Writers: do you think a character's name defines who they are?

I think they do, but not for my readers' benefit. It's because I have more fun with a character when their names reflect them. Character names are for the author in my opinion. It really has nothing to do with real life. It's just for fun, and naming a character a name that doesn't suit them because "in real life they wouldn't have been named something like that as a baby" bores me to death. I love matching the name to the character, and most people won't picture the name like I would anyway.

I don't think that they should ask other people to come up with the names though. If they want one that matches the character, they need to come up with it, because they're the only ones who really know the character (and the name for that matter). It doesn't matter if other people think the name matches, since the name is for them anyway.

BQ: how do you come up with your character's names?

I pick a name that, in my mind, matches the character (for the reasons I listed above), and I don't ask other people to name the character for me since I'm the only one who sees the name and the character the way I do.

BQ2: Which of your character's name's is your favorite

Danny is my favorite, since I love that name and it suits him perfectly :)

BQ3: Which was the last sentience you wrote in your current story?

"We take the boat out all the time, and it's only one night." That sentence sounds kind of boring lol. Maybe I should change it... :D

When naming my characters I try and think of there parents even if I don't intend to use there parents in the story. I try and think what nationality are they and does that play in the naming process ex. are they Greek and thus would want an authentic Greek name. Is there a family name they may pass down. I think of the era the stories in and would it have been a name then.

A few of my antagonist have names like Serenity and Serena. Those names don't strike fear or spell antagonist but when they were babies there parents didn't see there children growing up to be the bad guys. It would be ridicules to name a character after what they become later in life.

I have moments where I will see and hear a name and it will just fit and no other name will fit that character. That happened with my character Keira. If that happens whether or not it fits appearance or personality doesn't matter for me in the naming process.

Naming of characters is important but I agree with you saying a character has brown hair blue eyes and is sporty I'm going to name him Evan it wouldn't matter. Like saying he is Steven or Luca wouldn't necessarily change your view of the character. Unless he was brown haired blue eyed & sporty and was a soccer star named Luca. Then you get the sense from the name he is possably Italian or of Italian decent. You will gather appearance and personality throughout the story. But we all have different views toward names. Like we will view the names Evan, Steven and Luca differently but I don't think the use of any of the names will overly effect the reader. Writing a well written story is more important in my opinion than the effect the name will have.

I like to also choose names based on the meaning of the name sometimes. Not where the meaning is related to the appearance or personality of the characters I just choose it because it fits what I believe the parent characters would have named the children character when they were first born.

BQ: how do you come up with your character's names?

- I think I effectively explained that above if it makes sense to anyone beyond myself, LOL.

BQ2: Which of your character's name's is your favorite

- Hard to say I love them all and I love to choose rare names. Maybe... Smyrna.

BQ3: Which was the last sentience you wrote in your current story?

- "It must have been amazing growing up here.”

Hope what I said makes sense. - Cass

I'm "no" to the point where say if the character's a boy, they wouldn't have an overly feminate name or wouldn't normally have a name with a feminine ending ("+a" is a feminine ending, for example) and also if there's something striking about the child's appearance WHEN they were born, then that could help create the name. For example, I was born with a mess of red hair so my parents gave me the middle name "Jade" because they said green goes with red. But if a define obviously describes their personality, and it isn't a nickname, then there's a question-mark there.

BQ: Honestly? Most of them pop into my head because I do fantasy, so I have to make up MOST names. I used to draw names from combining words from the languages I wrote, but I got bored of that and thought, "What the heck - I'll make mine up!" The only time I do need to pick a name from a real-life culture or something, I do pluck a name from that culture. For example, a race in my story are based on the Far East Asian countries and the places/names are strongly based on Japan, so I gave most of the people there Japanese names, or Japanese-sounding names.

BQ2: It's between 'Berewin' (Beh-rah-win) because the name sounds so fluid and so easy to say that it's pretty and 'Kazaarak' (Kah-zah-rak), mostly because even though it looks cooler with the two a's in the middle, I'd like to stop people and say, "Hey, it's actually pronounced with one a in the middle, thank you very much!" - just a dumb little prank based on a misconception I'd really want to play on people ^_^

BQ3:"Good luck," added Timeo's feeble voice. - to be fair, this is actually more interesting than it sounds because Timeo is quite a complex character and it's OMG-like that he says this to a certain someone.

Yes and No. I think how some of the questions asking for names is kind of dumb, personally. It's like they don't want to really put thought and effort into creating a character.

It should be more like real life:

* what kind of family background does this person have? Your ancestry affects your present.

So whether it's real life (ie: McGerralt, Dombrowsky, or Li) or made up, it affects the character. Growing up, the character would be exposed to Irish, Polish, or Chinese history/culture even if they are American this would still show up in: food, holidays, family gatherings (as example).

* I slightly disagree with having the same name, it does affect the person but it depends on the name.

Rachel is a common biblical name, however if you had an uncommon first name or a name where it's not considered common (ie: Siobhan is common in Ireland, but uncommon in the US. Or Etienne is common in French speaking countries, but very uncommon in the US) That difference affects how that person is regarded/treated. (also see - weird Hollywood names - ie: Pilot Inspektor, Reign Bow, Talulu Belle, and other WTF names)

* So bearing that in mind, if you're serious about writing, I would *really* suggest that the writer take all that into consideration before naming their character (who would, for example, attends some podunk school in BlahBlah, US) "Mirabelle Veracity Belle DuBois" (who's REALLY A PRINCESS!) or "TalluluBelle Melody Merrisea" (who's REALLY A MERMAID PRINCESS!!)

And I agree, names generally have no bearing upon looks.

BQ1: character background

BQ2: sorry, not telling, it's mine :)

BQ3: sorry, it's on my home computer (at work goofing off currently)

(this was a good question, actually.) ^^

The name alone doesn't define them, but it does make a difference. Or, it can. I mean, if you name someone "Susie" we're probably not going to think she's anything special. But if you name that character "Aqua", the name creates a specific image in the reader's mind.

Now, I'm not saying we need to name every character something weird and unusual, but it can help make certain characters more distinct in a story. A character's name should reflect their background and upbringing, their geographical location, and the timeframe of the story.

BQ: It depends on the story. Sometimes, particularly in my fantasy writing, I choose names that A) sound whimsical and flighty and pretty, and B) have certain and distinct meanings, usually elemental or something from nature. These give the reader an idea of what 'kind' of person the character is. Alone, they are not enough, but with the rest of the character development, they can help the image. (Marina is my favorite of these. I named a water fairy that once.)

Sometimes I don't choose a name at all. My characters walk into my head, say, "Hello. My name is ___. What's yours?" In this case, I almost never change it. They come to me whole, and I don't like to mess with that.

When I do have to choose a name, I choose as if I am naming my child. I do look at meaning, becuase I would do that when naming my child. I might name a character Rose if I wanted her to be seen as beautiful and delicate. I would name a baby that for the same reason, even if it didn't turn out to be true.

BQ2: Probably Mina. I tend to use the name in a lot of urban writing because it's cool, classic and modern at the same time, and my brother's godmother is a Mina. I don't know, I just like it. I tend to use the name for fantasy creatures, like unicorns and fairies.

BQ3: My last sentence is at home, and I have no idea what it says. Something about one character asking another if she wants to see the garden.

Here's a question for you about names; think about your favorite characters from your favorite books. Can you picture them with any name other than the one they have? Could Scout (from To Kill a Mockingbird) have just as easily been named Julie? It just wouldn't fit. What about the HP characters. Could Harry have been a George? Hermione a Susan? Ron a Philip?

Yeah. The answer is 'No'.

Not at all. How does a parent when their child is born know what they're going to look like, or how they're going to act. I was born with blondish hair, but now I'm a brunette; I look nothing like a did when I was a baby, so how would their parents know? They wouldn't. It's a bit stupid when they actually think that's how people get named.

BQ: If it's set on Earth, then I usually end up on baby name websites and just pick one out that seems cool. I think the most recent one was Riley. I don't know why I named him that; I think that was his name in the dream that inspired the project. Well, that and the fact I like that name, but would never name any of my children Riley so I thought why not use it.

BQ2: Probably Emrys. I like unusual names, especially when it's set in a different universe.

BQ3: It's not part of the story because I haven't started yet, so I'll write what I last wrote in my planning section.

"The dragon plant leaves are dropped into boiling water. The water is left to evaporate and the red dragons are left crystallized in the bottom."

I'm talking about a drug in the different universe called the red dragons. They're common hallucinogens.

WARNING: YOU GOT ME GOING ON A SUBJECT AND NOW I WON'T SHUT UP. MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT BELOW.

No, I don't. I do think that a name can reveal insight into a character (this is especially useful in short stories where you don't have time to fully go into characterization-you can call a "nice character" Beatrice Goodworthy and get away with it).

It's just stupid really. Think of it this way: you're named at birth. How is anyone going to know what you're going to be like from birth? If your parents name you Woodsworth, that doesn't mean that you'll grow up to be a poet. I do think that it can affect people's perceptions of you, which can then turn around and influence your personality, but not to such a stark degree.

Sorry, I'm rambling.

BQ: how do you come up with your character's names?

I have a book with a list of first and last names in the back. I go by the character's nationality and parents' personalities (i.e., if they're "avant-garde", the character will have a unique name. If they're "normal", they'll have a normal name.)

BQ2: Which of your character's name's is your favorite?

Probably Klaus. I really like that name. It's simple and common, but at the same time it isn't. If that makes sense?

BQ3: Which was the last sentience you wrote in your current story?

As her fingers weaved over his skin and a cacophony of cracks filled the room, she tired not to think about how the little satisfied (and probably exaggerated) moans coming out of Kakashi’s mouth sounded like he was having sex.

[writing a fanfiction, lawlz]

First off, one name could fit completely different people, since words are such complex and interesting things. Your name changes who you are, whether you are aware of it or not. It's been scientifically proven. But more to the point, fiction isn't there to be realistic. A *truly* realistic book would be terrible. You would give a character a fitting name for the same reason you would give it a likable and relatable MC -- to improve the book and the quality of the experience of reading it, and of the character. If you read a book where the main character's name was, say Aloysius Zimmerplox, don't you think it would make the book less enjoyable because of that stupid and annoying name? Also, characters in movies are played by people who are more attractive than everyday people. Do you want them to change that to make it more "realistic"? I don't think I expressed this very well, but anyway, I think it is important to have a fitting name. I consider my names to be a part of the character. I can't change a character's name.

BQ1: They just come to me, or I look through baby names books and phone books. Sometimes I use a random name generator or ask for advice.

BQ2: Blackout. It's a nickname, but for these guys, their nicknames are their real names for all intents and purposes. Blackout has brain damage. And you'd have to read the book to understand, but Blackout is a fitting name in millions of other ways.

BQ3: doesn't matter. I'm completely reworking the beginning chapter.

I think that it does a little bit. Who wants to read about a Susan or a John? There are so many more exciting names out there.

However, I'm not saying that you need to find the perfect name for your red haired baseball player. You just don't need to pick a boring one either. :P

Seriously, their 'parents' may have given them a name that has a meaning, but they didn't know that he'd be a red haired baseball player.

BQ: how do you come up with your character's names?

- I just choose a name that I like that I haven't used in any other stories yet.

BQ2: Which of your character's name's is your favorite

- Carlyn. I think it's pretty and unique.

BQ3: Which was the last sentience you wrote in your current story?

- "I smile back. “That is a yes.”"

We have to understand, as writers, that a character's name is one of the first things a reader will know about him. Names do have "moods" and "colors" and "tones". Scarlett O'Hara gives a completely different impression than Bertha O'Hara.

So a character's name is of pretty high importance. That doesn't mean that beautiful girls should have beautiful names and that villains should have "nefarious" names. It simply means that names are important.

BQ1: I take into account their background, but I usually choose them on the impression the sounds of their names gives. "Haslett Wimpleton" is a wealthy, self-conscious boy whose name is actually two real life last names put together. I like the way the sounds put into mind a boy of button-up shirts and clean, neatly combed hair. It's rather subtle (although "Wimpleton" is a bit much), but Haslett's personality later in the book will negate this impression and add depth to his character.

BQ2: Wesley Dane. It is a "common" name, which fits, considering where he lives. It's a solid name, as well, and could be an honest, dependable young boy, but it's not - Wesley is guarded and wary and stands out from the crowd not at all.

BQ3: "It was the sort of admiration which is held warm and spiteful in one’s chest, and which one would rather cut their own tongue out than betray."