Thursday, February 15, 2007

What's in a Name?

My hero and heroine in my current WIP are Paxton Graham and Kelis Alexander respectively. Any feedback I've received concerning my choice of names have been negative for far. Those who've criticized have complained about pronounciation, spelling or both.

I'd decided on the names after scouring the website, babynames.com and reading the meanings of Paxton (English meaning "from the peaceful farm") and Kelis (Gaelic meaning "lively, aggressive"). I didn't settle on these names because they definitively describe the characters demeanor or personality, but because their meanings diametrically opposed each other. Immediately my mind conjured up conflict possibilities.

As my story begins, both characters are quite lively and aggressive in their opinions and actions. By the end, I hope they will find peace and internal acceptance...with each other.

How do you come up with character names?

16 comments:

Chelle Sandell said...

That's a problem that I have been working on. Especially making sure the secondary characters don't clash. I'll think they sound okay and read through and realize two may sound to similar. Arrggg.

Chicki Brown said...

Funny you should write about this now, because I'm struggling with names for the protagonists in my next WIP. In the past I haven't had a hard time with this. The names just seemed to come to me. So I've decided to order a book called "Baby Names for the New Generation." Hopefully it will have some contemporary names that aren't overused.

Anonymous said...

I like those names.
Picking names is hard for me. I have to be completely sure the name I evidently pick is right because, if I have to change it after starting to write, the characters aren't the same for me.
And I usually try to have all the names start with a different first letter.
For last names, I look in a telephone book of the town the story is set in.

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