Trouble deciding name for a bartender (female main character)

Hey guys I need help naming my main female character, yes she is the love interest but she’s more than that, she doesn’t just swoon and fall at his feet whenever the main male character is around. She’s her own person… She just needs a name I have some options but I’m not sure which fits.

Genre of [name_u]Story[/name_u]: [name_u]Drama[/name_u]

Time Period/Location: Present [name_u]Day[/name_u], haven’t settled on a city yet but a large city somewhere in USA

Brief Plot: [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] ‘[name_m]Jack[/name_m]’ [name_u]Harper[/name_u] is a homicide detective who is a semi alcoholic complete workaholic who has some anger issues and is so dedicated to his job because his mother was murdered when he was young and in the house, his father was a lawyer who had prosecuted his mothers killer for three murders but the man escaped from custody, broke into their home and killed [name_m]Jackson[/name_m]'s mother while [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] was in the house, [name_m]Jack[/name_m]'s mother sent him to go play across the street at a neighbours house but [name_m]Jack[/name_m] came back to get his baseball mitt and saw the murder and hid. [name_m]Jack[/name_m] drinks a lot at a local bar where female character is a bartender with her own damages past.

Character Description: tough, witty, sarcastic, comes across as friendly to most people, especially the locals but she’s very guarded, upon later reflection people realise they don’t know as much about her as they think, she’s there for you, friendly, outgoing, tough, ballsy, not overly attached to much about her life. She was a teenage run away from a terrible home situation.

Who named the character: her mother and father, [name_f]Lina[/name_f] and [name_m]Edward[/name_m] [name_m]Ives[/name_m], [name_f]Lina[/name_f] mainly though, [name_f]Lina[/name_f] was previously in a relationship with an abusive man who died (car crash) so [name_m]Edward[/name_m] was her dream man (though not so much for the character I’m trying to name) so she does whatever she can to please him. [name_m]Edward[/name_m] appears to be the perfect father.

Immediate Family (if relevant): Character has an older half brother from her mothers previous marriage [name_m]Louis[/name_m] nn [name_u]Lou[/name_u], named after their mothers maiden name who is is alternatively overly grateful to and extremely frustrated with, she loans him money and is usually at first unhappy to see him whenever he appears in her life for various reasons

I’m torn between [name_f]Molly[/name_f] nn M/Mol (childhood nn [name_f]Molly[/name_f] [name_f]Dolly[/name_f]/[name_f]Dolly[/name_f]), [name_f]Anya[/name_f] nn [name_f]Annie[/name_f] (childhood nn Ya-Ya), [name_f]Freya[/name_f] nn [name_m]Frey[/name_m]

Please help me choose between:
Molly
Anya
Freya

They all seem to fit and they all don’t at the same time. What would you pick and why? Also middle name ideas please?

She sounds like a cool character! And btw. [name_m]Frey[/name_m]/Frej is a male nordic name. ^^
What about;
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f] - [name_f]Lily[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosamund[/name_f] - [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
Clarimond // Clarimund - [name_f]Clari[/name_f]
[name_f]Linnea[/name_f] - [name_f]Nea[/name_f]
[name_f]Tallulah[/name_f] - [name_f]Lulu[/name_f]
[name_f]Louella[/name_f] - [name_f]Ella[/name_f]

What does she look like? I’m envisioning a redhead for some reason.

[name_u]Cassidy[/name_u]? [name_u]Morgan[/name_u]? [name_f]Morgana[/name_f]? [name_f]Merrigan[/name_f] nn [name_f]Merri[/name_f]? [name_f]Bronwen[/name_f]?

I like the idea of a surname for her first name since [name_m]Louis[/name_m] has her mom’s maiden name. Maybe she could bear the surname of someone else
in the family?

I thought of a redhead too! And I automatically pictured her having a typically boy name, like [name_u]Drew[/name_u], [name_u]Andy[/name_u], [name_u]Frankie[/name_u], [name_u]Parker[/name_u], etc something like that.

I do like those names and thank you for your quick responses but I’m trying to decide between:

[name_f]Anya[/name_f]
[name_f]Molly[/name_f]
[name_f]Freya[/name_f]

And middle names for them, some of the names already suggested I’ll think of as middles

Also I’m thinking blonde but possibly redhead, until I get her name sorted I’m not set on a physical description so it changes

Well if she’s blonde then I vote [name_f]Anya[/name_f].

I like [name_f]Molly[/name_f] best but next is [name_f]Anya[/name_f]. Good luck, hope this helps :slight_smile:

[name_f]Anya[/name_f] suits the character best in my opinion; [name_f]Molly[/name_f]'s too cutesy and [name_f]Freya[/name_f], whilst beautiful, doesn’t seem to fit.

I’ve decided on [name_f]Anya[/name_f], it suits my purposes better of having a nn that can be separated from the full name ([name_f]Annie[/name_f] v [name_f]Anya[/name_f]) which suits a theme I’m going with of the character trying to separate parts of herself/her personality and her past and since I still love [name_f]Molly[/name_f] and can see he name sort of almost but not quite working for the character I’m planning on having her use the name [name_f]Molly[/name_f] when she first ran away from her home in her teen years to try and distance herself further but by the time the story starts the character (now named [name_f]Anya[/name_f]) will have moved on from trying to literally divorce her past by creating a new identity/new name and is instead using her real name
So I’m almost treating the “[name_f]Molly[/name_f]” persona of this character as a separate character in itself (but it’s still [name_f]Anya[/name_f])
If that makes any sense haha

Thank you all for your feedback it was really helpful

I think [name_f]Molly[/name_f] fits perfectly. [name_f]Molly[/name_f] is bouncy and strong and I can picture her as a bartender. I cannot picture a [name_f]Freya[/name_f] or an [name_f]Anya[/name_f] as a bartender.

Sounds like she needs to have a feminine name with a tomboyish nickname like [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] ([name_f]Tori[/name_f]) or [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] ([name_u]Charlie[/name_u])