As in, do you consciously make an effort for names to ‘sound’ right together, or do you only worry that the name fits the individual character? I personally like to have all the names in the same basic family of style, particularly if the characters belong to the same group or family.
Yes, I do. I give entirely too much thought (ok maybe that’s not possible :P) to the names of my characters. Siblings get names that go well together, just as I’d do with my hypothetical real-life children. And if I name a character a certain name but can’t think of names to go with it for siblings, I change the story instead of the name (usually). Almost always works out better in the end when I do that lol
I want my characters’ names to make sense and feel natural and “right” for who they are. If they’re part of a family or close-knit group, that often does mean making sure they go together. I don’t always go that route, though. In my current story, there are 4 siblings, 3 of whom were all born in the 70s within a few years of each other. The 4th was a Surprise![name]Baby[/name] who came a decade later. Trends had changed, her parents’ tastes had changed…she was born into a different family than the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd baby. It makes sense that her name is a little out of step with her sisters’ and brother’s names. As long as there’s a reason for the disparity, it doesn’t bother me if the names don’t go together. Sometimes it can be used to good effect, like [name]Veronica[/name] in “Heathers.”
In a sense, you really have to. If you paid no attention to names working well together you could have a story filled with [name]Bob[/name] and Esquevaral and [name]Mitzy[/name] and S’havar’en and [name]Lotus[/name]-- which would be insane and hard to follow.
Unless there’s a specific reason for the names to not “fit” (a gang of misfit circus characters fighting for their rights against of group of lawyers,etc.) I think it’s always a good idea.
It does bother me a bit when authors get carried away–naming every character something unpronounceable or using such dull placeholder names that it makes me doubt their creative spirit.
It’s a fine balance, but generally if it’s all names you personally like (or at least like for the characters) then they’ll probably match well enough just because your own preferences will surround them. If you really want to make a statement with names like Rowling or [name]Anthony[/name] Trollope or [name]Jasper[/name] Fforde – then that takes a lot more effort, research and patience.
I think subconciously I do try to make them all sound right together, but I don’t really do it intentionally…I never thought of that before.
I did name a set of g/g twins [name]Phoenix[/name] and [name]Rowan[/name] when I was 13.
When I first started writing I didn’t. There never was that big of an issue (I mean, no one complained about [name]Greg[/name] and [name]Helena[/name] as siblings) but it totally bothers me now. I don’t mean that each and every single name has to be in harmony, but I think it’s important for families to have the same feel.
Interesting replies 
I theme it up, too. In a current work I’ve got an extensive Creole family who are extreme traditionalists, so they have a very specific naming style which has been kept up for over a century. Sometimes I feel a little boxed in picking names (there are many, many named characters with histories, though they may not have roles, per se) but more than not I enjoy piecing it all together.
What about characters with only one name? [name]Do[/name] you feel like that name has to be more memorable than a sequenced name? Example: I have a character named [name]Hiram[/name], and and this point I feel like adding anything else to his name is practically blasphemous.
I don’t do themes, at least not on purpose. If I make all the names fit the setting that should be enough to make sure I don’t get [name_m]Kevin[/name_m] & Galadriel or something. I put a little more thought into naming siblings, but I wouldn’t call that theme-ing, people with the same heritage who got named by the same parents will naturally have matching names.
About the characters with only one name, no, I don’t feel like it has to be more memorable than a longer name. Although I have to admit that my characters hardly have lastnames and basically never middlenames. (Or if they’re “the teacher” or “the doctor”, only lastnames but no firstnames.)
I like my character’s names to fit well in my books. In my current one, there are a lot of different fictional cultures, so each one has a naming style that is a little different. For example, my main character’s name is Welsh, and the other character’s that belong to the same culture are either Welsh, Irish, or Scottish, and they fit together. Another character’s name is Norse, and the other character’s that belong to her culture are all Scandinavian based. However, the names all fit in the novel, especially the main characters. They are all familiar and/or easy to pronounce, but not names you hear everyday. The main character’s names are either one or two syllables, and start with a different letter so they don’t get mixed up.
Most of my characters only have one name (at least that is mentioned) or if they have a surname, it is only mentioned once or twice. However, the story is in a fictional world so I’ve taken a lot of liberties in naming styles and customs. If I was writing a book that took place in the real world (if i’m making sense), I’d probably do things differently.
I do theme name when I’m writing fantasy. I want the names to go together so that they sound like their from the same world/country/region. Sometimes when I base a people on, say, a desert Arab culture, them I’ll find or makeup names that I think fit that theme.
Other times, I’ll base what names a certain culture/ethnic group will have off of a language or a set theme (color names, plant inspired names, winter names, etc.)
However, when I’m writing modern fiction, I don’t really worry about it (other than that I want the names to sound realistic and match the characters heritage/personality).
If a character only has one name, it really depends on if they are important. Normally I will find a name that sticks out a little more from the other characters and for it to have a zappy, spunky sound to it so it’s easy to remember.
I do theme, but depending on culture and the family (I’m writing a fantasy). My protagonist is a girl in her mid-teens, and she has three siblings. Because they’re so close together in age, their names are a similar style. My other main character - an anti-hero and sometimes-antagonist - is from the fictional world and his name is unusual and different ([name_m]Tor[/name_m]). His name also fits with his brother’s, uncle’s and best friend’s, considering the latter of which is always at his side and has been for centuries. My protagonist’s and anti-hero’s names do not go together, because they are from different cultures. The likelihood that their names and culture would have developed the same way as us is minuscule considering they haven’t been in contact with humans before. Therefore, I make up - or use suggested made-up names by other 'berries - a lot of the names for characters from my fictional world (Caribald, Bathony, etc.).