What's in a Name?

Author Julie Glover asked this question last week on her blog and it really started me thinking. She was talking about our own names and our kids names, but I took it a different way.  How important are the names I choose for my characters?

I have never really liked my name - Margaret is the real one, and my cousins still call me by it.  I know it was the name of my mom's best friend and it means Priceless Treasure, and all that, but I just don't like it.  Probably, it spawned a hideous name that stuck when my best friends baby brother couldn't say, "Margaret." He sorta left the R sound out of it, coming out with  . . . No, I just can't tell you. *hiding face in shame!* Besides my dearest big brother still uses the name on my birthday cards and Christmas tags!

I tried to go by my middle name once, but I found that if my name doesn't have a Mar sound to it, I'm not listening. I have seriously answered to Mark, Marbles, Margarine, and my dog's name, Marcie. I still have trouble when my kids holler, "Mom" in a store. So I chopped off the end of Margaret and changed the spelling a bit to make it truly mine and voila'. It suits me.

I took great care in naming my kids as well - and Julie's blog discusses her voyage through the baby-naming channels. I made sure that the names went together and sounded good with our last name. I avoided names that could be used against them as best I could, although my son might disagree. As a teacher, I also dodged the names of some of the most memorable of my students. As much as my sweet hubby liked the name Joshua, there was no way on earth my boy was going to have that name!

Now I'm not going to spend that kind of time working on my character names. At least with these there are no bullying factors to worry about, but I do need to focus on them, too.

They can't be too different or their use will stick out.  Names with difficult pronunciations, for instance, can put a stop to the flow altogether and continue throughout the story to be a stumbling block.

IE: Xchemeka Majorales stepped out into the hot Arizona sun trying to cross the intersection at Hyppool and Gladewater. The traffic wasn't cooperating and another lady stood beside her with the same intent.  Xchemeka caught her eye and smiled, but the woman ignored her.

I have to tell you, if Xchemeka were a character's name in my book, I would take twice as long to write the novel because it takes so much longer to remember the name and how to spell it.  On the plus side of such a name, though, it would make a great little page on a website. And what other google hits would there be?

Speaking to that end, I got really bummed yesterday. I Googled on of my character names, one I REALLY liked, and found a professional wrestler. Yikes! Not the type of hero I was looking for. My dinky twinkies suggested that I change the spelling a little, and I might because I really like his name!


Of course, plain names lack spark and flavor for characters, unless they're used for a reason. I really like some plain names: Amy, Dave, Joe, Pete, Mary, but I try not to use them because, being so popular, they already would conjure something up in the readers mind that I don't necessarily intend.

I have an example for this too, out of the novel I'm currently working on.  One of my side characters I named Amy. I thought it made for a great friend's name. The trouble is, I have a dear young friend named Amy who I have known since birth. She is college-aged now, short dark hair, and funny as all get out. No, that's not the problem.  The problem is that my character is supposed to be in her 50s, a short, little bean pole of a woman who sounds like a hick with biting sarcasm.  She is nothing like my Amy. Well, except for the sarcasm, every once in a while - sorry Ames!

So I have to be aware of the names that I use because people will attribute the personality of other folks they know to my characters. Needless to say, I'm not going to name an overweight wall-flower Jennifer (Aniston) or the muscular male Waldo.

At the same time, though, I want to avoid obvious cliche' names, like Kurt or Clint for a cowboy, and Wanda or Flo for a waitress or hairdresser. I think Kurt or Clint would make fine names for a lead as long as he wasn't a cowboy, and Wanda or Flo might make good supporting names, but again there has to be a purpose for them.

And I think that's the bottom line.  Just like I was careful in naming my Dinky Twinks, the boy, and my precious red-head, I carefully choose my characters' names.

What would be some great names for the victim of a murder mystery? What about the detective?