Making a mystery story- ideal character names?

Hello,

I'm unsure of what time period you wish your mystery story to take place, but since the mystery novels peaked during the 1930's, I will assume that is the time period you are desiring (which is when I reccommend as well). The names themselves do not matter as much as the background behind the characters. For example, the name "James Bond," isn't a particularly good name nor does it really fit the character. But the fascinating background and character of James Bond is what makes him so memorable. Which is what I also suggest to you. Forget about worrying about the names of the characters and instead focus on building up the lives of the characters. The more you think about the actual characters' lives, the easier the names will come to you. In mystery stories, 90% of the characters have typical, everyday characteristics behind them. For example, 90% of your characters will be the everyday lawyer, doctor, teacher type. Those characters will also have everyday backgrounds. But each character will have one thing unique about them that will make the reader feel just a little bit odd about the character. For example, you could have a N.Y. lawyer named Sam Walters who prefers to be called "The Bone," and the reader doesn't know why he prefers to be called that. The other 10% of the characters are entirely unique. They're filled with mystery and the readers just can't understand them. In the beginning of the story, one of the characters (either one of the usual or unusual characters) is usually murdered and the reader doesn't know who murdered him/her. The reader will immediately suspect that it is one of the unique and unusual characters, but will be unable to tell each one. For the first 75% of the story, the evidence starts to increasingly point to one of the oddball characters. Then they discover a piece of evidence that points directly at one of the oddballs. The oddball is arrested and tried. Just when the reader is certain that the culpret has been captured, one of the characters notices an odd piece of evidence that points somewhere else. That character follows the lead and discovers that it the actual culpret is one of the normal characters (usually it's the one that the reader will least suspect, for example, if the captain was murdered in the beginning, it will turn out that it was the janitor who killed him because he was so jealous of the captain and his fantastic lifestyle). I hope this helps you build your story up. As for the names themselves, I have made some suggestions below.

For the normal characters:

Tim Roberts

Bill Thompson

Lance Bernstein

Jackie Thompson (Bill's wife)

Vanessa Johnson

Gloria Addams

For the unusual characters (oddballs):

Van Sydel (pronounced vahn s-eye-dehl, male name)

Sal Timbon (pronounced Sahl Tihmbahn, male name)

Lexia Forina (female name)

If you have anymore questions, or if you want some more writing advice, please feel free to contact me at scifiwriting@yahoo.com

Mystery Novel Title Generator

Girls:

Ansley Washington

Bella Canner

Rosalie-May Pepperton

Ashley Staywell

Boys:

Philip Parker

Zven Mancer

Richard Watership

Harley Corder

Mayple Hardsmith

Jane Goodberry

Joey Jones

Eden Farly

Eliza Wood

Robbie Hills

Louie Clark

Kayne Jadit

Use a random name generator for first names!

For a mystery story, unless it is intended for small children, I would avoid trying to find perfect character-matching names. People aren't named that way anyway...and it's going to be a bit of a damp squib if your villain is immediately spottable because he is the one with the "evil" name.

The phone directory is good. Four (or eight) random surnames, decide how old they are, and then something from the top fifty baby names from the year they were born.

Boys Caleb Lock Houston Francis Liam Spear Girls Madison Phillip Jessica Gibb Falen Dearin Nice plot for a story by the way! Hey I would love to see it on Wattpad. I would totally like it. Love horror stories. Im a Stephen King fan. Good luck!

For a mystery story, commonplace names are the best. Don't make is stand out to much or else it will just ruin the effect of the mystery. Of course, it is best not to put in names like John Smith, you can be more creative, but do not have Elyzabeth Wayne or something silly like that.

As morose as this is going to sound, whenever I need character names I take a trip to a cemetery and just lift the names from there. At the very least you can get a sampling of real life names and use them for inspiration.

why don't i explain like this:

janice williams could be the girl who won a trip on the ship.

gabrielle monzalla is the girl that on this ship with her boyfriend, gerald patashi. who is a European. they are celabrating their ingagment. jacob swanson is the ships captian, who gets a little hot when he is next to the gorgeous miranda Mcsurry.but miranda has a boyfriend, danny tosh, a very sexy man. one day jacob decides to kill danny. but does not succeed. but he left his mark. evryone blames jason hiller, the mysterious man in the third cabin on the third floor. what will happen?

Female characters:

Vonnie (Veronica) Tohmpson. (spelled that way)

Lisa MacHarold

Josie Franklin

Amee Jolina

Male characters:

James Bronks

Micheal Lois

George Kingsley

Ryan Treador

Hope I helped. :)