I've talked about names before, and how important they are for a writer, sometimes shaping the entire story, and definitely shaping the character's arc. Who is this hero and what overriding traits does he have? What's going to be this heroine's biggest test and her largest vulnerability?
Not sure why, but the right names helps find all that out.
Oh, the crazy human psyche.
I love choosing medieval names. Well, I mean, there are also a lot of repeats in the name department. I mean, a lot. Of repeats. Like in this paragraph. Whether Norman or English or French, you find the same names repeated in the historical documents. Alice, Agnes, Joan, Beatrice. John, Richard, Geoffrey, Peter. Over and over and over again. And all those folks, without surnames. :shakes head:
But there are also a lot of great names. Evocative names. Illustrative names. Juicy, oh-there-has-to-be-a-story-there names.
Men's names, like Adelard, Basewin, Tancred, Serle and Saer (hero coming). Percival, Ives, and Everard. And oh my, the Irish names. Aedh, Faolán, Lúcás, Siadhal. It's sounds like a poem to me.
And the women's names. Scolastica, Petronilla, Dyonisia, Wymarka, and Diamanda. And the Irish: Áine, Sorcha, and Dubh Essa (which looks frightening, but sounds /Dove-essa/).
In my own books, I've loved some names so much I would hug them if they weren't, you know, a name. i.e. breath, i.e. difficult to hug.
Finian O'Melaghlin (IRISH WARRIOR), yes, it is a mouthful, but he's proud of his name, and Senna de Valery, the woman who freed him from prison, and whose mother loved color so much she named her daughter one, then left her.
Eva (DEFIANT), who had no last name, and her hero Jamie Lost, whose name was given to him by the men who loved him and the ones who used him.
Sophia Darnley's (DECEPTION) first name was something entirely different in early drafts of the story, but Kier kept calling her "Sophie," so I had to change her name. Those heroes...nothing but trouble.
I love when a name fits! And not just in my romances.
Bilbo Baggins is about the most perfect, fitting character name ever. As is Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple. And Hannibal Lecter.
Not sure why, but the right names helps find all that out.
Oh, the crazy human psyche.
I love choosing medieval names. Well, I mean, there are also a lot of repeats in the name department. I mean, a lot. Of repeats. Like in this paragraph. Whether Norman or English or French, you find the same names repeated in the historical documents. Alice, Agnes, Joan, Beatrice. John, Richard, Geoffrey, Peter. Over and over and over again. And all those folks, without surnames. :shakes head:
But there are also a lot of great names. Evocative names. Illustrative names. Juicy, oh-there-has-to-be-a-story-there names.
Men's names, like Adelard, Basewin, Tancred, Serle and Saer (hero coming). Percival, Ives, and Everard. And oh my, the Irish names. Aedh, Faolán, Lúcás, Siadhal. It's sounds like a poem to me.
And the women's names. Scolastica, Petronilla, Dyonisia, Wymarka, and Diamanda. And the Irish: Áine, Sorcha, and Dubh Essa (which looks frightening, but sounds /Dove-essa/).
In my own books, I've loved some names so much I would hug them if they weren't, you know, a name. i.e. breath, i.e. difficult to hug. Finian O'Melaghlin (IRISH WARRIOR), yes, it is a mouthful, but he's proud of his name, and Senna de Valery, the woman who freed him from prison, and whose mother loved color so much she named her daughter one, then left her.
Eva (DEFIANT), who had no last name, and her hero Jamie Lost, whose name was given to him by the men who loved him and the ones who used him.Sophia Darnley's (DECEPTION) first name was something entirely different in early drafts of the story, but Kier kept calling her "Sophie," so I had to change her name. Those heroes...nothing but trouble.
I love when a name fits! And not just in my romances.
What character names
have YOU loved?
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