So I saw a writing prompt that mentions [name_m]Macbeth[/name_m] because the person who wrote said prompt had to study the play, and so I’m running with it. After all, I had to study [name_m]Macbeth[/name_m] too, and it was maybe the unluckiest [name_f]English[/name_f] Literature text we did since the first couple times my class tried to start studying it we had to go into lockdown. Maybe we should have tried refusing to call it by anything other than The Scottish Play (I also took GCSE Drama)… who knows?
Anyway, I’m naming the characters. It’s not really a retelling, just vaguely related to the play: there’s witches, the characters were originally meant to mostly have Scottish names and it was supposed to take place in, you know, [name_u]Scotland[/name_u] – but that went off the rails and now it’s set vaguely in [name_u]England[/name_u] and one of the main three characters is [name_u]Irish[/name_u] for some reason.
So, the third witch is actually the sixth because there’s the ‘weird sisters’ and also the main trio, who are all not girls and I haven’t actually thought of something to refer to them as in my notes, but that’s not important. These are the witches (there are more, though these are the most important ones):
[name_m]Alistair[/name_m] Carr 
(16)
[name_u]Rowan[/name_u] [name_u]Harlow[/name_u] 
(15/16)
Unnamed Character 
(16)
[name_f]Mairi[/name_f] [name_m]Pearson[/name_m] 
(?)
[name_f]Iona[/name_f] [name_u]Campbell[/name_u] 
(?)
[name_f]Lilias[/name_f] [name_u]Reid[/name_u] 
(?)
[name_m]Alistair[/name_m] and [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] are both type one diabetics because finding representation for that is incredibly difficult and most of what I could find was for younger children, more aimed at children who’d recently been diagnosed, no doubt. That is not me at all. Anyway, [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] uses a CGM while [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] has a diabetic alert dog, [name_u]Pax[/name_u]. Who might be my favourite character. And also annoying because I’m more of an [name_m]Alistair[/name_m] than a Rowan… almost. Still need to make an appointment about getting my Dexcom fitted.
So, the unnamed witch. I have very little to give you in order to help name him, very few ideas about a name, though avoiding the initials A, I, M, L and R would be preferred, and also maybe not another two syllable name… although I guess it’d be fine if it did end up being one. I don’t particularly need it to be a name of Scottish (or Irish) origins either, and the name’s popularity in 2007/8 isn’t a concern either. I really only care about whether it’d be easy or intuitive to pronounce – [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] is technically named [name_m]Ruadhan[/name_m], but it’s been Anglicised for reasons that boil down to ‘their family is a mess’ – and potentially whether it’s well-known enough that it doesn’t seem particularly out there.
As for a surname… well, I’m gonna work that out afterwards, but if anyone has any ideas then they’d be equally appreciated.