)

MaeyMaeyCute said:


> Personally I never title a story first.  I find that I can't really come up with anything very interesting or fitting without knowing the plot, characters, themes etc.  It's almost like trying to sew an outfit for someone without knowing their measurements.
> 
> I think character names are extremely important.  They are like a symbol that represents your character.  When creating characters I almost always visualize their appearance first.  Then I draw it out and begin to figure out their personality through the pencil strokes.  After this is when I decide to give my characters a name.



Largely agree with this. I especially like the reference to sewing on an outfit without knowing measurements. Many of my subcharacters (and I know I am not the only one) have names such as [No-name King] or [Street-Thief-Boss] who is later abbreviated in all refences as [STB] and titles of stories that have [TBD-{MC NAME}]

I don't mind giving temporary names to characters, but if the name doesn't fit, like: United States President, Leobold Fartsworth. The most highly respected President throughout history, led the great American country to world-wide domination in year 2616, married to former Beauty Pageant  Queen and winner of the best Actress award; Pansy Penniflower. -> if they don't fit then they must be changed. (those were randomly thought up names that I didn't think worked if you are genuinely serious about their respect levels, careers and success. I wouldn't be able to take them seriously as characters and I would want to rename them in the authors stead.)



Shadoe said:


> Usually the character names come first, well  before I've finished the plot. Though the names can change. I have to  come up with some kind of story title, but that changes regularly as new  names come to me. I don't usually have a final title until the story's  finished.



Alot like me, in the sense that usually my main character is the sole beginning. Either name or Personality that is developed during the first draft and once fully created  revised - which could be his name and personality changed from the original piece. After that comes the importance of other characters, places and story title.



Cadence said:


> I think that the features of a character  that accompany the name are more important.


That is exactly it. That is why names are important to me. Names have to match personality.
I am not saying the name of a hero has to literally mean Hero : Like I think it is Lancelot (as well as other Knights of the round table) that literally means Hero. So if your character is a Hero, you don't have to call him Lancelot or other - but you might want to avoid Frank. Frank is a common name and his deeds may make him a hero due to his sacrificial martydom during the story, his memory may inspire a revolution - but that would be primarily because he was such a loving, normal and much likeable guy. - Not because he wore a fancy suit and cape with a huge F on his shirt.


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## Jeko (Aug 11, 2013)

> So if your character is a Hero, you don't have to call him Lancelot or other - but you might want to avoid Frank.



I don't think Frank would be bad. Frank sounds like an ordinary name to me, so I'd see the character as an ordinary guy given extraordinary responsibility. 

Like the Frank in Donnie Darko. Really weird guy. Pretty normal name. Makes him even weirder.


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## JEvershen (Aug 11, 2013)

I'm not entirely a hundred percent sure how I come up with names. Some come to me and just FEEL right and others I have to work harder at finding. My current WIP I chose the two main charcters names purely by names that I liked that I thought would fit, but these were first names only. Sometimes for surnames I use names that are meaningful to the character but sometimes I don't. I think what I'm trying to say is that it varies for me from one piece of writing to another. I also find sometimes in writing that a name I've chosen just no longer FEELS right for that character (although it is very rare that this happens). I think I've said on a post before that I don't put a lot of effort into naming in theme, i.e a dark haired girl child of a bread maker will not be named Raven Baker. When a child is born a parent doesn't wait years to see there child's personality before naming them. I am a bit fussy when it comes to characters looks, even small detals, not only do i do a written descriptive but I tend to do drawings of how I view them also (I am an incredibly bad drawer!!) but I find this a useful guide to just pull out and instantly see something I have placed on the character, e.g if I have given them a scar of tatto or distinguishing feature in a specific place on a specific side.
As for the title, my current WIP is completely untitled, I have played around with some but nothing seems to fit yet for me. I'm hoping as I write it will come to me in a brilliant flash of insperation!


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