A Hottie by Any Other Name

[anicalewis]

So I'm reading another YA paranormal romance. I'm frequently disappointed by these, mostly for reasons that fall under the "romantic interest is a jerk" and/or "protagonist is a dopey pushover" categories, but I am convinced that these problems are not inherent to the genre. Just, you know, frequent pitfalls. Plus, this one is an Alice in

Comments

[magic_7_words]

I've made up names for quite a few fantasy characters, so they don't have real-world connotations like datedness. But I do have definite preferences when it comes to the sounds that make up a name. Liquids (L, R), voiceless stops (P, T, K), and other alveolar sounds (S, N) are far more likely than other letters to end up in the names of major characters. I'm less fond of bilabials and voiced consonants. If you meet a character of mine whose name starts with a B (bilabial AND voiced), you're well served not to trust them. And let's not even talk about affricates.

Also, 'A' appears to be my favorite vowel.

[anicalewis]

Haha, I apparently share your love for A in character names. A year or so ago, I realized that every protagonist of a long work I'd ever written had an A in his or her name. They didn't make the same sounds, but they were always there. That's no longer true, as the piece I'm currently working on has two protagonists and neither has an A in his name, but it's still true of all my long fantasy stories. :P

And don't worry, we don't have to talk about affricates. Mostly because I don't know what they are.

[magic_7_words]

Hahaha. In English they're the 'J' and 'CH' sounds. Which makes it odd that I'd dislike them, because my name starts with one...

[fabulousfrock]

For me, it's the character more than the name. I mean, Melvin would really be a stretch, but even then, if I loved Melvin's character I would probably start digging it. I could totally see falling for a Clarence or a Lloyd if the personality was right. I saw some people complaining about "Po" in Graceling but I loved Po, and I think objectively, that is not a very hot name, but once I fell for Po it didn't matter.

My own characters have often showed up with names that I was initially like, "That's your name? Really? Well...okay."

[anicalewis]

True that. The character is much more important. I just think it's good to, when you can, pick out a name that doesn't work against you.

I had never actually thought about Po's name! I never took issue with Peeta's, either. I think my standards change when the story isn't contemporary realistic fiction.

[magic_7_words]

Oh, Peeta's name definitely lost him points, for me. But it worked, because he wasn't supposed to start out with any points--he was supposed to be the sweet but not-particularly-attractive "other guy" who took a whole book to overcome a slightly negative first impression. Which is exactly what happened.

[angeladegroot]

I hear ya! And as far as names I have trouble with, I just can't say the shortened version of Richard. It's juvenile, I know but, I had a co-worker who went by Dick and it was impossible for me call him that. Even in emails - so I just didn't call him anything.