I’m going to ask y’all writers out there for your take on the matter: should character names, especially important characters’ names, always have some deep meaning or significance ? Should you name your character with foresight as to who they’re going to be and have the name relate to their personality or story, or should you name them as you think their parents would ? Does it matter ?
Naming a water-centric character [name_f]Aqua[/name_f] is about as creative as naming a hotheaded character [name_u]Blaze[/name_u]. Would naming the water-centric character something irrelevant like [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f] be better, or [name_f]Delphine[/name_f], which is still a nod though much more subtle ? Should we call this hotheaded character [name_f]Camilla[/name_f], irrelevant, or [name_f]Edana[/name_f] ?
How important should a name’s relevancy to a character be anyway ?
I don’t think it needs to be important at all! Like, the character’s parents wouldn’t know what their baby would be like, same as real world parents. Theycould coincidentally match up, or be aspirational. I think there’s more leeway in fantasy, where there might be different naming practices and meanings.
I think something subtle like [name_f]Delphine[/name_f] would be fine, though!
This! I think it’s cool when there’s a hidden meaning behind the name, and I’ll sometimes use searches for name meanings when I’m completely stumped for names, but I don’t care if the name doesn’t mean anything.
No I don’t think so! Yes it’s cool when it’s hinted at (o see this a lot in anime and manga) but having names completely unrelated kind of makes more sense to me, imagine a baby named [name_u]Blaze[/name_u] who doesn’t develop their fire powers until 21? How would the parents know I’m the type to overthink and search names so I often find it funny whether it’s a foreshadow or just something that pairs well with the character your writing
Characters names DO NOT need to have a special meaning, that is just a writing mothood that writers use to add a level of ‘wow’ factor to their stories.
I agree with everyone else who said that names don’t need a special meaning, but I will say that having a very subtle special meaning is fun, in my opinion at least.
For example, I have a story set in the 1930s and I picked [name_f]Mildred[/name_f] for my main character. At first glance it could just be a random name that was popular when she was born, but the meaning of ‘‘gentle strength’’ fits her personality exactly. It’s not obvious to 99% of people unless they look it up, but it’s a fun detail.
I don’t think names need to have special meanings either. If art should reflect life then a character with any name can have any personality or destiny we want them to
I don’t think names have to have a special meaning at all. Sometimes it can be used for foreshadowing like in the Locked Tomb trilogy, or [name_m]Remus[/name_m] [name_u]Lupin[/name_u] in [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], but most of the time when characters names have special meanings, its for the enjoyment of the author.
I’d say character names don’t have to have a special meaning at all. In most popular books I can think of, the character’s names don’t have any obvious significance in the story. I just started the The [name_u]Southern[/name_u] Vampire Mysteries series, and I don’t think the characters’ names have anything to do with their role in the story. As long as the name fits the story’s setting, it should be fine.
Occasionally, I’ll drop the [name_f]Easter[/name_f] Egg, as a reference to other media, that really only myself would get. For example, I named a character [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] [name_f]Eira[/name_f] [name_m]Ames[/name_m]. And, unless you’re me, you wouldn’t know that this relates to the Hunger Games. See, [name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] is a version of [name_f]Rose[/name_f], and one character in the series was obsessed with roses. The character’s last name, [name_u]Snow[/name_u], is tied to [name_f]Eira[/name_f] which means ice in a language I don’t remember.
But other than that, I don’t really do much deeper thinking.
Eira is Welsh, and I love that name.
I’m writing a story (or trying to), where one of the main characters is called [name_f]Emerie[/name_f]. It’s not the meaning that made me choose it, but imagine you’ve got your green-eyed little girl (ignoring anything about eye colour changes), and you’re trying to name her. Stuff like [name_f]Fern[/name_f], [name_f]Ivy[/name_f], [name_f]Emerald[/name_f], etcetera, they’re all quite obvious. But using [name_f]Emerie[/name_f], which shares the same first four letters with [name_f]Emerald[/name_f], seems like it’s random, but also linked slightly to [name_f]Emerald[/name_f]? Like, that’s what it does for me, I might be wrong about it doing the same for other people, but yeah.
Names don’t need obvious special meanings unless it’s an actual plot point, to me. For example, I started writing a story where there were two main characters, Eirwen [name_u]Garnet[/name_u] and [name_f]Gabrielle[/name_f] Quilo. All four names ([name_u]Garnet[/name_u] and Quilo as surnames) have links to winter, which was an important thing in the story - both girls were born on the winter solstice, it was the main plot, and in [name_f]Gabrielle[/name_f]’s universe, all people born in the ‘winter’ area had names that could link to winter, which was the same for every season’s area. It sounds as ridiculous as it was.
I think it depends on what you think!! I personally like to have my character names reflect their personalities, backgrounds, and purpose in the story; but, it really is up to personal choice and style :3
I don’t think it matters, but a subtle meaning it’s a fun little detail for people to discover, I don’t think it matters that much except maybe fantasy where it might be a little for relevant
I’m the type to overthink and search names so I often find it funny whether it’s a foreshadow or just something that pairs well with the character your writing