Edgy, no frills name for book characters

Writers' Corner
1

Hey fellow nameberries,

I am currently working on a novel surrounding the lives of a teenage friend group. The two main characters are love interests and are both edgy and mysterious who go to the beat of their own drums and have compatible auras. I imagine them to both have edgy, modern, and unique names to match their personalities. Their names would not have a lot of frills.

Here are some ideas so far:

Girls:

[name_f]Annistyn[/name_f] [name_u]Blair[/name_u]

[name_u]Hudson[/name_u] [name_f]Indie[/name_f]

Arlowe [name_m]Wilder[/name_m]

[name_f]Liv[/name_f] [name_m]Wilder[/name_m]

Boys:

Kota [name_u]Jace[/name_u]

[name_m]Brooks[/name_m] [name_m]Wilder[/name_m]

Obviously, the two characters should not have the same middle name, such as [name_m]Wilder[/name_m]. So, any combo works.

Let me know what you think of these and any other suggestions you may have!

2

I actually love [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] for girls, but I’m not sure about the spelling Arlowe. I guess it could probably grow on me. [name_f]Liv[/name_f] seems too sweet to me since it usually registers as a nickname for [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] which is frilly name alpha. I can’t get behind [name_u]Hudson[/name_u] on a girl, and [name_f]Annistyn[/name_f] looks sloppy. [name_f]Anniston[/name_f] or Aniston look so much better to me. [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] seems more like a last name, but I could get behind it if it were perhaps a family name. Other than that, it’s too much for me. Sort of so badass that it almost registers as a joke?

[name_f]Indie[/name_f] actually is a nice idea on its own. [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] is a name I love for girls which carries the badass vibe of [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] [name_m]Jones[/name_m]. I worry it might be too tied to his character, but [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] nn [name_f]Indie[/name_f] would probably work. [name_f]Indira[/name_f] or [name_u]Indigo[/name_u] are also pretty badass.

Other frills-free, bamf girl names:
[name_u]Kai[/name_u]
[name_u]Sage[/name_u]/[name_u]Saige[/name_u]
[name_f]Ziva[/name_f]
[name_f]Evrose[/name_f]
[name_u]Sutton[/name_u]
[name_u]Parker[/name_u]
[name_u]Sloane[/name_u]
[name_f]Xenia[/name_f]
[name_f]Raina[/name_f]
[name_f]Lark[/name_f]/[name_u]Larkin[/name_u]
[name_u]Winter[/name_u]/[name_u]Wynter[/name_u]
[name_u]Reeve[/name_u]
Runa

For the boy, I really like Kota but [name_u]Jace[/name_u] seems like too much for me. I feel like [name_u]Jace[/name_u] has become the “cool and rebellious boy” name in books, and seems almost stereotypical at this point. Kota [name_u]James[/name_u] or Kota [name_m]Jason[/name_m] would be more realistic and avoid that potential stereotype. I actually find [name_m]Brooks[/name_m] to be a more pretentious, high class, probably-attends-Catholic-school-and-plays-football-kid so it’s a miss for me.

Boy ideas:
[name_u]Kai[/name_u] (again)
[name_m]Zane[/name_m]
[name_m]Macsen[/name_m]
[name_m]Maddox[/name_m]
[name_m]Adlai[/name_m]
[name_m]Adler[/name_m]
[name_m]Dax[/name_m]
[name_m]Silas[/name_m]

Good luck! [name_f]Hope[/name_f] these sparked some ideas!

3

I think [name_f]Indie[/name_f] & [name_u]Blair[/name_u] work a lot better for your purpose than [name_f]Annistyn[/name_f] & [name_u]Hudson[/name_u].

[name_f]Annistyn[/name_f] looks made up in the author-tried-too-hard way, it would definitely turn me off of a book and not make the character believable.

[name_u]Hudson[/name_u] is okay, but in my opinion Arlowe is too much. [name_u]Arlo[/name_u], [name_u]Marlow[/name_u], [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] nn Arlowe, or [name_f]Harlow[/name_f] would all work better. Personally, I think [name_u]Marlow[/name_u] nn [name_u]Mars[/name_u] works well for your intent and [name_u]Arlo[/name_u] works too. [name_f]Liv[/name_f] is short which matches the style but also feels frilly as it’s short for [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]—this is ok as I think you should have at least one “girly” sounding name to break it up :slight_smile:

I think you need names that are edgy, modern & mysterious, but it needs to feel effortless or else you are not going to sell it to the reader. (The hardships of being a writer LOL!)

So, possibly, [name_f]Indie[/name_f], [name_u]Blair[/name_u], [name_f]Liv[/name_f] and:

[name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Trix[/name_f])
[name_u]Max[/name_u]
[name_f]Greer[/name_f]
[name_f]Juno[/name_f]
[name_u]Alex[/name_u]
[name_u]Harley[/name_u]
[name_u]Ariel[/name_u] (kind of frilly but also unisex which makes it feel less so)
[name_m]Rune[/name_m]
[name_f]Elle[/name_f]
[name_u]Sage[/name_u]
[name_u]Sawyer[/name_u]
[name_u]Brooke[/name_u]
[name_f]Lana[/name_f]/[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_u]June[/name_u]

As for boys, Kota is cute (but it’s cute, like kiddish, not particularly edgy/mysterious) & [name_u]Jace[/name_u] is currently overused for bad boys so much that it’s become a trope. I agree with the previous person that [name_m]Brooks[/name_m] feels high class rather than edgy (which definitely could work).

Names I think work better:
[name_u]Luca[/name_u]
[name_m]Roman[/name_m]
[name_m]Tobias[/name_m]
[name_u]Oberon[/name_u]
[name_u]Nico[/name_u]
[name_m]Evander[/name_m]
[name_m]Cassius[/name_m]
[name_m]Zane[/name_m]
[name_m]Wells[/name_m] ([name_m]Brooks[/name_m]’ cousin lol)
… that’s all I can think of at the moment

As far as middles, I think that if they need to be in your writing, they’ll come while you’re writing. But I will definitely help with that too! (Also, maybe [name_m]Wilder[/name_m] could be a last name—especially if maybe two of them are siblings)

And I hope this didn’t come off as harsh- that would not be what I intended. :slight_smile: I think you have a great start! Good luck on your writing!