I have a character who is going to be a mutant. She is among the first of her kind, but not the first, though she’s been identified as the first by the government. Pesky government. Anyway, I’ve almost settled on [name_f]Nova[/name_f] after having played around with [name_u]Genesis[/name_u] (I didn’t like any of the nicknames possible for [name_u]Genesis[/name_u]). But I’m having the same problem with [name_f]Nova[/name_f] as I did for [name_u]Genesis[/name_u].
This is obviously her given name, by her parents, and her parents didn’t name her this because she was the first of her mutant kind. But you know how names go with authors. You want to hint with their name to the readers, but not give it away.
Well, the problem I’m having is just that - is the name hitting people in the face with her being “the first” or beginning of something new? Or is it subtle enough? And does anyone have possible suggestions?
I think it sounds fine. Like you said, authors can get away with giving their characters meaningful names, and it’s not like you named her Uno or something. I personally think of supernovae first when I hear the name [name_f]Nova[/name_f]. If you’re still unsure, maybe you could make her name [name_f]Novalie[/name_f] or Nouvelle with the nickname [name_f]Nova[/name_f]. I think both of those variants sound a bit like the word ‘novelty’ as well, which would be fitting for your character.
Like the previous poster, I think [name_f]Nova[/name_f] is just fine. [name_u]Genesis[/name_u] might have been a bit too much, though.
If you’re still looking for alternatives, you could consider [name_f]Eve[/name_f]/[name_f]Eva[/name_f] (as in [name_m]Adam[/name_m] and [name_f]Eve[/name_f]) or [name_f]Zoe[/name_f] because of the similar meaning.
Like one of the posters said, [name_f]Nova[/name_f] sounds like a good name that could work, or maybe you could do [name_f]Eve[/name_f] like [name_m]Adam[/name_m] and [name_f]Eve[/name_f] or [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] nn [name_f]Eve[/name_f] if that works for you. Or, like the poster before me said, you could always do Zoe and probably look up middle names that could probably work, or maybe even Seraphina if you like that or Stella if that probably works for you.
Thank you all for the thoughts. I actually did think of Nouvelle as a name, but then I forgot I thought it, lol. I kind of like Nouvelle, and the nickname as [name_f]Nova[/name_f], which could also be explosive (which she’s totally going to be). [name_f]Novalie[/name_f] is a thought, too, as is [name_f]Eve[/name_f], which I never would have thought of. Again, thank you all for your responses!