I’m going through the process of naming my characters right now which, for a name nerd like me, can prove to be pretty difficult. I’m looking for the perfect names for five boys. I’ll tell you a little bit about each one and you tell me what name you think fits best. Thanks for the help!
He’s quiet, very smart, and honest. He often serves as the peace negotiator of the group when they fight. He’s calm, rational, and a good listener. His family is considerably wealthy and intellectual. He sort of feels out of place in his group of average, middle class friends and sometimes does things he knows are wrong to fit in. He has a very strong sense of right and wrong and is always the one to confess. He’s sort of a momma’s boy.
He needs a first name. Right now his full name is __________ [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name]. His first and middle name were also his grandfather’s. The names I had in mind: [name]Frank[/name], [name]George[/name], [name]Charles[/name], [name]Walter[/name], and [name]Arthur[/name].
Before looking at the names you have as options, I thought of [name]Anthony[/name] or [name]Andrew[/name]. But out of your names individually I’d use [name]Arthur[/name] or [name]Walter[/name] for this character. There is something off with the other names with the last name. [name]Frank[/name] I think just doesn’t work at all with [name]Frederick[/name]. [name]Edward[/name] is too ‘ed’ heavy with [name]Frederick[/name]. With [name]George[/name] thrown in the mix it feels just like a list of four names instead of one. [name]Charles[/name] would work, but just doesn’t have the right feel to me. And I just don’t like [name]Calvin[/name].
I like both [name]Arthur[/name] [name]Frederick[/name] and [name]Walter[/name] [name]Frederick[/name]. But I don’t like [name]Arthur[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] [name]Frederick[/name]. I don’t like it with [name]Ashley[/name] mainly.
So my vote would be [name]Walter[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] [name]Frederick[/name].
Either [name]Arthur[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] [name]Frederick[/name] (nn [name]Art[/name]) or [name]Walter[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] [name]Frederick[/name] (nn [name]Walt[/name]) might work with [name]Walter[/name] coming in first place.
If [name]Ashley[/name] is now the surname, I don’t like [name]Arthur[/name] or [name]Walter[/name] as much. [name]Charles[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] or [name]George[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] are now the best names. His nickname could be “[name]Ash[/name]” as the upper classes like calling people by their last names.
Thanks, mischa. I was also thinking that one of the one syllable first names sounded the best with [name]Ashley[/name]. I think I’m favoring [name]Charles[/name] or [name]Frank[/name] at the moment. I’m still not sure though.
Here is a little about the second boy. I don’t have any ideas for him, so whatever first comes to mind would be great.
He’s very good-looking and creative. His wardrobe is pretty flamboyant and he wears a lot of costume-like clothing. Events in his childhood caused him to create a very arrogant, theatrical persona that he puts on around most everyone except for his close friends and family. He’s very outspoken and opinionated. Those that know “the real him” know that he’s very sensitive.
I think I like [name]Charles[/name] best for boy #1
For boy #2 maybe one of these
[name]Simon[/name]
[name]Trent[/name]
[name]Travis[/name]
[name]Jay[/name]
[name]Dean[/name]
[name]Vince[/name]
[name]Vinny[/name]
[name]Zack[/name]
[name]Nico[/name]
[name]Jace[/name]
Thanks, elsiek. From the names you suggested I think that [name]Travis[/name], [name]Vinny[/name], and [name]Zack[/name] would fit. I will keep them in mind.
[name]Hi[/name] Agirlinred, love your striking name by the way! My only concern with [name]Frank[/name] is that it isn’t upper class enough, if you know what I mean? Now if his real name is [name]Francis[/name] with the nickname of [name]Frank[/name], that’s another story. [name]Francis[/name] [name]Leonard[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] sounds alot more aristocratic to my ears. [name]Frank[/name] would be a good nickname to choose for someone who wants to fit in with his middle class friends. I do think you should go with [name]Charles[/name] myself. Now on to your second character name. This young man sounds very interesting to say the least. Here are some suggestions for this creative and flamboyant character.
[name]Sebastian[/name] - have you seen Brideshead Revisited? [name]Sebastian[/name] and his teddy bear [name]Aloysius[/name]…
[name]Tobias[/name] - nn [name]Toby[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name] - nn [name]Ollie[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name] - nn [name]Theo[/name]
[name]Julian[/name] - nn [name]Jules[/name]
[name]Adrian[/name]
[name]Augustine[/name] - nn [name]Gus[/name] / [name]Gussie[/name]
[name]Xavier[/name] - nn Zave
[name]Nathaniel[/name] - nn [name]Nathan[/name]
[name]Gabriel[/name] - nn [name]Gabe[/name]
[name]Thaddeus[/name] - nn [name]Thad[/name]
[name]Tristan[/name]
[name]Rupert[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Crispin[/name]
[name]Barnaby[/name]
[name]Corin[/name]
[name]Tarquin[/name]
[name]Alastair[/name]
[name]Cornelius[/name]
[name]Benedict[/name]
[name]Horatio[/name]
[name]Florian[/name]
[name]Orlando[/name]
[name]Maximilian[/name]
[name]Raphael[/name]
[name]Ulysses[/name]
[name]Lysander[/name]
[name]Nicodemus[/name]
[name]Ignatius[/name]
[name]Ambrose[/name]
[name]Boniface[/name]
[name]Leander[/name]
[name]Felix[/name]
[name]Lucius[/name]
Some jaunty Celtic names may work too like [name]Donovan[/name], [name]Lorcan[/name], [name]Vaughan[/name], [name]Malachy[/name], [name]Quinlan[/name], [name]Lachlan[/name] or [name]Rowan[/name].
Thanks, mischa. I hadn’t considered [name]Francis[/name] nn [name]Frank[/name]. I do think I’m going to go with [name]Charles[/name] though.
You had some excellent suggestions for the second character. It’s funny that you suggested [name]Gabriel[/name] nn [name]Gabe[/name] because that is the name of the boy I based this character off of. I had also considered [name]Raphael[/name] for this character at one point but decided it didn’t quite fit. Here are the names I liked the most: [name]Sebastian[/name], [name]Oliver[/name], [name]Tristan[/name], [name]Barnaby[/name], [name]Alastair[/name]. [name]Horatio[/name], [name]Cornelius[/name], [name]Ulysses[/name] and [name]Ignatius[/name] I would consider for middle names. [name]Oliver[/name] [name]Ignatius[/name] is sticking in my mind for some reason. What do you think?
Alright Two down, three to go. Here is a little about the third boy.
He’s outgoing, super friendly, and energetic. He’s black, has several facial piercings and wears a lot of bright colors. He’s always goofing off and loves to dance. He’s a big flirt. He’s reckless and isn’t always 100% aware of what’s going on around him. He’s one of the those people that get carried away in the moment. His first name needs to be unisex. I’m going to use [name]Quincy[/name] somewhere in his name but haven’t decided where yet.
If he’s black a unisex name may not be the way to go. Not many black people name their children unisex names. African-Americans usually have very individual names that are often made up. They’re some of the most creative choices. Strangely enough, [name]Quincy[/name] was one of the first names I thought of (eg [name]Quincy[/name] [name]Jones[/name]). Go figure. The very first name that popped into my head while reading your character description was [name]TYRONE[/name]. Other names that are found in the African-American community are [name]Leroy[/name], [name]Andre[/name], [name]Lionel[/name], [name]Isaiah[/name], [name]Dion[/name], [name]Jeremiah[/name], [name]Marlon[/name], [name]Croix[/name], [name]Antoine[/name], [name]Luther[/name], [name]Marcus[/name], [name]Dante[/name], [name]Tremayne[/name], [name]Darius[/name], [name]Xavier[/name], [name]Otis[/name], [name]Jerome[/name], [name]Duane[/name] and alot of Muslim names like [name]Tariq[/name] , [name]Khalid[/name] and [name]Rohan[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you like any of these names?
That’s interesting… Where I live unisex names are relatively common among black people. They aren’t by any means the majority but they’re definitely there. I had a few reasons for wanting a unisex name for this character that are pretty crucial to the storyline, so I don’t know how much I’d be able to work around that. I do agree that [name]Tyrone[/name] would be a great fit for this character. Hmm. I think I’ll stick with [name]Tyrone[/name] [name]Quincy[/name] for now.
I also now have names for the remaining two characters. Thanks for all of you input, mischa!
For the first boy, I’d definitely use [name]Charles[/name]. My brother fits your description perfectly and his name is [name]Charles[/name].
For the second boy, I like [name]Oliver[/name]. I think [name]Charles[/name] and [name]Oliver[/name] sound fabulous together!
What do you think of [name]Jay[/name] or [name]Jaye[/name] for the third character? I know several guys (some black and some white who have this name or use it as I nickname.) I also know a few girls who use it as a nickname. Good luck with your story.
Two down, three to go. Here is a little about the third boy.