Well, I put up a post in the What Would You Name A Sibling To …? thread, but I figured that I would get some good answers from fellow name-nerd writers.
I have a character named [name_f]Ann[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] [name_m]Burton[/name_m], from Maryland. She was born to [name_u]Lisa[/name_u] and [name_m]Dan[/name_m], and named after her two dead aunts. Her siblings, of which she has six, are named [name_m]Joseph[/name_m] [name_m]Mitchell[/name_m], [name_m]Paul[/name_m] [name_u]Lawrence[/name_u], [name_m]Brian[/name_m] [name_m]Raymond[/name_m], [name_m]Alan[/name_m] [name_u]Lee[/name_u], [name_m]David[/name_m] [name_u]Monroe[/name_u], and [name_f]Dolores[/name_f] [name_f]Ellen[/name_f].
[name_f]My[/name_f] issue is with the number of siblings she has. In 1989, the year in which she was born, the average family size was 3.16. Her parents also had a strained relationship, which leads me to find it difficult that they were able to procreate so often.
How do you feel about this? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think that the family size is okay, or would you rather see it smaller? If so, how many siblings would you imagine [name_f]Ann[/name_f] has?
What is their religious background? [name_m]Even[/name_m] in 1989 there were large families, especially if they were Catholic, LDS or other various [name_u]Christian[/name_u], etc. As far as strained relations of the parents… anyone with 7 children is bound to have a strained relationship (and I have 5 children myself, so I speak from experience!!) However that could be an interesting nuance in the story, especially from a psychological perspective in how it affected the MC, her upbringing and thoughts about romantic relationships and commitments… For example - are they passionate lovers intensely attracted to each other but with volatile, toxic addictive and co-dependent personalities, or were they cold and distant and stuck with each other out of duty or obligation or financial burden? Or are they just average people trying their best but life has just wore them out and they use their marriage as a scapegoat instead of working on it or investing in it? Lots of interesting possibilities there that could still result in 7 children lol.
Of more concern to me than the # of children is the choices of their names. While I like their names, they do not scream 80’s/ 90’s children to me. They are more reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s, and [name_f]Dolores[/name_f] in particular is quite off for that era. I mean, they can still work just fine, bc I don’t know much other background of the parents except one of their kids was born in 1989, but my first reaction was they don’t sound like they fit that time. (I was pregnant in 1989 and had 3 of my 5 kids born in the 90’s). I guess it also depends on the birthorder of the MC… where is she in relation to the others?
Thank you very much. This did really help! The birth order is: [name_m]Joseph[/name_m], [name_m]Paul[/name_m], [name_m]Brian[/name_m], [name_f]Ann[/name_f], [name_m]Alan[/name_m], [name_m]David[/name_m], and [name_f]Dolores[/name_f]. One of my major concerns was also the names; they didn’t feel like ‘80s/‘90s names when I used them. You’ve given me a lot to think about in your answer; thank you so much, again!
I love [name_f]Ann[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] too, btw… it’s an awesome classic, she’s the first girl (in what seems like a somewhat traditional family) a middle child, and she’s named after two dead aunts. There’s a LOT of story in there that totally fits in with the name.
If they’re religious this isn’t hard to believe at all.
But even if not, families of all size existed even then. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t let the idea that their relationship was strained make you think there would be less children. In fact, a lot of people end up having more children in this scenario because they are unhappy, unfulfilled, or think it will fix things.
That being said, I agree bout the name thing. You’ve chosen names that make us think of the late 80’s, yes, but adults in the 80’s. The [name_m]Alan[/name_m]'s, and [name_m]Brian[/name_m]'s of the 80’s were not babies, usually. Of course, it’s not impossible that a family would give their kids these names at all, but that’s where it feels a little off to me. [name_f]Delores[/name_f] especially, since she will have been born in the early 90’s, feels very odd.
[name_m]David[/name_m] and [name_m]Joseph[/name_m] and even [name_m]Paul[/name_m] sound fine to me. I was born in 1990 and all of these are names of people I had in my classes at school.
Instead of [name_m]Alan[/name_m], how about: [name_m]Adam[/name_m], [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], [name_m]Aaron[/name_m], [name_m]Anthony[/name_m]?
Instead of [name_m]Brian[/name_m], how about: [name_u]Ryan[/name_u], [name_m]Robert[/name_m], [name_m]Brandon[/name_m]?
(and I have 5 children myself, so I speak from experience!!) However that could be an interesting nuance in the story, especially from a psychological perspective in how it affected the MC, her upbringing and thoughts about romantic relationships and commitments… For example - are they passionate lovers intensely attracted to each other but with volatile, toxic addictive and co-dependent personalities, or were they cold and distant and stuck with each other out of duty or obligation or financial burden? Or are they just average people trying their best but life has just wore them out and they use their marriage as a scapegoat instead of working on it or investing in it? Lots of interesting possibilities there that could still result in 7 children lol.