All in a Name

Most writers believe names are extremely important in a work of fiction, but it is rare to find two writers with exactly the same procedure for creating them. I will share my own method here, while also admitting it is a work in process.

Since my process for creating names is somewhat time-consuming, I try to complete as much as I can before starting to write. It allows me to get the best use from my writing sessions. If I have missed a name or need a new one, I will do that work at another time.

Start Big, Work Down

Before starting to write, I create a spreadsheet of story characters, starting with the primary cast. It is vital for a couple of reasons. At this point, I may not have full names for everyone. I also need to consider personal demographics like age and gender. These may play a role in what name is suitable for each character.

Research, Research, Research

I develop massive lists of first, last, and middle names from a variety of sources. From there, I come up with possibilities for the characters needing names from the lists appropriate for them. Names have to sound well-spoken as well as have an appropriate look on the page. Once we have the list of finals, I go back online to see if there are any actual people with those names. My standard joke about this is, I don't want to name a kindergarten teacher after a serial killer.

Final Test

My last bit of quality control is comparing names in the spreadsheet. Is there a good mix of names? Do they look too much alike? Any signs of the dreaded "Same Letter Syndrome", where multiple characters have names that start with the same letter?

That last one is a common problem for writers. For some reason, a particular letter of the alphabet seems like the only logical choice. You realize Bob, Barbara, and Bernice are your main characters. So you decide to fix it by changing Barbara to Rita and Beth to Rebecca. Then you notice the characters' last names are Rogers, Richards, and Railey…

Having character names displayed by one another is a big help in avoiding this problem. By addressing this at the beginning, you won't have to go back and make all those changes to your manuscript later.

After setting up the main characters, I create a number of characters that can be used as needed. You won't know exactly how many characters you will need until you start writing. As I mentioned before, it's usually better for workflow if you can avoid stopping to create and verify characters.

An Alternative Take

I mentioned that writers tend to have their own methods of creating names for characters. Here is a take from the incomparable Elmore Leonard, excerpted from his remarks to the New York State Writers institute on September 4, 2013. Leonard lets his characters speak for him, describing how they feel about being subjected to his writing process:

"What he does, he makes us do all the work, the people in the books. Puts us in scenes and says go ahead and do something. No, first he thinks up names. Takes forever to think up names like Bob and Jack. Jackie for a woman, a female lead. So then he used Frank as the name of a good guy one time and this Frank wouldn't talk, refused to come out and become the kind of person Elmore wanted. So he changed his name to Jack after thinking of names for another few weeks, and it felt so good he couldn't shut the guy up, I mean this Jack, not Elmore. So he names us and he says okay start talking. So that's what we do."