New parents spend time and energy choosing the perfect name for tier offspring. Some writers spend a few hours choosing a character name, and rightfully so. This is a declension which can mean the difference between success and failure for your character, or maybe even your book.
You can choose a name that molds the characters personality, or reflects it, or based on physical traits. Old fashioned names in the modern age can and often do, reflect core strength, and character. A name can instantly identify a characters ethnicity.
But every name has a meaning.
Consult the baby name books, online resources and even period reflective naming resources, if you happen to write historical or period set fiction. Using a name by its meaning to build your characters personality is an option, or naming him or her in contradiction to strengths is also an opportunity for additional conflict. Nicknames can also tell us quite a bit about a character, his background and his or her intentions.
I’ll cite the perfect contradiction, courtesy of Joss Whedon, the master of character development–a demon named Angel. ‘Nuf said. Conflict on a stick and arm candy to boot.
If you have the wicked twist of mind shared by some writers, you can even give a character the same name as a high-profile public figure, and let them endlessly try to explain, distance, or differentiate themselves. We all believe we’re individuals, right?
But when you sit down to create character, you can have fun with the name. Always remembers who is in charge. You create them and they are what your story needs. They are who you need them to be, in order to keep your readers engaged, and also dependent on what the plot you create requires.
Not only must you decide who they are, you must show us how they behave in terms of story. If you want us to believe your character is a workaholic, who consistently breaks promises to family and friends by choosing his his career over family commitments, then show us how he blows off those commitments, staying to work late when he should be home with his wife, tucking his baby into bed.
There are numerous volumes which will give you a step up in terms of starting to develop your characters. Remember every good trait has a downside, just like every blessing can also be a curse. Using an established method to define character is easily achieved by looking up Linda Goodman’s Astrological signs, which will tell you the superficial positive traits and the negative traits, as well. It is a good place to start but you must always build your own unique characters.
Don’t use all the information right up front. Remember the 80-20 rule. You do not need to see the entire iceberg to know there’s trouble ahead. Naming a character can give a hint to potential backstory, and sometimes even make it more interesting.