Renaming Riley

Writers' Corner
1

Years ago, I started writing a sci-fi novel and used the name [name]Riley[/name] for the main character’s grandfather and son. Neither [name]Riley[/name] is in the book much - grandpa’s mentioned a few times (but was a major influence on her) and the son is about a year old when the book ends, so not much in the way of character development. When I named these characters, [name]Riley[/name] wasn’t very popular and wasn’t used for girls much. I still love the name, but want to change it - it just doesn’t fit them now.

I already changed another character’s name due to the same issue and hers was difficult, but not nearly as hard as renaming the Rileys.

Grandpa was a free-lance star freighter captain (aka a suspected smuggler) - a “tough old coot” whose family is the most important thing to him. The baby is a smarty-pants, independent and stubborn - kind of a “tough little coot.” :lol:

I want something mostly masculine, but could potentially be used for a girl. I would like to stay with an “R” name, but I’m not going to be too picky. And the more unusual, the better. Since I’m completely at a loss…any suggestions? Thank you!!

2

As far as R names go that can be unisex, the only one coming to mind is [name]Ryan[/name]. Or [name]Rowen[/name]/[name]Rowan[/name].

Other names: [name]Preston[/name], [name]Ezra[/name], [name]Colby[/name], [name]Cooper[/name], [name]Douglas[/name], [name]Jake[/name], [name]Jamie[/name], [name]Mason[/name], [name]Shane[/name], [name]Van[/name].

3

R Names:
[name]Ryder[/name]
[name]Ryker[/name]
[name]Rafferty[/name]
[name]Roland[/name]
[name]Rooney[/name]
[name]Rourke[/name]
[name]Rowland[/name]
[name]Rory[/name]
[name]Ryan[/name]
[name]Ripley[/name]
[name]Remy[/name]
[name]Reggie[/name]
[name]Riel[/name]
[name]Rhett[/name]
[name]Rodney[/name]
[name]Rollins[/name]
[name]Royce[/name]
[name]Rex[/name]
[name]Raphael[/name]
[name]Reid[/name]/[name]Reed[/name]
[name]Roderick[/name]
[name]Roger[/name]
[name]Robert[/name]
[name]Redd[/name]
[name]Rush[/name]

Others: [name]Jackson[/name], [name]Vaughn[/name], [name]Eamon[/name], [name]Wyatt[/name], [name]Theo[/name], [name]Gage[/name], [name]Samson[/name], [name]Zane[/name], [name]Quentin[/name], [name]Dalton[/name], [name]Landon[/name], [name]Xavier[/name], [name]Declan[/name]…

4

[name]Finn[/name]/[name]Finley[/name]
[name]Quinn[/name]
[name]Reese[/name]

5

The only unisex R name that I could think to add is [name]Reagan[/name]. Unisex and pretty cool if you ask me :slight_smile: good luck

6

I’ve already used a bunch of the names suggested! I love the name [name]Reagan[/name], but I can’t bring myself to use it for a sci-fi story. (I can’t get the old TV and movie “ray guns” out of my head!) And I went to school with a guy with the last name of [name]Regan[/name], so that’s out.

I started playing around with syllables and combining them from different names (I think there was a name game like that at some point.) The ones that hit me were Readan/Readen ([name]Ray[/name]-dan), Reidan/Riedan/Reiden/Rieden ([name]Ree[/name]-den) and Rydan/Ryden ([name]Rye[/name]-den.) [name]Do[/name] these look/sound too made up? Any favorite spellings?

7

Yeah, to be honest, those look too made up. Why not just [name]Reid[/name], or [name]Rylan[/name] (a more popular made-up name)?

8

Yeah, to be honest, those look too made up. Why not just [name]Reid[/name], or [name]Rylan[/name] (a more popular made-up name)?

9

Piggy-backing on the post before.

Or [name]Ryder[/name]. It’s unisex, but usually used for men and uncommon enough to not be a very common name.

10

My son’s name is Rydan, so that gets my vote :slight_smile:

11

[name]Reynold[/name]? (Probably too Firefly).
[name]Robert[/name] (not masculin but very classy and [name]Roberta[/name] could be a great female version. Also so many great nn for both of the guys to be called to distinguish them if you wanted).
[name]Rafe[/name]
[name]Ragnar[/name]
[name]Reynard[/name]
[name]Raleigh[/name]
[name]Rosario[/name]
[name]Ramses[/name] ([name]Ram[/name])
Ratko
[name]Reginald[/name] ([name]Reggie[/name])

These might not be masculine enough: [name]Rain[/name], [name]Raven[/name], and [name]Ren[/name]
Sorry if there are any repeats.

12

I’d suggest something like [name]Ren[/name], or [name]River[/name]. They seem to fit, and what is the main character like?

13

you can also do [name]Reagan[/name], like [name]Ronald[/name] [name]Reagan[/name].

14

…2 years old.