In a post on Writer Unboxed, Keith Cronin discusses the power of character names. “I see a lot of writers going with character names that are rather… generic, if I’m being honest,” he says. “And while those names might tick off all the boxes for being realistic, believable, and/or even period-correct, I don’t think that playing it safe like that is always the most compelling approach.”
Some names lend themselves to characterization – merely the sound of a character’s name is enough to suggest whether they are good or bad. Aragorn sounds like a hero’s name, while Hannibal Lecter suggests a villain. Even names that seem unsubtle – such as Cruella de Vil – have been highly successful. Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare are noted for creating quirky but memorable names for their characters.
Sometimes, names can be used to undermine the reader’s expectations. Before Breaking Bad, a reader would expect a man named Walter White to be unassuming, possibly harmless, but as the series depicts his fall from grace, the audience learned not to underestimate him. During the series, White begins calling himself Heisenberg, after the physicist who originated the uncertainty principle. “By the series’ end, Heisenberg has become a source of chaos, danger and fear to even the most evil and powerful characters in the show,” Cronin notes. “And by then, our ‘White’ character has literally transformed into a villain wearing – wait for it – a black hat.”
Good character names also can give you a great title, as in The Great Gatsby, Rebecca, The World According to Garp, and the Harry Potter novels.
However, good names also have pitfalls, Cronin says. Be sure to Google your characters’ names to ensure you haven’t picked a name shared with a serial killer, politician, porn star, or pope – or even another famous fictitious character. Also, don’t use too many similar names in your novel, as readers may have a hard time keeping track of them. You might also consider whether your reader will be able to pronounce your character names. For awhile, it was popular in SF&F to throw random apostrophes into a character’s name, but it left a lot of readers wondering how to say them.
