Some of the most interesting influences come from novels aimed at younger readers. Give your characters names that not only begin with different letters but that also sound as dissimilar as. Palacio, me and my dragon by david biedrzycki, the l. If your readers will be reading a characters full name several times, make sure it flows well. Aug 28, 2019 if i want to honor someone in real life, i may use their last name as a first for a character. If you want to emphasize the antagonists jealousy and ruthlessness, look up names by meaning on a baby name website.
A fantasyfictional book may have more extravagant or unusual names rather than. Sep 25, 2017 what should i name the characters in my book. While this is in part to help protect normal humans from the actions of the largely out of control supes, this is also to ensure that the company lacks the stability or the platform to push the use of superhumans in national. You also might try adding the suffixes son and man to common nouns to create passable angloamerican surnames.
Ive expanded this list to 200 names in my book master lists for writers. Of course these lists are flexiblenames can often be used either way. In the first tier are the top 200 names among boys of high school age in the past few decades. The phone book will not only give you thousands of last names, but you can also read first names and get a feel for what names work well with each last name. How to come up with an iconic character name in 12 steps. These include novels, short stories, graphic novels and comic books. I need a few character names for a book that im wildly attempting to write. Having the majority of characters born in a certain year given. Eight pages of boys names collected by me with help of my friends anya and nonie thankyou guys. Brian selznick shelved 2 times as boymaincharacters avg rating 4. Opposition and challenge test a good main character, showing their inner strength or lack thereof, their innovation or shortcomings. For more great titles that will entice your reader, check out these timeless chapter books for kids. Aaron abraham adam alan alec alex alexander amos andrew anthony andy arnold arthur avery barry bart bartholomew benjamin bernard benny bill bob bobby brad bradley brent brett brian bruce burt byron caleb calvin carl chad chadwick chandler charles charlie chris christopher chuck clark cliff cole colin cory dale daniel darrel darren dave david dennis derek.
Coming up with a great name for your characters is one of the hardest tasks youll ever complete as a fiction writer. Yeah, im one for unusual names xd and two were used on this list. Study the names great authors have come up with, let your mind loose to. Koren zailckass mother, mother is the kind of book that keeps you up at night, and it features a mother to rival medea or mrs. How to give your character the perfect name writers digest. Ya young adult literature has given us luna from harry potter, boosted hazel from the fault in our stars, and exposed a generation of future namers to some dazzling possibilities. Maybe youve checked in baby books or have flipped through the phonebook looking for the right combination of names, and still. The historical concept and definition of sexual orientation varies and has changed greatly over time. In the first tier are the top 200 names among boys of high school age in the past.
The characters dont name themselvesthis is the job of your character s parents. For truly random last names, pick up a phone book or book of baby names. Unique last name ideas for fictional characters of your book. Extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer, the walls around us by nova ren suma, l. Literary baby names are big just look at emma and harper.
Here are seven great rules for choosing character names offered up by popular mystery writer. Look up different names by different meanings that relate to your character and. It has to suit the characters personality, makes sense for the era and, most important, be super awesome. Jun 08, 2010 beyond advice from some of the most popular names pardon the pun in the writing world, another avenue worth exploring is the breed of websites like and. Thanks soo much, and if you include your name, if i pick your names, then ill give you credit in the book. Writing adolescent fictioncharacter namespopular names in. A need a nerdy girl name, a nerdy boy name, a trampy girls name, a hot jockey boys name, a notlikeanyoneelse boys name, and a gothy girls name. I like for the characters name to reflect something about his or her personality.
In the second tier are other names you might run into more than once in your lifetime. Look at any words on a page for long enough and theyll look good. Of course, you may have one character who has an unusual name that stands out from everyone elses, but that should never be the rule. Books with a characters name as the title show list info. When i was a little girl, my second grade teacher gave me handfuls of books every week full of inspirational and empowering characters. Scott fitzgerald, 1925 holden caulfield, the catcher in the rye, j. Here are the most popular characters that parents and their kids love. List of the mortal instruments characters wikipedia. Use the name generator to provide story characters with dissimilar names.
This list is subjective for sure, and only comprised of characters i have read and would read with my children. Everything you need to know about creating characters for. Using any of these methods cuts down the amount of time i spend coming up with character names. Although it would be interesting for a female to receive a usually male name and viceversa. Choosing a character name for your novel is as pressurefilled as picking a name for a baby. My real problems is trying to settle on a name for a new puppy. I have come up with ideas for book names for anybody over 2000 book names ideas, but some are unpublished pending editing. Dec 10, 2015 the world building is quirky, all of the characters are unique, and rachel herself is a worldclass magicwielding badass. Names like harry potter, holden caulfield and stephanie plum are memorable not just because of the amazing stories they navigate, but also because these names fit those characters so well. When writing my novel the actress, i needed a name for a japaneseamerican. Popular girl characters books showing 150 of 70 marty mcguire digs worms. Voldemort 1 will b used for the ultimately evil character and another for his younger henchman who does his bidding make them both good and they need to b somewhat catchy thanx. Books named after the main character show list info most of the time, novels named after characters usually do so after the protagonist, but every once in a while you get my antonia, the great gatsby, or julius caesar, where the title character is an obsession or rival of the true main character. Zailckas picked 11 of her favorite evil characters.
Of the 9,115 childrens books published last year, researchers found that only 391 4% featured bame characters. If i want to honor someone in real life, i may use their last name as a first for a character. Unlike characters themselves, the quantifiable appeal of character names is always evident. Were providing that push in the form of this buzzle post. Unique last name ideas for fictional characters of your. I love the book wings of fire and tsunami is my favorite out of the 5 dragonets, she brave and sarcastic and a very well developed character, i really think she should be one of the top 10 of this list. For example, when two allied characters get in an argument how or whether they make up could reveal a lot about both. Books like matilda and alice in wonderland were what got me.
Jan 17, 2018 i used song titles from my itunes music collection to come up with africansounding names for a series about a prehistoric tribe. Book magazine, now defunct, compiled a panel of 55 authors, literary agents, editors, and actors in 2002 to rank the top one hundred characters in literature since 1900. Have you struggled to imagine a suitable name for your story or novel character. Greg mallory to manage, police, and sometimes liquidate voughtamericans superhumans. Back, i tell you, back pokes people with a stick xd you will probably see these names in my story. Garrett logan zack charles perry oliver kenneth ken brice dylan derek pete coda kodi nigel anders ramsey steve carey jessie dakota greyson ryan. Writing adolescent fictioncharacter namesgirls wikibooks, open. For my main characters, finding a name with the right meaning is a great first step. Top 20 female characters from childrens books scholastic. Feb 06, 2020 look through phone books or a book of baby names.
Photo by evelyn giggles in my current novel, im writing about faculty, staff, and students at a smallish university in the southeast. Jul 16, 2018 of the 9,115 childrens books published last year, researchers found that only 391 4% featured bame characters. Books named after the main character list challenges. You can follow any responses to this entry through the rss 2. Mar 24, 2020 choosing a name comes down to what you, as the author, feels fits your story and character. The boys are a cia black ops team, initially created by col. This list is subjective for sure, and only comprised of characters i. Only 1% of childrens books have bame main characters uk. The simple automated character name generator below will help in your search for interesting and unique character names, male or female. Main characters are often only as interesting as the opponents authors pit them against. The 50 best character names in movie history the good in. Sep, 20 koren zailckass mother, mother is the kind of book that keeps you up at night, and it features a mother to rival medea or mrs. All you have to do is scour the page of 300 unique, original fantasy names and keep this list a reference while you write that fandomworthy novel of yours. You dont want to jar your readers while theyre in the middle of reading.
I am surrounded by amazing women and i want to see them in the books i read with my kids. If writing a series or saga and the characters in following books show up in book one, you dont have to worry about coming up with the main characters names. I started with salif keita and then, as the series expanded and i needed more and more characters and tribal names, i turned to other malian musicians such as rokia traore and then various world music stars from across africa. I love strong female characters because they mirror the girls and women in my own life. Top female characters from childrens books scholastic. The world building is quirky, all of the characters are unique, and rachel herself is a worldclass magicwielding badass. A number of different classification schemes have been used to describe sexual orientation since the mid19th century, and. All original content, including the artwork, is the property of the good omens lexicon and its contributors, and may not be reproduced without permission. Also thanks to chelsea who i forgot to add the first time this was posted.
Choose something that uses similar sounds like shao shing. In so many books and tv shows i consumed later, the it girl assumed. I place a lot of stock in the names of movie characters, and ive thought long and hard about what the best ones are. Tsunami is one of the best characters ever, she is sassy and a bad ass and totally deserves to be up here. Naming characters just right is a challenge, but give it some time and thought, and youll start to find the fun in it. Character names are to characters as titles are to books, so if youre blindly. List of lgbt characters in modern written fiction wikipedia. In the first tier are roughly the top 400 names among girls of high school age in.
The 7 rules of picking names for fictional characters. The character s names should fit the norms of when they were born. It has lists of character names for contemporary heroes and lists of names from several historical periods as well. All material related to good omens is the property of neil gaiman and terry pratchett. In my current workinprogress, for example, i gave my two main characters names that represent their biggest inner conflicts. What better place to find your babys name than in a muchloved book.
Not comprehensive in the least, but its a start 1,865 users 8,970 views made by em. Flipping through phone books is the easiest way to coin innovative and unique names for fictional characters. As childrens books become longer and your audience older, there is room for more characters and more indepth character development. The two main characters in the book are referred to only by. From childrens literature to classic 18th century prose, weve come up with 90 names and theres definitely something here to suit every bookworm parent. Cormac mccarthy, in his fantastic novel blood meridian, only gives titles and nicknames to characters.
These literary baby girl names have been inspired by characters in books from all genres and periods. Personally, my three favourite girl names ever are dawn, willow and ivy. Charlie brown in hapiness from youre a good man charlie brown. For example, nassir, livius, and zavis all mean envy. Thesauruses, plots, character traits, names, and more. This list of general boys names is divided into three lots.
Writing adolescent fictioncharacter namesboys wikibooks. Good names help both writers and readers move through a story smoothly. Choosing a character name is often one of the most difficult steps in the writing process. Authors writing a character who was a teen in the 1960s, or who is in her seventies today, will likely want to use a name that can convincingly reflect the persons age and generation. Kate messner goodreads author shelved 2 times as girlcharacters avg rating 4. Oct 31, 2019 here are the most popular characters that parents and their kids love. Is it weird if i write a book with myself as one of the main characters. If the main characters do not seem real in our imaginations, or in the settings we choose, children will lose interest in them. I used song titles from my itunes music collection to come up with africansounding names for a series about a prehistoric tribe. This list is comprised of some of the most recognizable names from fictional books. Youll find a few classics and lots of unusual names given to characters in favorite books for kids from toddlers to teenagers.
Beyond advice from some of the most popular names pardon the pun in the writing world, another avenue worth exploring is the breed of websites like and. This list of general boys names is divided into three tiers. If you have polly and paul in the same story, or even robert and rebecca, readers will have a difficult time remembering their names. Characters you really adore put characters name in comment box 78 books 47 voters strong female characters created by men. Writing adolescent fictioncharacter namesboys wikibooks, open. Aug 28, 2012 3 ways to introduce your main character. Popular boy main characters books showing 150 of 7 the invention of hugo cabret hardcover by. This is a list of lgbt characters in modern written fiction. All you have to do is scour the page of 300 unique, original fantasy names and keep this list a reference while you write that fandomworthy novel. Study the names great authors have come up with, let your mind loose to play, do your research, and above all, trust your ear. This is a list of the main characters from the mortal instruments series by cassandra clare, including the novels city of bones, city of ashes, city of glass jace meets death, city of fallen angels, city of lost souls, and city of heavenly fire. If shown, the year indicates when the book was first published.
Just as the teenage characters in your story are going to need names, so are the adult characters. It can be algebraic, like a, b, and c, the main characters of you too can. The invention of hugo cabret by brian selznick, wonder by r. But when that fails, writers need a subtle creative push to find a name that actually fits the characters. This list of general girls names is divided into three tiers. Dec 03, 2018 what better place to find your babys name than in a muchloved book. Sep 30, 2007 i need two evil names for characters in my books. How to make a good last name for characters in a book wikihow. Just 1% had a bame main character, and a quarter of the books submitted only. The name needs to fit the character and be memorable for the reader.
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