Lots of movie and books have a (usually male) character with a generic name of "John", "Jack", "Tom", "Harry" or what have you. Is it because these and common names in real life to connect to more male readers or because they are popular? I know if the writer uses a name that is really out there that it could take away from the character's seriousness if you are going for a dark anti-hero but if the character has a common name I feel that not much thought goes into fleshing him out.
ριcкℓє∂ ємєяαℓ∂2013-01-28T15:53:29Z
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Because extravagant names like Nafatal'ii are often good indicators of Mary-Sue or Gary-Stu characters -- i.e; characters that aren't realistic or even relatable. I don't think characters that have common names necessarily means they haven't been fleshed out by the author -- in fact, it's usually quite the opposite. It takes a skilled writer to be able to understand and recreate human personality, and the fact that they choose common names usually adds to this. I mean, how many people with unusual names do you see wandering around? The truth is, most people DO have common names, and so to give each of your characters an inventive and uncommon name only serves to make your story a little less believable. At any rate, I don't think you should be worrying about the names of characters so much as how the story's written.
It's only recent generations that have stepped away from traditional names. The ones with at least three different nicknames, because everyone knew multiple Roberts, Johns, and Edwards.
And only Jack of the names you reference is a classic male name, as exemplified by Hemingway. Sharp consonant and short length. Nick. Nick is your buddy, Nick is your pal. You puke in Nick's car, Nick don't care. Jack? Jack's a good fella, he'd never squeal. Someone get Ned and Bobby, we're playing ball.
You know who likes out there names? Teenage girls, which is why their kids have such weird names. Guys in contrast never wanted to be named Jerome, let alone Alistair, Lance, or Percy.
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