There are those who call me... Tim?

[rj_anderson]

It has been suggested to me that I change the name of my young hero from book two of FAERY REBELS (a.k.a. REBEL in the UK). I am told that for most British people, especially of the younger generation, the name "Timothy" is considered fairly radically uncool

Comments

[tybalt_quin]

There are definite downsides to having a Tim, Timmy or Timothy as a character name in the UK.

Basically, you'd be giving a character name shared with Timmy Mallet (one of the most loathed tv presenters in the UK), Tim Henman (Britain's most successful tennis player who didn't really win anything), and Timmy the Dog from the Famous 5 books.

In fact, I think that the reason why the UK version of The Office had a character called Tim was to partly identify him as being a bit of a nice-but-loser-sadsack (he became Jim in the US version).

I do however like Thomas. It's a good strong name, Tom works just as well and you see a lot of kids nowadays who are called Tom or Tommy (which you don't get with Tim).

So yes. My vote is for Thomas.

[kiwiria]

I love both names - actually Timothy is one of my favourite names in general, but granted, I'm not from the UK, so I don't have the associations tybalt_quin mentioned (I have read Famous Five though, but would never have thought to make that connection).

My problem with Thomas is that "a doubting Thomas" is pretty much a stereotype in some circles. I like the name though, so *shrug*.

But then, I may not be the right person to ask. Names generally won't make or break a book for me. If I like the book, I don't care about the names :-D

[rj_anderson]

Names generally won't make or break a book for me. If I like the book, I don't care about the names :-D

Yes, that's how I feel, too. I absolutely loathe the name "Harry", but it didn't keep me from enjoying the Potter books. Usually I spend about a chapter wishing that the author had chosen some other name I like better, and then I get over it.

[kiwiria]

The only names I really take an issue with is if the author chooses a name I typically associate with a female for a male character or vice versa - and it's not that I dislike it as such, it just throws me for a loop every time I'm reminded that the character is not the gender I thought he/she was.

So if you decide to call the main character Abraham and it's a girl... I might wonder what on earth you were doing ;)

[tybalt_quin]

:flails

[olmue]

Too bad Timothy has that connotation in the UK. It just sounds like it would fit into the Oakenworld. But Thomas would work, too.

[rj_anderson]

Timothy is a plant name as well as a Bible name; that's one of the reasons I liked it.

[alison23]

While I'm not in the UK, this strikes me as a bit odd considering how often the name Tim is used in their TV shows. For instance, the lead character in the sitcom Spaced, played by Simon Pegg, is named Tim. On the show Not Going Out, the main characters's "best mate" is named Tim. And then of course in the British version of The Office, Martin Freeman's character, who is kind of the everyman character, is named Tim. That was 3 just off the top of my head... I don't know about Timothy, though, just Tim.

(BTW, your blog displays oddly on my IE browser--it's hard to find the comments. On the main entry page I just see a whole long list of everyone's avatars. Then I have to go up and use the scroll bar to find their comments, which are separate from their avatars.)

P.S. I personally find Thomas to be very different than Tim--it seems much stronger to me. I guess "Tim" could have a subconscious a connotation of "timid."

[rj_anderson]

Can you let me know which version of IE you're using, and whether you're on Mac or PC? If it's a persistent problem I'll have my web designer check it out.

Re Tim, it's been suggested to me that the situation would be improved if I just changed his name from "Timothy" to "Tim" throughout the narration. But I tried it and I just... I couldn't. It looked totally stupid to me. Maybe I need to try it again and give myself more time to get used to it, but right now I'd rather change the name entirely than shorten it.

[alison23]

I'm using IE 7.06. I've had this problem on your page for a while. Strangely, posting a comment fixes the way it looks, but if I reload the problem comes back.

I wasn't actually thinking you should use Tim instead of Timothy, but I think of them as fairly interchangeable--I assumed any positive connotations of "Tim" would also extend to "Timothy"! What about Timothy Dalton--is he just too old to give the name Timothy any cred?

[kerravonsen]

Re Tim, it's been suggested to me that the situation would be improved if I just changed his name from "Timothy" to "Tim" throughout the narration. But I tried it and I just... I couldn't. It looked totally stupid to me.
Oh I agree. Tim feels completely different to Timothy for me. Tim makes me think of "Tiny Tim", it just feels weak. Whereas I like "Timothy", it feels old-fashioned, yes, but more robust, somehow.

I don't like "Thomas". I'm not sure about "Tom". It somehow makes me think of the kind of character in fairy-tales who is a simpleton... ah, I know what I'm thinking of, I'm thinking of the song "Thomas the rhymer", where the character in question saw the Queen of Faerie and bowed and said "All hail the mighty Queen of Heaven", which struck me as a bit simple-minded. Then one has "Tom Thumb", but on the other hand, one has "Tom Bombadil".

But in any case, either one of them is better than Eustace Clarence... 8-)

[ozratbag2]

I'm hopeless with character names, so I think it's pretty much up to you what name you choose for your hero. :)

I had a quick look on the web for boys names in the UK circa 1995, and the link is here. It's only giving Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but it might help.

BTW, do you know if your first book has come out in Australia? I've been keeping an eye on the new titles, but haven't seen it yet. I haven't looked for a couple of weeks, which I'll be remedying when I'm up the street tomorrow.

[melwil]

I bought Knife in Australia about two/three weeks ago, but my hubby had to do a bit of searching :( Most bookshops I talked to said they'd order it in though

[ozratbag2]

Oh, excellent! :D

Thanks for that and I have a couple of great independent booksellers close to me that probably have copies.

[lizbee]

I work for a Major Book Chain in Melbourne, and it's all over the place down here. Not that I've been pointedly checking every single bookstore I've passed, except that I have. Only the Readings chain don't carry it, and their staff are awful, so I don't feel they deserve it.