Character Naming Help

Writers' Corner
1

[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! I was recently struck with an idea for a story and I’m eager to start tapping away, but I can’t seem to find the perfect character names. I’ve tossed around some ideas, but I’m not sure if they “fit”.

It’s about a society that does not in any way alter their bodies. Then one day, a girl from this society somehow discovers (not sure how yet) an underground group (literally) that has piercings and tattoos and dyes their hair, etc. There will be some adventure elements and maybe a little romance. I was thinking for the Unaltered they could have Puritan style names or something plain, not too flashy. For the Altered, I’m looking for exactly the opposite. Here are my ideas so far:

[name_m]Benno[/name_m]- the male lead; strong, handsome, smart, rough around the edges, brave, etc.
[name_f]Temperance[/name_f]- the female lead; curious, daring, doesn’t understand her way of life, etc.

I just don’t love the name [name_f]Temperance[/name_f]. And [name_m]Benno[/name_m] doesn’t seem quite right yet. I don’t know. As for other characters, I honestly haven’t thought much about their names, but anything that follows the style of Unaltered and Altered. Thanks in advance for the help!

2

The story idea seems really cool. I also agree that [name_f]Temperance[/name_f] is not a great name, but that could feature into the story–perhaps this character hates her name and tries to have a nickname (Tem or [name_f]Em[/name_f] or something from her middle name) but her strict Unaltered parents won’t let her have a nickname (just throwing ideas around here, you don’t have to listen to them) and once she finds the Altered people she gets to have a nickname or even decides to change her name slightly (Like she tells them to call her [name_f]Tempest[/name_f] or something)
I’m just saying, you could work with a name that you don’t like–your character could hate it, too.
Other suggestions instead of [name_f]Temperance[/name_f]…hmm…I don’t really use simpler, ‘Puritan style’ names in any of my work, so that’s hard. Maybe:
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]
[name_f]Verity[/name_f]
[name_f]Hope[/name_f]
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f]/[name_f]Margot[/name_f]

These seem pretty plain to me.

As for [name_m]Benno[/name_m], I need to see some other examples of Altered names so I have something to go by. As a name, though, I’m not sure if I should pronounce it [name_m]Ben[/name_m]-oh or [name_m]Bean[/name_m]-oh. I would choose something else.

[name_f]Hope[/name_f] that helped.

3

That sounds like a creative story idea! I agree with stardust17’s suggestion of [name_f]Verity[/name_f]. I found lots of names for your female lead using the nameberry post, [name_u]Blue[/name_u] [name_u]Jean[/name_u] [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Names, and the list, [name_f]Virtue[/name_f] Names.
[name_f]Amity[/name_f]
[name_f]Felicity[/name_f]
[name_f]Mae[/name_f]
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]
[name_f]Millie[/name_f]
[name_f]Faye[/name_f]
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f]
[name_f]Sarah[/name_f]
[name_f]Sally[/name_f]
[name_f]Willa[/name_f]
[name_f]Clara[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Grace[/name_f]
[name_f]Emma[/name_f]
[name_f]Leah[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Molly[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Callie[/name_f]
[name_f]Maggie[/name_f]
[name_u]June[/name_u]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f]
[name_f]Liza[/name_f]
[name_f]Edith[/name_f]
[name_f]Edie[/name_f]
[name_u]Abby[/name_u]
[name_f]Laura[/name_f]
[name_f]Caroline[/name_f]
[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Clarity[/name_f]
[name_f]Clemency[/name_f]
[name_f]Cora[/name_f]
[name_f]Mercy[/name_f]
[name_f]Honora[/name_f]
[name_f]Nora[/name_f]
For your male lead I wasn’t sure what you are looking for, but I tried anyway.

4

My tablet cut my post off. Here’s what I could come up with for your male lead.
[name_m]Anders[/name_m]
[name_m]Fox[/name_m]
[name_m]Wolf[/name_m]
[name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m]
[name_m]Huck[/name_m]
[name_m]Ford[/name_m]
[name_m]Lysander[/name_m]
[name_u]Jayden[/name_u](This is my name and I am a girl, but I have been told that it sounds like a bad boy name.)
[name_u]Reeve[/name_u](or [name_m]Reeves[/name_m])
[name_m]Ryder[/name_m]
[name_m]Zane[/name_m]
[name_m]Alec[/name_m]
[name_m]Xander[/name_m]/[name_m]Zander[/name_m]
[name_m]Jagger[/name_m]
[name_m]Diesel[/name_m]
[name_m]Hawk[/name_m]
[name_m]Hawthorne[/name_m](possibly with [name_m]Hawk[/name_m] as a nickname)
[name_m]Beau[/name_m]
[name_m]Apollo[/name_m]
[name_m]Gunner[/name_m]
[name_u]Blaise[/name_u]/[name_u]Blaze[/name_u]
[name_u]Urban[/name_u](It was an actual name in the [name_m]Roman[/name_m] empire)
[name_m]Lucian[/name_m]
[name_m]Lars[/name_m]
[name_m]Maddox[/name_m]
[name_m]Hart[/name_m]
[name_m]Rufus[/name_m]
[name_m]Ace[/name_m]
[name_m]Lyon[/name_m]
[name_u]Lionel[/name_u]
[name_m]Leo[/name_m]
[name_m]Sanders[/name_m]

Good luck with your story!

5

Puritan Names:
[name_f]Patience[/name_f]
[name_f]Hannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Amy[/name_f]
[name_f]Faith[/name_f]
[name_f]Priscilla[/name_f]
[name_f]Remember[/name_f]
[name_u]Meredith[/name_u]
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_f]Dorcas[/name_f]
[name_m]Caleb[/name_m]
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m]
[name_m]William[/name_m]
[name_m]John[/name_m]
Lovejoy
[name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m]
[name_u]James[/name_u]

[name_f]Non[/name_f]:
[name_f]Taryn[/name_f]
[name_f]Carly[/name_f]
[name_f]Della[/name_f]
[name_u]Valery[/name_u]
[name_u]Josie[/name_u]
[name_f]Skyla[/name_f]
[name_f]Dixie[/name_f]
[name_m]Lincoln[/name_m]
[name_u]Max[/name_u]
[name_m]Asher[/name_m]
[name_m]Brodie[/name_m]
[name_m]Eben[/name_m]
[name_m]Tucker[/name_m]
[name_u]Nick[/name_u]
[name_u]Mercer[/name_u]
[name_u]Corbin[/name_u]

6

[name_m]Male[/name_m] lead ideas:
[name_m]Axel[/name_m]
[name_m]Benvolio[/name_m]
[name_m]Cullen[/name_m]
Dromio
[name_u]Hudson[/name_u]
[name_m]Jax[/name_m]
[name_m]Jett[/name_m]
[name_u]Keegan[/name_u]
[name_m]Kellen[/name_m]
[name_m]Leonardo[/name_m]
[name_m]Lennox[/name_m]
[name_m]Orlando[/name_m]
[name_u]River[/name_u]
Pistol
[name_m]Tybalt[/name_m]
[name_m]Zeke[/name_m]

Female lead ideas:
[name_f]Amity[/name_f]
[name_f]Felicity[/name_f]
[name_f]Hope[/name_f]
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f]
[name_f]Patience[/name_f]
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]
[name_f]Portia[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruthie[/name_f]
[name_f]Virginia[/name_f]

7

Sorry to not respond to suggestions! I was visiting family without WiFi for the holiday. :slight_smile:

@stardust17
Those are really great story suggestions! I kind of like the idea of my female lead leaving part of her identity behind and changing her name. I like [name_f]Tempest[/name_f] as the Altered version a lot, and [name_f]Verity[/name_f] is pretty great too! [name_m]Benno[/name_m] is pronounced [name_m]Ben[/name_m]-oh, but I definitely think I won’t use that.

@jayden101
I like [name_f]Amity[/name_f], but it reminds me so much of Divergent, which I loved, and I don’t want to unintentionally enter that world, if you know what I mean. :slight_smile: [name_f]Felicity[/name_f] is nice too, and there are tons of bad-ass nicknames that I could use later. I like [name_f]Ruth[/name_f], [name_u]June[/name_u], and [name_f]Frances[/name_f] too.
[name_f]Love[/name_f] [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] nickname [name_m]Wolf[/name_m]. It sounds kind of powerful, which is perfect. [name_m]Ford[/name_m], [name_m]Huck[/name_m], [name_m]Lysander[/name_m], [name_m]Zane[/name_m], [name_m]Xander[/name_m], [name_m]Hawthorne[/name_m] nickname [name_m]Hawk[/name_m], [name_m]Apollo[/name_m], and [name_u]Blaise[/name_u] are all awesome. It’s gonna be hard to choose.

@jessicat11
[name_f]Patience[/name_f] and [name_f]Priscilla[/name_f] for Unaltered and [name_u]Josie[/name_u], [name_m]Lincoln[/name_m], [name_u]Max[/name_u], and [name_u]Corbin[/name_u] for Altered are great. Thanks for the suggestions.

@loislane1222
Really like [name_m]Axel[/name_m], [name_m]Jett[/name_m], and [name_m]Zeke[/name_m], [name_f]Ruthie[/name_f], and [name_f]Virginia[/name_f].

Thanks so much for all the suggestions. If you have any other ideas, please let me know for minor characters. Also, thoughts on [name_m]Miles[/name_m] for my male lead?

8

I think [name_m]Miles[/name_m] fits your character perfectly. [name_m]Miles[/name_m] always seems like it belongs on a cool/interesting guy to me.