A Mary by Any Other Name Can Also be a Rose

Naming characters is an important part of the writing process. You always want to give your character just the right name, not too outlandish and not too plain. It can't be that far off from naming a new baby.

This is something I thought about long before I was published, when my writing was still in the note-taking stage. (I always knew that one day there'd be a book with my name on it.) When I heard a name I really liked a made a note of it for future use. I wasn't worried about using the name of a real person. Names aren't copyrighted. There are plenty of people out there who have identical names, including famous people. Does anyone really think that there's only one Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor, or Michael Douglas? What about names of politicians, like John Kennedy (although not always with the "F") and George Bush? Of course not.

I heard the name Spencer Barnes in a minor Charles Grodin/Jim Belushi movie about stolen identity and gave that name to my very first hero in At Long Last Love. Other names from my list followed, like Austin Hughes (hero of Love Affair) and Schuyler "Skye" Audsley (From This Day Forward). I'm not even sure where I encountered these people, but their names lingered. I'm using another of the names I've compiled, Tanis Montgomery, for a character in my WIP. I heard that name being paged while shopping at a department store years ago and said, Hmmmmmmm, gotta write that one down.

But another character in this same book is called Beverline Wilson, the maiden name of one of my paternal great-aunts. This brings me to another source for names: my circle of family and friends. Hilton White, the hero of my novel A Love of Her Own, was named after the deceased father of my best friend from childhood (to whom I am still close after 40+ years.) I thought it was a nice tribute to a man who constantly included me in their family outings like I was his fourth child, and his family (from whom I'd received permission) was tickled.

In that same book I named grandparents Eva Mae and Wilburn, the names of my own maternal grandparents. I was trying to come up with a name for a drug-abusing neglectful mother when my friend Glenda called me. Guess what I called the character? I did redeem myself by assigning that same name to a more respectul character in my fourth novel, the romantic comedy Prelude to a Kiss. Speaking of Prelude, the plot of that story involved my heroine going on a series of disastrous dates that usually ended up with a trip to the ER, where the hero worked. I named the unfortunate gentlemen Gary, Gordon, Bernard, and Thomas, after two of my brothers, my husband, and my brother-in-law. Tee-hee.

I've used the names of people I know who are living for more prominent characters as well. The name Cornelia Hatchet, heroine of From This Day Forward, was borrowed from the maiden name of my husband's former mother-in-law, who is one of my biggest cheerleaders. I even applied her nickname, "Hatch," to my heroine. (Of course, I call her Mrs. [Married Name], not Hatch.)

Writers and aspiring writers, how do you choose names for your characters?