Naming my characters

Writing life: 66

I’m always interested in how other writers choose the names of their characters. Unfortunately, when I’m with other writers we seldom get around to talking about this topic. We’re usually too busy catching up with one another given how seldom writers seem to congregate—usually at festivals. But I am curious how writers go about naming the players that populate their stories.

In the beginning…

In my first novel, The Best Laid Plans, I didn’t really know what I was doing—and I don’t just mean when it came to naming my characters. I just tried to come up with names that sounded like the characters in my story, names that just felt like they worked—Angus McLintock, Daniel Addison, Muriel Parkinson, Bradley Stanton to name a few of them. Names were selected based solely on my instincts, intuition, and gut.

Later on…

But in later novels I began to look for character names a little closer to home. In particular, I tried out family names—but only if they worked, whatever that means. It made me feel a little more connected to the stories. It also allowed me to pay quiet tribute to people I care about. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned the origins of my characters’ names in the books’ Acknowledgements, so it’s really just a private and personal choice I’ve made in many of my novels. Although, I do sometimes provide the backstories of my characters’ names in book talks. Just to reiterate, the choice to occasionally use family names is only made if the names themselves actually work. In short, the integrity of the story and characters take precedence.

For international names, I always research them to make sure that they are in fact used in those foreign countries. Wikipedia and other online sources provide extensive lists of the most common names for men and women in virtually every country in the atlas. For instance, here’s a list of common surnames in Mali that helped me decide on names for some of my Malian characters in my 10th novel, The Marionette. You’ll see the last name of my Malian President, Camara, is ranked the 19th most popular surname in Mali.

A partial list of common surnames in Mali that I used, among other sources, when deciding on character names in my 10th novel, The Marionette.

Obviously, personal preference is a major factor in the names I choose. I do seem to like names that have two or three syllable first names and single syllable surnames. I just like the way they roll off the tongue (e.g. Emerson Fox, Everett Kane, Crawford Blake, Vivian Kent, Henderson Watt. Strangely, these are all completely made-up names with not a family connection among them. I simply gravitated towards names that just sounded right to me when spoken aloud.

The names in my novels

Here’s the scoop on some of my characters’ names in at least some of my novels that were more than just random choices.

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Wrapping up…

So there’s a quick look at how I come up with character names in my novels. Probably not an earth-shattering literary insight, but there you go. If you’re a writer, let me know in the comments how you decide on your character names.

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To close, a gratuitous shot from an event I did a couple weeks ago where I interviewed the great military historian, Ted Barris, on the release of his latest bestselling book, Battle of Britain.

Interviewing my friend, Ted Barris, at the launch of his latest bestseller, Battle of Britain in Uxbridge, Ontario. It was a great night.

I’ll be back in two weeks.