In a post on CrimeReads, Freida McFadden offers tips for finding the perfect name for your characters. “Most people receive their names as a newborn baby, so it seems like the probability of the name and the person being a good match would be very small,” McFaddens says. “Yet I feel like I meet a lot of Kevins who just really seem like Kevins. Is it that people take on personalities to fit their names? Or do we change our idea of a name to suit the person?” Her tips for picking the right name include:
- Consider their age. “As a physician, I usually see my patients’ names before I open their charts, and I always brag that I can guess their ages based solely on their first names,” McFadden writes. Unless you want to draw the contrast, consider choosing a name that reflects the time your character was born.
- Borrow first names from friends, acquaintances, and celebrities.
- Avoid sound-alike names. Don’t give characters names that sound too much like each other, or your reader might confuse Jay and Jake or Mary and Martha.
- Nicknames can make all the difference. A nickname can communicate a lot of your character’s personality. Also consider if your character goes by different names in different social groups, such as family or work peers.
- Geography matters. If your story or characters have a regional flavor, consider searching for names that are popular in a certain state or country. This is also a great way to find unique and region-accurate surnames.
- Mine the social network. Social networks are vast repositories of first and last names. Play with different combinations until you find one that sounds like your character.
- Google is your friend. Before you write too much, Google the full names of your main characters to make sure you aren’t accidentally using the name of a famous person. While you’re likely to find someone with the same name, you probably want to avoid naming your protagonist Charlie Chaplin or Walter Mondale.
