How I Named My Characters

Proper names are important to consider.

In my latest book, Ella Travels the Erie Canal, I needed to research good names for the Woodhams family. They came to America in the 1880s, so I wanted to use ones that are appropriate for that era. Also, the Woodhams were English, which meant I must have English names.

I searched for ideas.

Where could I go to find good suggestions? Fortunately, my father’s side of the family originated from England. I’m thankful my ancestors kept records that went back generations. When I traced my family tree back to the 1800s, I found what I needed. I selected Dorrie, Ella, Cora, Martin, Florence, and Arthur for the Woodhams characters in my book.

My fictional work didn’t include the full names of living persons

Like the fictional Woodhams family, the real Woodhams family migrated to New York from England in the 1800s. I wanted to make sure I didn’t use their actual first names for the characters in my book. Can you imagine the reaction if I used a real person’s name as the villain? Horrors!

To prevent that, I interviewed a descendent of the Woodhams clan to verify my selections were not part of their family tree.

I also chose members from pioneer families for some small parts in the story. All my choices included people who lived in town during the 1800s. I used only last names for these minor characters, but this gave my story more connections with town history. I also felt readers in the area might enjoy seeing the names of prominent citizens in print. One choice was Mogray, long-time settlers in town. A century later, a descendent of the Mogray family became the town mayor.

I omitted similar names.

At one time, I had two boys with close-sounding names. Woody was a good character, and Wally was the bully. I rarely mentioned them in the same chapter, and people would forget them after several chapters. Since both characters started with a W and ended with a Y, readers got the two boys mixed up. I later changed Wally to Jack. This ended the confusion.

My family tree provided choices for minor characters, too.

Later in the series, I included identical twins in the story. I researched a list of my ancestors and found Hatty and Hetty, twins in my own lineage. These names were shortened forms of Harriet and Henrietta. Although Hatty and Hetty sound similar, I didn’t worry about confusing readers. The main reason is that the twins always appeared together in the story. Besides, Hatty had an out-going personality while Hetty was shy.

Sometimes I made selections based on a character’s traits.

I searched town records until I discovered a person from the 1800s called Anastasia. This old-fashioned name is a royal one, but in my mind, it conjured up images of a fussy, snobby person. I felt it might be a good fit for the girl in the series who is a spoiled brat.

Another example is Mrs. Buckley. In the story she is a demanding, grouchy, complaining woman. I could hardly call her Mrs. Sweetwater or Mrs. Smiley. I made up Mrs. Buckley because I associated that with an unpleasant word like bucko, which means a person who dominates, a bully.

Tips for choosing names:

1. Pick first and last names that sound good together. People get tongue-tied if the names are hard to pronounce.
2. Make sure the name reflects the correct ethnic background of your character.
3. If you are doing historical fiction, you should skip modern names. Your writing will be more authentic if you stay within the period of your story.

Good character names are vital to a successful book.

Although you may spend time getting the right names for each person in your story, the results will be worth it. The proper ones can add great value to your work. Those choices can make your characters and your book memorable.