Goodfic Guide; Naming Characters

[rc45]

Naming your original character

by Spoofmaster


The first thing to know, heart-breaking though it is, is that an interesting name does not necessarily make for an interesting character. There are oodles of female characters with tons of y’s (and even x’s) in their names, and none of them are any more believable for it. Indeed, a name like, say, Kylynn, will often turn away potential readers due to the assumption that anyone with a lack of true vowels in their name is probably a Mary Sue.

So let’s back it up a step. If you’ve skipped through the rest of this guide, hoping to find some exotic names in this section for your newest character, stop right now, go back to the beginning, and start there. I’m flattered, honestly, if you did skip to my section, but the name is simply not the most important part of your new character.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get down to it.

Why do so many original characters get such strange names?
There are actually a variety of answers to this question. Sometimes it’s because the author wants to make his or her character stand out. Ironically, characters with ordinary names are less likely to meet themselves coming and going than those with exotic names. Another reason is that giving an odd name to someone or something is very therapeutic. People give their characters names they wish they had, or names they wish they could bestow on their newest pet or even child but aren’t brave enough to do so. There seems to be an innate human desire to name everything as oddly as possible.

Is it really so bad for a character to have an “exotic” name?
Yes and no. What it comes down to is this: did you choose the name because it’s relevant to the character, or did you choose it because it “sounds cool”? I am one of those writers who believe that in order to write well, you must care about all of your characters, and the first step to showing that you care is to name them with a purpose.

So I should give my character a boring name?
Not necessarily—and who says any name is “boring”? Besides, depending on what fandom you are writing in, there could be all sorts of names that sound exotic but actually fit right in with the locale.

Depending on the fandom?
One of the most important parts of choosing a character’s name is choosing a name that makes sense in the context in which the character is to live. In other words, where is your character from? When was he or she born? What were his or her parents like?

There are loads of websites out there with resources on names, as well as all those “What to name your baby” books. You must be careful when choosing your source, however, as some name generators simply jam syllables together in a meaningless fashion and come up with horrible, inaccurate Sue/Stu names. I’m including the addresses of some websites that might help you, though, along with advice on a few eras, countries, and non-Earth fandoms. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and one thing you can always feel free to do is visit the PPC at http://oddlots.digitalspace.net/PPC/ and ask for an informed second opinion on the name you have picked out.

If you’re looking for a name for a character from Earth, the simplest thing to do is either buy a name book (I myself use a 1987 edition of 1000 Baby Names), or visit a name website. A good site is http://www.babynames.com/, which allows you to search both by the name itself and by meaning, which is extraordinarily useful for when you want your character’s name to really say something about him or her. This site also includes the country of origin and gender of each name, which is a must. Another similar site is http://www.behindthename.com/, which also lists gender and origin, and allows you to browse by country instead of having to browse through all the names at once.

One thing to keep in mind even when naming a character from Earth is the character’s home country. Some countries have very particular naming practices. Russian names, for example, are all structured in the same manner. For instance, the main character in Crime and Punishment is named Rodian Romanovitch Raskolnikov (huzzah for alliteration). His middle name is a modification of his father’s name. Were he a woman it would be Romanovna instead of Romanovitch. In any case, he is never referred to as Rodian—Dostoevsky refers to all his characters using both their first and second names (Rodian Romanovitch), their last names only (Raskolnikov), or occasionally a nickname (Rodya). This is probably completely irrelevant to almost all fanfiction, as no one writes anything for Crime and Punishment (it would be pretty funny if they did!), and hardly anyone creates Russian characters, especially not Russian characters who actually live in Russia and follow all these rules of naming. I include this note simply to show you how easy it is to completely overlook vital naming practices from your character’s homeland if it is different from your own country.

If you are at all unfamiliar with the names and naming practices of your character’s home country, I would advise you to look on Wikipedia. They have an article on surnames in various countries at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surname, including examples and explanations of the origins of many surnames. This article also lists particular naming practices of each country, including the details on Russian names that I have listed above. You might also try http://genealogy.about.com/od/surnames/, which site is somewhat more confusingly structured than some, but which includes variants on common names, a glossary of surname meanings, and links for further research.

For characters from a specific era, even more care is required. The Society for Creative Anachronism (http://www.sca.org/) has an article at http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/whatis/name.html about how to choose a period name (though this is intended for SCA members naming themselves, the same rules apply to your period character), and there is a full guide to Medieval names, including links to name archives and articles by country at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/. If you are writing for characters of another specific era, try going through lists of real names. At http://www.ancestry.com/, you can search past US censuses dating from 1800 to 1930. Simply click the link to the census you want to search, enter a common last name, and it will give you a list of people with that surname. The disadvantage here is having to choose a last name that will yield a good number of results with varied first names, and it only includes names of Americans. Try looking on various genealogy websites for similar search features.

For characters that are to inhabit a world other than Earth (or, in cases like Lord of the Rings or Artemis Fowl ancient or alternate universe Earth), in which characters have distinctly non-Earth names, you must choose a name that fits the fandom. In some instances, you can get away with surprisingly strange names (Moist von Lipwig or Thursday Next, anyone?) but even then you must judge wisely concerning your limits. Also, one thing to be very cautious about indeed is naming your character in a language you don’t know—Tolkien Elvish, for instance.

Elvish is probably the most abused language in fanfiction apart from English, especially in naming characters, so special attention will be given to it here.

The first rule of naming a LotR original character is this: Elves do not have surnames. That “Legolas Greenleaf” business? It’s not his last name. Greenleaf is an English translation of the name Legolas, added into the poem for the sake of rhythm.

The second rule is this: do not use a name you made up off the top of your head because it “sounds Elvish”. In all probability the name you just made up has no Elvish in it at all, and if it does contain Elvish, it’s safe to say it will be mutilated Elvish. Your best bet here is to visit Ardalambrion at http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/, or just buy a Tolkien language book. A very helpful feature on Ardalambrion is an index to the etymologies at http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/index/indexs01.htm, which lists Quenya words and their translations, and is ordered alphabetically according to the English translations. Using this list, think of words you might want to include as part of your character’s name, find the Quenya equivalents, and put the words or word pieces together in a way that sounds pleasing. Do be wary of making the name too long, though, or very difficult to pronounce. Try using two short words to form one name, and go from there. One last strategy of which I have heard is taking the name of a more obscure elf from The Silmarillion and rearranging the parts of the name (Daeron becomes Rondae, for instance). This does seem distinctly like cheating, though, and knowledgeable readers might call you on it.

There are far too many fandoms to cover in this one guide, with many varied languages and naming practices. If you require a resource for a non-Earth fandom not covered in this guide (and there are many!), try googling the fandom if you lack websites you visit regularly. Some authors keep blogs or their own websites (J.K. Rowling, for one, at http://www.jkrowling.com/; K.A. Applegate did the same thing for some years, though now the old Animorphs website with personal author updates appears to have disappeared—information on her and her work can still be found at http://www.scholastic.com/kaapplegate/). If all else fails, ask the PPC at the address listed above. The authors associated with the organization span a multitude of fandoms, and chances are you will find someone who knows of just the right website for your needs

Comments

nice

[(Anonymous)]

This is good. I just thought I'd say that I make Tolkien elvish names by combining roots from the partial elvish dictionaries included in Silm and the Lost Road (book 5 or so of HoME).

Re: nice

[spoofmaster]

*nodnod*

Not practiced on the Elvish naming practices, myself, but it seems that's the general trick to making names for them.

Re: nice

[boz4pm.livejournal.com]

I used to do that, but the thing to be careful of is the lenition of some letters - meaning some can change when combined with other letters next to or near by to them. And that can be quite complex and you need a Sindarin or Quenyan expert to help you out.

I can highly reccomend an excellent site. It has name lists that also explain many of the common lenition rules (so you can then use those rules to make your own names), and it is run by someone who knows their Tolkien languages.

http://realelvish.125mb.com/

Modern/Near future names

[(Anonymous)]

I tell alot of Modern Near future stories about alternate and or near future Americans, so my favorite trick is to use ethnic surnames to convey the melti8ng pot aspect of my favorite country.The good old USA. You can always tell the quirky charecter because they have a quirky last name. But that quirky last name is in there with a farily commonplace first and middle name. Example: I might had a name like David James Wisnewski, or Stewart Joseph Spadowski you get the Idea, BOttom line is you've got good advice here that if listened to will help an authour put out some dang good stuff.

Re: Modern/Near future names

[spoofmaster]

Thank you, and it sounds like you've found a good naming system for your particular stories. I hadn't really taken American and future American names into account when I wrote this, but it is one of the places where you have a good deal of freedom in naming your characters.