What is In A Name?

Names are often some of the most important parts of your story, but is a rose as deliciously scented if it was named otherwise? It's not just characters that need names but places and objects. I love naming as I write. Sometimes the names are very integral to the plot. When you name in that situation, you really have to fit the name to the person, object, or place. A lot of thought can go into a name. Sometimes I find writing down of list of names, then rolling them around on your tongue to see how they sound is helpful. If the name still is mystery to me, I check out those baby name web sites, like babynames.com  or behindthename.com. Those sites are instrumental if you want to have an underlying meaning to the name. Say you want to have a character that is evil, you could research names that mean devil. 'Lilith' pops up with this explanation:  "In Jewish tradition she was Adams first wife, sent out of Eden and replaced by Eve because she would not submit to him." So naming your mean, miserable, mother-in-law character in your story, Lilith, would be a great way to remind both you and the reader that this is not a nice person!

If the character is more inconsequential, or you just need a name 'out of the air', I love asking strangers I meet their name and then popping that name into the book. I often tell them I am writing a book and I needed a name for a character. They either look at me like I am crazy or become excited that their name was included. I remember being in McDonald's one day and striking up a conversation with a grandmother and her young granddaughter. Later, as I was writing and struggling to name a student in my story, I asked for the girl's name so I could name my character. I think it made her day - her grandmother certainly thought it was great!

As for places, sometimes a name just pops into my head, like the name I gave my main character's home town. But of course I had to make sure there was no real town named that! I find it fun to name places with family member names. Like using my sister's married name to name a diner in that fictional town!  Having a notebook full of interesting names can be a treasure trove for finding just the right name when you need one. That would be great - of course my list of names can be found on little pieces of paper -- now if I could just remember which clip it's squashed in ...