Names of characters in fiction, are very important. To make a character believable and relatable, a well crafted name can make the difference between success and failure in literary terms. It's equally important for juvenile fiction as it is for adult literature . I want to explore this very important topic of names and why it's important.
. It is very unusual to have a nameless character. An exception to the rule was Roald Dahl. in his book "The magic finger," His main character isn't named , She is just referred to as "The girl". This is very unusual. For younger children's books its usual to use a first name as in, Mollie's cat,
For younger children, familiar first names are important. They have to remind the readers of someone that they might meet in their locality. If of course the character is an animal, a different rule applies.when a child becomes an early reader, more imaginative names can be used.. Roald Dahl, ever the imaginative innovator in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," names his very unpleasant character as "Veruca Salt" which suggests that she is a horrible child. It's a name chosen for its associations.
When writing more realistic stories, depending on the sub-genre,, names must reflect the reality of the situation described. Children want to believe in the characters they read. A badly chosen name can disrupt their expectations. The exception is a story which is full of humour, then an extraordinary name can be an asset.
It's an interesting exercise to read children's books and list the names chosen by the as authors. In classic literature Charles Dickens has been praised for his inventive names but personally I find some of his name's to be far too grotesque. The most extreme is the teacher in "Hard times" named as Mr Mchokeumchild. In a serious novel it seems to me that it's overly grotesque and overly satirical. That's just my opinion. You may disagree.
If you are an author and you are looking for names, you can find lots of names on the internet. Because we live in a ethically mixed society it very useful to find lists of names across the world. Look for lists of girls names and add the country of origin and you can find a wealth of suggestions. Also popular culture is a good source of names. In my first book, the young white girl is called Ariana after a popstar representing Pop culture and for her friend of colour, she is called Chevelle which is a Jamaican name. I found that in a list of Jamaican girls name. which was her grandmother's name..In my next book my main character is called Emily Dustan. Imagine the trouble I had with the spell checker which insited on changing her surname to Dunstone. I manfully resisted and settled on her original name Originality is ok, so long as it's believable. We could of course populate our books with the Smiths, the Jones',s and the Robinsons and to leave them out would be unrealistic but we can be inventive also you can. scour the names in the phone directory to find n as mames but don't leave your imagination behind.
There I a huge store room of names to choose. from. How you apply them will either add or detract from your book .
What's in a name? Maybe more than you think.
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