Favourite characters' names?

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CharleeVale
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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by CharleeVale » January 8th, 2011, 1:49 pm

Margo wrote:Oh, and my favorite character names, fresh on my mind after reading a blog post on the book, would be Phedre no Delaunay (I don't know how to put in the accent marks here) and Melisande Shahrizai.
AGREED. Love them!

Along with those two, I love Patch from Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush and Crescendo. Also Elphaba from Gregory Maguire's Wicked.\

CV

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abc
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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by abc » January 10th, 2011, 3:22 pm

Pippi Longstocking!
Franny, Zooey, Buddy, Walter, Waker, Seymour, Boo Boo Glass
Edward Cullen was kind of a perfect name for the character
Katniss Everdeen, for sure (and with that, Peeta)

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Evelyn
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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Evelyn » January 10th, 2011, 4:41 pm

Ha! This one brings a smile to my face...

I just remembered a favorite character name from from a MA book when I was a kid:

Abner Abner George.

I LOVED that name, and I would go around chanting it. The character was actually called the entire thing, every time. The name was explained in some fashion, I don't remember. I still think it's cool!

Evelyn

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Guardian » January 10th, 2011, 11:00 pm

James Bolivar diGriz, a.k.a. Slippery Jim, Angelina and Harold Peters Inskipp (Stainless Steel Rat series)
Jason dinAlt, Meta and Kerk Pyrrus (Deathworld series)

If you read these novels, you can't forget these names. :)

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by dios4vida » January 14th, 2011, 2:31 pm

I love R.A. Salvatore's names - Elbryan Wyndon, Jilseponie (nicknamed Pony), Avelyn Debris, Drizzt Do'Urden, Bruenor Battlehammer (dwarf), Artemis Entreri (assassin) just to name a few. The man also has the coolest names for weapons - Tempest (sword), Hawkwing (bow), Icingdeath (scimitar), Aegis Fang (warhammer). Of course, he also does the unpronouncable names like Menzoberranzean and Bestesbulzibar. You take the good with the bad, I guess.

Rick Riordan is also a great name-giver. Percy Jackson and Nico di'Angelo are great names to me, even though Percy's rather common. It just fits the character.

With the unpronouncable ones, I just make up my own to go in their place that has a similar sound without the insanity of trying to pronounce the whole thing. My husband christened one of my favorites (it's from a video game rather than a book, but it's the same concept) - we have no idea how to pronounce a certain weapon thats full of 'P's and 'L's and 'K's and he calls it "Potluck".

I like most of my own character names, but that's probably because they came from my own head. I try to stay away from the crazy-hard fantasy names but still give a foreign/fantasy feeling to them. Some of my names are Janua Edynn, Gradon Mateas, Brinelle, and Obsidian (he's an evil mage). I have one name that I hold very close to my heart that I haven't found a good enough character for (it's the name I would give to my daughter if I could have children). One day, though, I'll find the perfect character for it.
Brenda :)

Inspiration isn't about the muse. Inspiration is working until something clicks. ~Brandon Sanderson

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Bryan Russell/Ink
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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Bryan Russell/Ink » January 15th, 2011, 5:54 pm

Major Major, of course. And Yossarian. Damn, that's a good book.
The Alchemy of Writing at www.alchemyofwriting.blogspot.com

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Falls Apart
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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Falls Apart » January 17th, 2011, 1:43 am

Diana Ladris, from the Gone series. Not the name itself so much as how it fits the character.

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by JohnDurvin » January 21st, 2011, 12:12 am

The great thing about JK Rowling's character names is that many of them have Dickens-style hidden meanings/inspirations. Sirius Black was pretty obvious, but did you know that a gilderoy was once a boastful coward? Dolores comes from the Latin for "pain"? Cornelius Fudge was especially good, I thought, since it made him sound ridiculous and harmless, but at the same time could also be used to mean lying, plus once he gets going you find yourself thinking, "oh, fudge."

As for my own favorite names, I always liked Artur and Jeremias from "the Castle" by Kafka, whose names just somehow communicate that they should be played by Laurel and Hardy. The all-time best would have to go to Alfred Jarry's anti-hero Ubu, though--nothing can top that.

When naming my own characters, I flip through phone books, baby name books, wikipedia, and so on. You eventually come to realize that you really don't need to make up gibberish--not when there are British people whose last names are "Likeleigh" and "Manleigh" and Hungarians whose actual given name is "Zoltan." Who wouldn't want to be named Zoltan? The best I've made up would have to be Captain J. Lourdes Mastromonico from my sci-fi adventure, and the scheming land-baron taking over MacClintock County, Colonel Halcyon Sanglier Dougham (rhymes with broom).
Everybody loves using things as other things, right? Check out my blog at the Cromulent Bricoleur and see one hipster's approach to recycling, upcycling, and alterna-cycling (which is a word I just made up).

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Cookie » January 21st, 2011, 7:34 am

JohnDurvin wrote:The great thing about JK Rowling's character names is that many of them have Dickens-style hidden meanings/inspirations. Sirius Black was pretty obvious, but did you know that a gilderoy was once a boastful coward? Dolores comes from the Latin for "pain"? Cornelius Fudge was especially good, I thought, since it made him sound ridiculous and harmless, but at the same time could also be used to mean lying, plus once he gets going you find yourself thinking, "oh, fudge."

As for my own favorite names, I always liked Artur and Jeremias from "the Castle" by Kafka, whose names just somehow communicate that they should be played by Laurel and Hardy. The all-time best would have to go to Alfred Jarry's anti-hero Ubu, though--nothing can top that.

When naming my own characters, I flip through phone books, baby name books, wikipedia, and so on. You eventually come to realize that you really don't need to make up gibberish--not when there are British people whose last names are "Likeleigh" and "Manleigh" and Hungarians whose actual given name is "Zoltan." Who wouldn't want to be named Zoltan? The best I've made up would have to be Captain J. Lourdes Mastromonico from my sci-fi adventure, and the scheming land-baron taking over MacClintock County, Colonel Halcyon Sanglier Dougham (rhymes with broom).

I love flipping through baby name books or websites to scout for names. Occasionally I will come across a person in real life who has an awesome name. I met someone the other day with the name Maiken, which I thought was an unusual name, and decided to name one of my secondary characters that.

Also, for my WIP, all the characters names pretty much mean what they are. I've had a few people comment on my name choice until I tell them why I chose that name, and then they are like oh, right. That makes sense.

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Watcher55 » January 21st, 2011, 8:21 am

Charles Baker Harris

His name is longer than he is.

"I'm small, but I'm old"

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by dios4vida » January 21st, 2011, 9:31 am

I forgot to mention two of the best names - Jericho Barrons and Christian MacKeltar from Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. Christian's a young, sexy Scot and Jericho is mysterious and (since it's paranormal) we know he isn't exactly human. Those characters couldn't possibly have better names.
Brenda :)

Inspiration isn't about the muse. Inspiration is working until something clicks. ~Brandon Sanderson

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by JohnDurvin » February 25th, 2011, 1:37 pm

Another great one is "Levi who is called Biff" from Christopher Moore's "Lamb: the Gospel According to Jesus' Childhood Friend."
Everybody loves using things as other things, right? Check out my blog at the Cromulent Bricoleur and see one hipster's approach to recycling, upcycling, and alterna-cycling (which is a word I just made up).

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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by Beethovenfan » February 27th, 2011, 2:55 am

There's something to be said for short names. I can't imagine Puck, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, being called anything else.
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Re: Favourite characters' names?

Post by JohnDurvin » March 12th, 2011, 11:04 pm

I'd like to mention a few real-life people with names so cool they could have been fictional: firstly, the teacher-turned-pirate, real name unknown, pirate name Magister Wigbold, 'magister' being the contemporary equivalent of today's 'professor' and 'wig-bold' meaning roughly 'dangerous.' Professor Dangerous, the pirate. Also, cracked-dot-com recently had an article about some of the most awesome names in history, including Australian rugby captain Stirling Mortlock, US Marine Staff Sergeant Max Fightmaster, and Pentagon spokesperson Flex Plastico (yes, that's his real, original name.) Finally I came upon some great ones while researching 1800's outlaws: Dyson Eskridge, Commodore Perry Smith (Commodore being his name), Isom Dart, Johnny Behind-the-Deuce, and my personal favorite, Mysterious Dave Mathers. He was pretty bad-ass, but somehow the outlaw nickname of "Mysterious Dave" doesn't make me exactly cower. Oh, and we can't forget Rattlesnake Johnson.
Everybody loves using things as other things, right? Check out my blog at the Cromulent Bricoleur and see one hipster's approach to recycling, upcycling, and alterna-cycling (which is a word I just made up).

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