A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
True, yet, but I'm talking about names for characers in narrative poems, stories, novels, and screenplays.
Higginbottom is a famous name in Texas, but I'd have a negative attitude toward any character with such a name in a text. Comic negative. It sounds like a name out of Charles Dickens.
So where to get names? You can look in the phone book. You can buy a baby book bought at a bookstore, or you can use the web. I wanted an African-American female name with one syllable. I was able to limit my search in a web name book to find such a name. The site told me the popularity of my one syllable name--curently low--and its origin.
Do I repeat myself? Very well then I repeat myself. Maybe I did a post on this before.
When finding names for short story and novel writing, it is good, as you have done here, to keep in mind the ethnic background of each character. There are other things to remain mindful of as well, such as how important a particular person is to the plot. For instance, you might wish to give less memorable monikers to those who are tertiary to the action.
ReplyDeleteVery good point!
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