In a story I am planning, I simply can’t find a name for the main character’s mother, who is quite a major character in it. I would appreciate some help.
She was born in the mid 1980s, in [name_f]England[/name_f], and runs an antiques and junk shop in the outskirts of [name_m]York[/name_m]. She has dark brown hair and is on the smaller side of medium in stature (let’s say, somewhere below five foot four). She is a somewhat foolish and sentimental person, gentle, loving, stubborn, romantic, and passive-aggressively resistant of real life. Her daughter’s father is out of the picture, and left the picture in a way that resulted in this nameless character being badly and lastingly hurt.
Her daughter is called [name_f]Maud[/name_f]. I would like this character not to have a particularly old-fashioned name, however, as while her taste is old-fashioned her parents’ taste wasn’t particularly so. I’d like her name to be classic, and reasonably ordinary at her time of birth. I’ve been thinking [name_f]Maggie[/name_f] or [name_f]Annie[/name_f], but neither is quite right, somehow.
[name_f]Jenna[/name_f] (depending on the character I feel like [name_f]Brenna[/name_f] would also make a great choice)
[name_f]Mila[/name_f]
[name_f]Martta[/name_f] - it sounds a bit old but reminds me of [name_f]Maggie[/name_f]
[name_f]Ellie[/name_f] (could be [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f])
[name_f]Audrey[/name_f]
Thank you all so much! Now I just have to decide between [name_f]Jenny[/name_f], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] and [name_f]Cathleen[/name_f] “[name_f]Cathy[/name_f]”.
[name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_f]Valerie[/name_f]/[name_u]Val[/name_u]? It’s a name that feels modern, even invented, yet has ancient roots and means strength, so might work for someone who seems ordinary, even silly, yet has an inner core of strength.
You could always do [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] “[name_f]Vicky[/name_f]” [name_f]Claire[/name_f] for the mom if that works. If not, you could always look up names from the 70’s and 80’s and see what name would work best for the mom.