Is it okay to name your characters after family and friends without being sued?
I think it depends on the situation and there are a lot of aspects to consider. [name_f]Do[/name_f] you plan on publishing the book in any capacity where other people could read it? Are you just borrowing a few names you like, or are the characters’ personalities/appearances/life stories actually based on people you know? How common/uncommon are the names? Are the characters with those names terrible people, or are they likable characters who someone might be flattered to have named after them? Have you asked your friends and family’s permission to use their names, or given them a heads up? Knowing them personally, how do you think they’d feel about it?
Anyway, if you were to publish a fictional story where a character was overwhelmingly similar to someone you know in real life, they could potentially sue you if they could prove that they were identifiable as inspiration for the character, and that the character was damaging to their reputation in some way.
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I would be extremely careful. If its a loving tribute using that persons nickname i think you’re fine. However, if the people whos names you’re using see what you’ve written, they’re GOING to read into it. Ultimately I think the best call is to either use a different name or ask the people for permission.
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I don’t think you’d get sued, but I still wouldn’t do it. Especially not for characters who are supposed to be annoying or evil. The family member or friend might be really bothered by that.
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Two of my most long-standing characters are named [name_u]Briar[/name_u] [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_m]Wood[/name_m] and [name_u]Asher[/name_u] [name_u]William[/name_u] [name_m]Wood[/name_m]. [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_u]William[/name_u] are my mother’s middle name and my father’s first name. [name_f]My[/name_f] reasons for this were that these two might be the closest things I ever had to children, so I wanted their names to mean something. I’ve wanted to give my daughter the middle name [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] for as long as I can remember (it’s a family name), and I wanted to honor my dad as well to balance things out. I did mention this to my parents, and they were fine with it, since the names aren’t important to the plot and they thought my reasoning was sweet. However, I named a different character [name_u]Rose[/name_u] after a close friend, and she asked me to change it because the character ended up dying. I asked if it was okay if I used my friend’s middle name, and she agreed. I think it really depends on the circumstances and how the person feels about the character being named after them.
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