Should names have meanings?

[soupnazi]

I recently read a little article thing about names, and it brought up making names have meanings that relate to the character. It said that giving your character a name that fit their personality is a good thing, but I disagree; even though you created the character, the character most likely had parents-so how would the parents know to name their child something that fit their personality when the character was a baby? It just doesn't make sense to me, which is why I think a character's name should not fit their name, but fit their world and the parent's personality.

 

For instance, let's say it's a fantasy medieval setting. Would the king and queen name their child Jim? Probably not; instead, they'd use something more regal sounding. So, in a sense the name would fit the character since it would be a fancy name and they're royalty, but it would fit them because of their parents, not because of their personality.

[klinneah]

I think names having meaning is a good thing, but it should make sense in the world the characters live in. For example, it wouldn't be highly unlikely that someone named Doc would become a sailor or fisherman, if his parents were sailors or fisherman and named their child something appropriate.

 

Characters with ironic names would be really funny, though. Imagine Doc working in a pub instead!

[Feathers]

Absolutely. I am of the firm belief that *everything* in a work of fiction should have meaning, down to the smallest chitchat between two characters.

 

After all, fiction shouldn't be totally realistic; in real life, we pay our taxes, do our jobs, and lead lives that, while utterly absorbing to the ones living them, would be boring to read about.

 

That's just my humble opinion, though; one of my biggest trials in writing is clipping my dialogue/descriptions/what-have-you down to the essentials. Since I end up spending so much time pruning down and clearing up my writing, the thought process behind names is something I think is important. Again, just my opinion. =]

 

Edit for clarification: I guess what I'm saying is, don't choose a name specifically for its meaning if it doesn't fit the character; the first step in choosing a name is finding one that the character him-/herself "likes," so to speak. I don't think names should be totally arbitrary, basically. And there are certain connotations that come with names, as well, that should be considered.

 

I guess my opinion is that names are important; while they shouldn't be forced, they should also have enough thought put into them that they make sense.

 

*isn't sure if she herself is making sense, since she's tired, and thus will stop typing now XP*

 

~Feathers

Edited August 9, 2010 by fly_away_soon

[Dr. Paine]

There is no greater sign of a pretentious writer than giving every character a name that 'perfectly fits' their personality. Same with giving everything meaning- sometimes a river is just a river.

 

... so yeah, I'm highly against the idea One or two characters is fine, I've even done it myself a few times by accident. So it's no stretch of the imagination to think that, in a massive population, there WILL be some people with fitting names. Or perhaps they change themselves to fit their name.

 

But everyone? That's just unbelievable and pretty stupid, especially with foreign names (looking at you, Isabella Swan).

 

The best idea is to just pick a name without looking up the meaning, finish the character, etc. Then look up the meaning- you could have a wonderfully ironic name, a very fitting one, or most likely- just a name.

Edited August 8, 2010 by Dr. Paine

[DragonNighthowler]

Absolutely NO. Fitting names? Why? My name doesn't fit my personality at all!

 

I have quiet a few characters in my books, all of them have their names, and I'm not sure they fit or not. I don't care either. Most of the time, not even their looks fit at all.

But that's because, in real life, looks don't really mean much. If most of you saw me across the street, you would never guess my personality.

 

As for meanings... hum, are we talking about meanings such as;

Nigel Wolf?

Raven Shadowwalker?

Bella Swann?

 

No thanks, I'm a bit tired about these kind of names.

 

Also, as a last note, I know at least 3 or 4 people named the same, and each so different to the other.

For example, this three girls;

1. Is a peace loving, loyal, caring friend, worried about her career. She's independent, loves animals and fights for animal rights and people rights. Her idols are people like Ghandi, and Mother Theresa, and Schindler.

 

2. She's a selfish, self centered, egoistical woman who'se never studied in her life. Her greatest aspiration is finding a man to maintain her. Her idols are cute, actual pop singers.

 

3. A military. She's racist, hard right on politics, strong willed, selfish, and with a bit of victim syndrome. Her idols are people like Hitler, and Mussolinni.

 

That sort of prooves names don't really have a meaning.

[NixAyum]

the character most likely had parents-so how would the parents know to name their child something that fit their personality when the character was a baby?

As long as it makes canonical sense, why not the parents wanted to impart a certain characteristic onto their child, so naming them as an act of willing them to be a certain way?

 

A happy couple wants their child to be a good person and happy with life, so they're not going to give say, their daughter an "ugly" or "sad" name, they're gonna name her something like Hope or Joy. That character, then influenced by that expectation and environment, tries to be that ideal.

 

That's pretty much entirely hypothetical unless you're writing from the parents on and planned that, but still.

 

I wish my name fit my self. :u

[Vexx]

I have a personal belief that people kinda... 'fit' their names. I can look at a person, see how they act, and think something like "I bet that guy's name is Carl or something." or when someone's thinking up baby names, I can think "Don't name her Candi, that sounds too stripper-y." And when I tell people that my name would have been Beverly, they look at me and state that I just don't seem the 'Beverly type'.

Not really something obvious, something with meaning or completely related in all honestly. It's just that sometimes people associate certain names with certain personalities and actions.

 

Now a name that has a literal translation to "TEH CHOZEN ONE" and is the hero of the story and saves the whole world because they are the one and only... Yeah, that's just plain idiotic.

Think of the personalities of the parents, where they are born, when they are born, all of those combined ideas, then come up with a name. Like... If a girl is born to a white family somewhere in Kentucky, I doubt her name is going to be Kanami Fukuyo or some stupid like that. Oh, the number of stories and rps I have come across that had something like that.

[AAurion]

I'm trying to come up with my own little story, and I do prefer to know what my character's names mean. That doesn't mean that I just decide on a name based on it's meaning, though. It's just a thing I like to know.

 

More important than how the meaning fits the character is how the name does. Kinda like what Vexx said, if I look at my character and call it a name and it just doesn't fit, I'm gonna choose one that feels right, no matter what it means.

[Shadow Lor]

Thinking about it, I do like to name my characters by meaning, but only when I write flash fiction. For instance, I had one piece where the girl was named Aria and the title of the story was Solo Melody. It...fit, especially with the subject matter.

 

Outside of flash and short stories, I can't really see making it work into the story. I mean, I agree with NixAyum, if the parents wanted to impart some kind of quality, well, that makes sense. But Sarah and David, an old fashioned couple, naming their child Melitsa Saxen is pretty unlikely. They'd probably choose something like Elizabeth Rose or Olivia Grace or Julia Helen, regardless of what the child will grow up to be.

 

Personally, I like to choose names I like in long stories, rather than by their meaning. Oh, and to abuse my characters :3 In one story, I named a girl Annabel Leigh which I find hilarious. Her parents were crazy >.> in another, I have a girl named Riven, a name that I love, but would probably never use irl. A lot of the names I choose to use, without knowing their meanings, end up suiting the characters very well due to the fact that if it doesn't feel right, it's thrown out the window, like AAurion said.

 

And then there are fairy tale type stories, in which I choose ridiculously appropriate names. Briar and Bramble are my favourites ^^

Edited August 8, 2010 by Shadow Lor

[kadoatie]

My main .. want? on names is that they fit the universe of the book (e.g. if all your characters are named Jaexei, Kyrronina, Quaroia, you're not throwing a Jim in there) and the name is reasonable for the character's birth status (e.g. if you posit more vowels make a name for a more educated person, the person named Aeiriaeun better be highborn). I don't honestly care after that.

[lightbird]

My character's names are just names that ring nice to my ear - Gayde, Nende, Naraeda, Galamay, etc..

 

One thing I'd recommend would be not inventing a name with a meaning, but checking whether your imagined name doesn't mean anything offensive in a language you don't know.

 

So I found out that Galamay is actually a family name and Nende - a Hindu name.

 

 

And, yeah, a name should probably make sense to where/to whom a character is born.

Edited August 8, 2010 by lightbird

[Completely Different]

Oh, I don't know. In some cases it works, in others it doesn't.

 

For example, if you give it a modern setting, probably not. Sure, there is a meaning to most names- Daniel means to 'Defy fate' and Laura means 'Victory'- but if you name a character that, its probably just a name.

 

In fantasy worlds, you can be given a bit more slack- just don't do it for every character! Some nice examples...in Harry Potter, most characters just have random names (Harry, Ron) but some, like Remus Lupin, have meaning.

 

 

[RheaZen]

Once in a while it's nice. Names that clash completely can be a tad annoying (unless it's used well, for humor.)

[Stromboli]

Absolutely. I am of the firm belief that *everything* in a work of fiction should have meaning, down to the smallest chitchat between two characters.

+50 points.

[zephyr_123]

Usually I just give random names to my characters and don't think too much about their meaning. I mean... a name is just a name. It's used so that you know who's who. I feel like if I researched the meanings of all the names of my characters, it would take a while. And not everyone knows the meaning of every name, so as long as the name doesn't sound out-of-context with the time period, then I'll use it. I don't do this because I think names are inconsequential... they're just not that important, at least in context with the plots that I usually create/that other authors create. I suppose there's nothing wrong with making a name have a significant meaning, but it's not really necessary either.

[Zovesta]

There is no greater sign of a pretentious writer than giving every character a name that 'perfectly fits' their personality. Same with giving everything meaning- sometimes a river is just a river.

 

... so yeah, I'm highly against the idea One or two characters is fine, I've even done it myself a few times by accident. So it's no stretch of the imagination to think that, in a massive population, there WILL be some people with fitting names. Or perhaps they change themselves to fit their name.

 

But everyone? That's just unbelievable and pretty stupid, especially with foreign names (looking at you, Isabella Swan).

 

The best idea is to just pick a name without looking up the meaning, finish the character, etc. Then look up the meaning- you could have a wonderfully ironic name, a very fitting one, or most likely- just a name.

This.

 

I sometimes give my characters meaning, sometimes I don't. Lavahana was pulled out of a hat, as was Suse, Kyle, Morve, Vognas, Otsuna Gard, etc.

Suelo, however, is the name of a wolf who never moves, her intestines spilled into the ground, and she manipulates plants - so it makes sense for her. She didn't have parents, though. She was named by, basically, the government.

Vognas the third doesn't actually mean anything, but in their world and culture, it's a name that has been used for thieves and clowns and general losers; Vognas was given his name by his father because he was born a runt and his father wanted him to become something more, so he gave him a horrid name.

So while a few names make sense in some context, most of the time, they're just random.

 

I think you should choose names that fit characters only if it makes sense. =V

[crazywargod]

I have a character in my head. He has feminine features and both women and men fall for him. His parents wanting a girl named him Kate. He hates this and he wishes he looked less like a girl. One day a man that often stalked him knocked him out. When he woke he found himself in a girls room. He got up and noticed he was wearing a dress. At that moment something in him just snapped. He grabbed the closest blunt object. When the man came in the room he just started smashing the mans face almost killing him. He changed his clothes, called an ambulance, and walked out. As he did so he swore never to let that happen again. On his way home he saw a shop. He looked for a bit until he noticed one of a snake. He then gave himself a new name. It was Basilisk.

Which brings me to my point. Kate is just a name given by his parents. Basilisk is a name that usually refers to the mythical snake said to kill with just a glance. Self given names should always have meaning. Where birth names should be just names. Was confusing?

[KageSora]

I think it depends on the meaning. I have one character who has a name with a significant meaning in his world--it doesn't match his personality as much as it matches his role. However, most of the other names are just picked because they sound nice (more often than not they're simply a jumble of sounds that I like [and sometimes later find out are actual names ], and are names that sound okay in the fictional world I'm working with). I have several characters who gain names that have meaning that describes them, but those are names they obtain later in life and thus it makes sense that they would have a name that fits them.

 

 

...Of course, in the main character's case, his parents were influenced and it's complicated but it makes sense in context... (or it would, if I'd actually get around to writing it...)

 

But basically I give them a name that sounds right to me, and if I find out late it has an actual meaning, meh, I'm not changing it. :|

 

 

Actually, I have one character who would probably better fit his name if I changed what he was associated with--but I'd not want to do that as I like him how he is now. Besides, that would mess all kinds of stuff up if I started doing that sort of thing...

 

 

I have another character who's name is an anagram of another character--but with good reason that's explained later in his story...

 

 

So I like when names have some meaning, but I usually prefer the meaning to be more subtle, though sometimes if you have a name with important meaning it can be okay if it's done well...

 

 

...Am I making sense? I'm making sense in my head, but can anybody else understand what I'm saying?v

[AAurion]

I think it depends on the meaning. I have one character who has a name with a significant meaning in his world--it doesn't match his personality as much as it matches his role. However, most of the other names are just picked because they sound nice (more often than not they're simply a jumble of sounds that I like [and sometimes later find out are actual names ], and are names that sound okay in the fictional world I'm working with). I have several characters who gain names that have meaning that describes them, but those are names they obtain later in life and thus it makes sense that they would have a name that fits them.

 

 

...Of course, in the main character's case, his parents were influenced and it's complicated but it makes sense in context... (or it would, if I'd actually get around to writing it...)

 

But basically I give them a name that sounds right to me, and if I find out late it has an actual meaning, meh, I'm not changing it. :|

 

 

Actually, I have one character who would probably better fit his name if I changed what he was associated with--but I'd not want to do that as I like him how he is now. Besides, that would mess all kinds of stuff up if I started doing that sort of thing...

 

 

I have another character who's name is an anagram of another character--but with good reason that's explained later in his story...

 

 

So I like when names have some meaning, but I usually prefer the meaning to be more subtle, though sometimes if you have a name with important meaning it can be okay if it's done well...

 

 

...Am I making sense? I'm making sense in my head, but can anybody else understand what I'm saying?v

Haha, only in theory. I understand what you're getting at, but of course I don't know the specifics because I don't know your story

 

Hrm, I'd like to be able to make up my own names by just putting syllables together, but I suck at that. Heck, I'd love to make up a freaking language for my story (and then I could just make up meanings if I wanted to), but I'm terrible at that sort of thing

 

Hrm, there's a character I made a long time ago and named in a hurry, but now I wish I could change his name because it's so common and overused... Gonna be harder for me than normal since I'm used to calling him that

[LadyNightshade]

Hmm I'm not really sure.

 

In real life your parents give you names at birth. Many times names don't end up fitting the child's personality.

 

So I think if you want to be more realistic, you'd give your character a name that would match up with the names in the time period or place.

 

Unless they legally changed their own name to something, or there was a prophecy or something that made the parents give them a name related to said prophecy.

 

[DragonNighthowler]

Now that's funny. I made up some names for my characters in my books, and I just checked out of curiosity, in case they were real names.

 

Not only they are, but they even FIT the characters!!!

[Dream_Thief]

I don't now. As many people have said, I just go with what "feels" right for my characters. I know that with some of them, their names reflect their talents: Raine and Ember are twins that can manipulate water and fire. But I've also got characters with names that have nothing to do with their abilities: Sasha can shift into any animal she wants while Renee is a mind reader. Quite of few of the Werewolves have discriptive last names: Hunter, Bane and Wolfe are a few. But that's a bit of a pun that I'm working into it. I've always like Raphael, so that went my leading man, and Melody went to his lovely lady. So meaning? Fine go ahead; just make sure the name seems right to you as well. You don't want to be calling a werewolf "Joey" when they're clearly a "Bobby".

 

~ Dream

[Shaddowwarrior]

I like a little bit of both I think.

 

 

In one of my stories, the main protagonist is named something I always associate with purity and hope. I'm not sure what the name actually means though. The main villain has what at first would appear to be a cliche/overused/etc appearance and name - but his actual name was perfectly normal, and he dies his hair.

 

I usually include a range of names both real and made up in my story, just based on what would 'fit' the character. If a character needs an 'a' name and none fit I'll just make one up.

[ImpyGirl]

All the names in the Harry Potter world have some meaning, the most obvious being Remus Lupin, for a werewolf, and Minerva for a headstrong woman. While it is a petty idea, it's not all too realistic. I do think eveything should have meaning in the fictional worlds though, so yeah . . . stuck on the fence with this one.

[Odio]

I look at the real world, and the meanings that names have for all of us. Like people have said, the definition of a name doesn't necessarily define a person's character or attributes, but name's do carry connotations and treatment.

 

There's a song called "Come On Eileen" and it's sort of obnoxious and theres some innuendo in there, and my poor friend Eileen has to tell EVERY SINGLE person she meets that YES, SHE'S HEARD THAT SONG. So, she's sort of built up a wall to it, but I can tell that it's tiresome hearing that every day all the time. What the old english definition of Eileen is doesn't really matter, it's more of how the name effects the situation. Sarah is a common girl's name. You wouldn't ever meet a guy named Sarah. So, in a story, or in reality, somebody named Sarah is going to call to mind girl thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories, etc.