Need Help Naming A Male Character

Hey Writer Berries,

I am working on a story, and am struggling to find a name for a secondary character. I’ve been calling him [name_u]Charley[/name_u] [name_m]Stanton[/name_m], but [name_u]Charley[/name_u] just doesn’t quite fit. I’m hoping you guys might be able to suggest some comfortably familiar names? Any help with ideas would be greatly appreciated!

  • EKC

Genre: Fiction

Time Period/Location: Modern [name_u]Day[/name_u]-Northern Minnesota/Wisconsin area.

Brief Plot: This character plays a big role in the story of my main character. He is a family friend that adopts the young MC after an accident kills MC’s parents. Years later, the character is gravely injured, and a big part of my current plot is the MC dealing with the loss of the core of his family.

Character Description: He is an inadvertent father figure, who is not the smartest or the most skilled, and definitely not perfect, but is completely devoted to giving the MC a fair shake in life because it’s the right thing to do. He works hard to provide for the MC, giving him a great childhood. He is an honest straightforward character that struggles with providing for and raising a kid that isn’t even his, alone.

Who named the character: His parents named him, I guess. Probably would have been given a comfortably common name.

Immediate Family : The other characters that he interacts with are: [name_u]Wallace[/name_u], [name_m]Ivor[/name_m], [name_m]Robert[/name_m], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], [name_f]Carrie[/name_f], [name_u]Ray[/name_u].

Already Considered (if relevant): In the earliest formation of this character his name was [name_m]Mike[/name_m], but now his role has changed. I gave thought to [name_m]Will[/name_m] but decided it was too similar to [name_u]Wallace[/name_u]. Currently, his name is [name_u]Charley[/name_u], which isn’t right either.

[name_m]Don[/name_m]’t Suggest These Names: Nothing yooneek, and preferably nothing that is super-trendy-today-but-unheard-of when this character would have been young.

Anything else?: I’m planning to use [name_m]Stanton[/name_m] for his last name.

Thank you for any help, in advance!

I just took my best guess and looked up popular names from the 70’s. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps!

[name_m]Eric[/name_m]
[name_m]Jason[/name_m]
[name_m]Sean[/name_m]
[name_m]Travis[/name_m]
[name_u]Jesse[/name_u]
[name_m]Derek[/name_m]
[name_m]Troy[/name_m]
[name_m]Brent[/name_m]
[name_m]Johnny[/name_m]
[name_m]Mark[/name_m]
[name_m]Walter[/name_m]
[name_m]Christian[/name_m]
[name_m]Alan[/name_m]
[name_m]Wayne[/name_m]
[name_u]Darren[/name_u]
[name_m]Lance[/name_m]
[name_u]Casey[/name_u]
[name_u]Jaime[/name_u]

Thank you for the suggestions!

Out of the list you gave me, I like [name_m]Mark[/name_m], [name_m]Travis[/name_m], [name_m]Derek[/name_m], with a leaning towards [name_m]Mark[/name_m]. I think I needed a strong consonant in his name. Not having the right name has really slowed down how I’ve developed this character, and I’m hoping a moniker will help me get attached to him.

EKC

As you where describing the character the name [name_m]Ben[/name_m] just popped into my head. Here’s some other names that came to mind.

[name_m]Brian[/name_m]
[name_m]Jack[/name_m]
[name_m]Jim[/name_m]
[name_m]Paul[/name_m]
[name_m]Greg[/name_m]
[name_m]Craig[/name_m]
[name_m]Luke[/name_m]
[name_m]Adam[/name_m]
[name_m]Kevin[/name_m]
[name_m]Jeff[/name_m]
[name_u]Tony[/name_u]
[name_m]Victor[/name_m] nn [name_u]Vic[/name_u]
[name_m]Don[/name_m]
[name_m]Patrick[/name_m] nn [name_u]Pat[/name_u]

[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps a little!