Inspired by Captain Hook

Writers' Corner
1

Hey fam! It’s me, back again with my fairytale inspirations.

Long story short, I’ve finally figured out who my MC’s biological father is and how he fits into the overall story. I was putting off deciding on a name for him because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing any super obvious fairytale connections that I could tap into here and then it hit me while in the shower tonight—my MC is based off of [name_m]Peter[/name_m] [name_m]Pan[/name_m] so why not have her father based on [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Hook? Plus he’s a pirate.

Here are my ideas for his name so far:
James- this is [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Hook’s actual first name. The con is that it would be an obvious connection (which I’m not against but obviously, Hook isn’t [name_m]Peter[/name_m]’s dad in the original story so I’m not sure if that makes it weird). Also, if it’s too obvious of a connection, I’m worried it will seem cliche since he’s a pirate too. Pro is that [name_u]James[/name_u] is an incredibly popular name so maybe people won’t make the connection if the last name isn’t close to Hook (which I don’t want it to be)

Roger- [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Hook’s ship is called the Jolly [name_m]Roger[/name_m]. It’s still an obvious connection but I think it’s slightly more removed. [name_u]Con[/name_u] would be that I wouldn’t be able to then use a Jolly [name_m]Roger[/name_m] reference for the character’s ship.

David- the original [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Hook was based off of [name_m]Ahab[/name_m] from Moby [name_m]Dick[/name_m], whose name means “uncle.” This is a possible meaning of the name “[name_m]David[/name_m].” Pro is that this dude can sometimes be misogynistic and I associate the name [name_m]David[/name_m] with people like that thanks to an old boss of my mom’s. [name_u]Con[/name_u] is that I really don’t like the name personally so I’m not sure if I’d want to use it for such an important character.

Timur- in the original story, [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Hook’s hook is made out of iron. [name_m]Timur[/name_m] means “iron.” I like the meaning and how the connection is subtle. It’s quite different in origin than the other names I’m considering though.

  • James
  • Roger
  • David
  • Timur

0 voters

I’m open to other ideas of names that are related to [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Hook! Thank you!

1 Like
2

Timur or [name_u]James[/name_u].

James is classic, and I think the connection isn’t necessarily a bad thing! However, if you’re going to be constantly thinking of that, I’d go with [name_m]Timur[/name_m].

You don’t have an obvious con for [name_m]Timur[/name_m], and it’s unique and memorable. Your readers will read the name [name_m]Timur[/name_m] and hopefully, in future, will associate it with your story, whereas [name_u]James[/name_u] is more common.

Not so keen on [name_m]David[/name_m] or [name_m]Roger[/name_m] because of the reasons you said! I think you’d constantly be bothered by using [name_m]David[/name_m]. [name_m]Roger[/name_m] is less of a problem, but I personally don’t think it suits the type of character you’re going for.

1 Like
3

Thank you!

I think my con for [name_m]Timur[/name_m] is just that it has a much different origin than the other names here and most of the names in the story. I don’t exactly know the character’s background yet so it could be a nonissue but that was where the hesitation lies. I agree that it’s much more distinctive than the others though!

5

I see it as more of an [name_f]Easter[/name_f] egg hunt for the readers! For me, the connections and inspirations just give me something to start with when looking for ideas and names. Thank you!