I’m horrible at picking names. I never know what style a name is and I am no good matching names for sibsets and so forth. Lately, when I write, I find myself caring more about names. I don’t just want to give my characters any old name.
My question is how? [name]How[/name] do I know [name]Richard[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] make a good sibset…or that they don’t? I know that [name]Ann[/name] and [name]Katherine[/name] are classic names, but how do you label [name]Fiona[/name], and [name]Natalie[/name], [name]Tyler[/name], and [name]Anderson[/name]? These are just examples.
If someone would share some tips I’d greatly appreciate it.
Well a lot of it comes from the background of the name. Is it Irish? Has it been used for 1000 years? or is it a variation of an Iranian name? Names from certain times and backgrounds usually have similar feels.
You can look at the nameberry stats to find out those things. [name]Richard[/name] and [name]Catherine[/name] both have had high popularity for centuries, are similar lengths, and have both been used for monarchs–they definitely go together. [name]Anderson[/name] and [name]Tyler[/name] are different lengths, have much different popularity arcs ([name]Tyler[/name] was more trendy 30 years ago while [name]Anderson[/name] is quite trendy right now), [name]Tyler[/name] is English and [name]Anderson[/name] is Scandinavian–they could be used as a set, but they aren’t natural brothers.
Popularity and complexity also have a lot to do with how names match up. You probably wouldn’t match [name]Ann[/name] (a very simple name that’s had high popularity for centuries) with a name like [name]Delancey[/name] (more complicated, far less popular, more trendy)
After that a lot of it is just feel and how similar you want the names to be. [name]Fiona[/name] and [name]Bianca[/name] are both 3 syllables, have similar popularity levels and backgrounds, and both are about the same level of “girly/frilliness”. Whereas [name]Fiona[/name] and [name]Ann[/name], while they could totally be sisters, they have very different feels because of the syllables, popularity, and interest.
A good way to think about it is by imagining the person in your head that would have a certain name. Someone named [name]Bunny[/name] is probably going to be a very different person than someone named [name]Prudence[/name]–at least in the most prejudicial light. We are treated differently based on our names and that can affect who we become. But if you’re writing a story, even if 2 characters are vastly different, if they are siblings a parent would never name one daughter Bunny and the other Prudence–so basing your names on the parents style is much more realistic than basing it on the character themselves (at least in a realistic story).
I wouldn’t worry too much about “sets”. Sure, it might be weird to have two girls named [name]Hadassah[/name] and [name]Kittie[/name]-[name]Raven[/name] or something, but they’re not going to be a set forever.
People also care about the meanings of names. Sadly, some really great names have not-so-good meanings, but meanings can be a good way to shape a character. For example, [name]Lucy[/name] means light so a hero would be a better [name]Lucy[/name] than a villain. Same with [name]Claire[/name].
I think that the Nameberry books helped me contextualize everything; I’ve been keeping up with them since their earliest incarnation, Beyond [name]Jennifer[/name] and [name]Jason[/name]: The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your [name]Baby[/name]. I think the title of the current edition is Beyond [name]Ava[/name] and [name]Aiden[/name]. I started reading them when I was about thirteen I think. They are loaded with great advice and the lists are categorized by groupings of names according to things like style, creativity, uber-feminine, etc. rather than just listing a million names and their definitions. They’re great reads, and I highly recommend them for anyone interested in names!
I mainly go by feeling (sound, associations), then look (length, letters used), then history and origin.
When it comes to naming characters I think it’s more important that the name fits the character and not whether it works with the set. With a child you have to choose a name before you know who they’ll be (timid, out-spoken, athletic, a musician, a Nobel laureate). With a character you know who they are and you can pick a suitable name