What’s In a Name? – Part Two

What’s in a Name – part one talked about coming up with the “right” name for our fictional towns. Well, part two is about how we name our characters.

There are many ways authors come up with names for their characters. I know some authors will ask their street team for suggestions. Or reward one of their fans by putting their name in a story. I was a lucky fan of Roxanne St. Claire who got to be in one of her stories. Pretty exciting for a fan and aspiring author.

When I wrote my first book I was still as much a reader as I was a writer. I followed so many authors. As a way to show my appreciation and respect for these people I named a few of my characters after them. Also, I wasn’t very seasoned and didn’t have any significant way to choose a character’s name. Looking back there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to how I came up with the names. It was a totally random approach.

~ I named my main character Lori, for Lori Wilde.

~ I had a Dr. St. Claire for my friend Rocki.

~ Bud Brennan, who was the fire chief, I named for Allison Brennan.

~ Deputy Paul Phillips for Carly Phillips

~ One family surname was James, which came from Julie James.

A recurring character in all three of the books in the Lucky in Love series is Sheriff Kell Howard. The last name of Howard came from one of my favorite suspense writers, Linda Howard. And I always liked the name Kell — not Kelly, just Kell.

I can’t say my more recent attempts at naming characters has been any more sophisticated. I’ve been known to sit for far too long staring at my computer screen while I try to choose the perfect name.

In my Lucky Star book I liked the name Chase. I had a different last name picked out, until I heard the name Devine at one of my son’s baseball games. It’s the perfect name for the male main character in a romance.

You know some authors will name a character for a particular reason (an ex or boss), then kill them off. Cheaper than therapy?

If you are an author, how do you come up with your character’s names? Readers, how important is a character’s name? Will you read a book if you hate the names of the characters? Or if you have a bad history with someone with the same name, can you get past that bias?