How to name a character the right way

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Choosing names for your characters is a small part of the whole novel-writing process but it can be surprisingly difficult.

I rarely struggle with naming most of my characters, but there’s always one that I can’t seem to find a good name for or the only names that feel right are something that I’ve already used in a different project. With this post, I want to give you some tips on how to name a character the right way.

Related reading: How to name your story – Character name ideas

Don’t make this mistake when naming your characters

One of the biggest mistakes that writers sometimes make is giving their characters names that are too similar to each other. Have you ever experienced this when reading a book? It can be extremely confusing and it does nothing but take you away from the story.

A writer might think the names are different enough, but the reality is that you don’t read every single letter in the words you read. It is usually the first and last letters that matter and the overall shape of the word – and this applies to names as well. A while ago I read a book where two of the primary characters had short names that included the letters E and D, and I kept getting confused about which character was which.

If you have characters whose names start with the same letter and you’re determined to keep those names, make sure they’re at least not the same length. In my novel What Birds Are Made Of I have characters called Maura and Meredith, and I think the names are different enough because Meredith has one syllable more than Maura and the d and h make it a different shape.

Also bear in mind that if you use names that your readers likely won’t be familiar with, they are more likely to confuse them without any frame of reference. For example, if I was writing a Novel in English and I had Finnish characters in it, the names Tapio and Tanja could be too similar and confusing to my readers. Finnish readers, on the other hand, wouldn’t have the same issue because Tapio is a man’s name and Tanja is a woman’s name.

When you’ve chosen names for your characters, write them all down in a list and see if there are ones that are too similar. You might be able to change some names to a different version of the same name, like Kate to Catherine or William to Bill.

“But I read a book with loads of similar names and I loved it!”

Well done. I’m happy for you.

It’s no secret there are classic novels with big casts of characters with barely distinguishable names and that doesn’t take away from the value of those stories. It still doesn’t mean that you should do it – classic novels get away with loads of things that no longer have a place in modern fiction.

Thinking about your readers’ experience is not the same as underestimating them. People shouldn’t be made to feel stupid for being dyslexic, either. If you’re writing for an audience, you need to think about things from their point of view – you should be writing for them and not just to make yourself as the writer feel smart.

Main character names should be UNFORGETTABLE

If you want your story to be remembered by its main character, don’t name them John Smith or anything else super generic. No, you don’t need to invent totally new names from scratch or choose something super rare if it doesn’t make sense, but you should pick a name that isn’t the same (or too similar to) an existing character or something so bland that it could be from any other story.

Think about Holden Caulfield, Addie LaRue, Lisbeth Salander or Jude Duarte. I would dare say these are unforgettable names without being completely “out there”. One way to create an interesting name is to pair a more generic first name with a more unique last name, or vice versa.

You can also sound out what it feels like to say the name out loud. For example, Elizabeth Bennett, Bridget Jones and Harry Potter all have a great rhythm to their names when you say them and they’re unforgettable even though they aren’t very unusual names as such. Good character names look just right on paper and sound great out loud as well.

Do your research when you name a character

If you’re writing historical fiction or perhaps something that takes place in a country that you don’t live in, you need to do your research when you choose your characters’ names. The same applies even if you have just one character that is foreign to you – make sure you choose a name that makes sense.

Say, if someone was writing a book with Finnish characters, and they named them Wolfgang and Natasha, I would definitely wonder if the writer had done any kind of research because those are not exactly typical Finnish names. Yes, there are people with untypical names, but doing something like that in a book for no good reason just distracts your readers. Likewise, if your story takes place in Manchester in 1945, you probably shouldn’t have a lot of characters called Kayleigh, Neveah and Brayden in your book.

That said, sometimes the truth is more incredible than fiction. Tiffany was actually a common name in Medieval times, but due to its popularity starting in the 1980s, people would have a hard time believing that. Author Jo Walton actually coined the term “The Tiffany Problem”, which means the disparity between actual history and people’s perceptions of it. In my opinion, being accurate is more important than catering to people’s false beliefs, but you have to make the decision for yourself and for your own writing.

What if your character name means something in a different language?

Whether you’re naming characters or real people, the reality is that there’s a limited number of sound combinations in the world. A perfectly normal name could mean something else in a different language and I don’t think it’s something you should worry about.

Here’s comes a caveat, though: If you’re writing about a foreign culture, do make sure you choose an appropriate name for that culture and aren’t just putting together letters willy-nilly. It’s extremely easy to do research in this day and age, so whether you’re writing about ancient Egypt or rural China, do some research rather than make things up. Don’t risk naming your character the equivalent of Princess Consuela Bananahammock unless you mean to do so.

How to name your characters with MEANING

Sometimes it can bring a special touch to your writing when you choose a name with meaning. Your readers might appreciate finding out about not-so-obvious references to the real world or other stories and it can add a whole new layer to your story.

Maybe you’re writing a story about modern girls trying to find equality in the workplace so you name your protagonist after the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Or maybe you want to draw parallels to your favourite biblical story and you name your character accordingly.

It’s up to you how obvious you want these meanings to be. Maybe you don’t want it to be painfully obvious why you named your character after the dog star – or maybe you do.

The reality is, not everyone will care about the cool symbolism behind your character names and many won’t notice it. Every time I read r/Books I’m astonished by how differently people can see the same story. So if you want to choose character names that mean something, consider it as a nice Easter egg for your readers rather than something that will make or break your story.

Don’t overthink it

That said, you really don’t need to overthink it. Most readers aren’t going to care why you chose a specific name, and if you spend hours and hours on research and then come up with a name that sticks out in a bad way and confuses your reader, you could have definitely spent that time differently!

Also, if your character’s name has a special meaning, it has to bring something to the story or be meaningful in the story world. If you make an effort to name someone the equivalent of Deathbell Killerson but they could have just as well been named Alison Wilson, you’re just going to sound pretentious and perhaps even a little silly.

If the name suits the character, it sounds unique but not out of place and it fits your setting, you’re good to go. I know it’s extra work, but you can always change a name in later drafts if you didn’t get it right when you were planning your story. Once I changed Kathleen to Josie and it definitely made my story better.

Should your character have nicknames?

We all have a nickname or two, but should your characters have them? What if they’re undercover and using different names?

The answer to this is two-fold: Your other characters can have nicknames for your character, but you as the writer need to call them only one name. It’s okay if some characters call your protagonist “Becca” and some call her “Miss Smith”, but you should be consistent with what you call her in the narration and stick with “Rebecca”.

If, on the other hand, your point-of-view character has a secret identity and the name they go by changes in the middle, consider writing in first person. That way you can always say “I” and not have to worry about switching names.

How to come up with character names & where to find inspiration

Now you may be wondering where people come up with great character names because everyone around you is either called Katherine or William, and here are a few solutions. If you’d like to do minimal research and save your brain for something else, do check out my post on character name ideas.

Character name generators

There are a few character name generators on the internet which can be very useful. This name generator gives you a few options for finetuning the results, like your character’s nationality and what type of a character they are – a virtuous vampire, perhaps? However, I played around with it a little, and I have to say it doesn’t really work for names outside English-speaking Christian cultures.

Reedsy’s character name generator does a lot better job at coming up with names from different countries, and you can also find Medieval names, fantasy names and God names.

Behind the Name also has a random name generator, but all the fancy descriptors don’t really work for all languages, so don’t expect to get much use of it if you want to create an Estonian goth name, for example. If you want to find a name from a different country or culture that people might associate with something specific, you’re better off going on Reddit and asking real people. Still, this generator does come up with names from different languages, even if all the features don’t work anything else besides English names.

Choose a name from a baby names list

Baby name lists aren’t just for expecting parents, they’re great for writers as well. You can easily find names from different countries or decades and see how popular the names are. Often there’s also an explanation of what the name means or what the origins are.

Go to the cemetery

Much to the dismay of my husband, my favourite way to find ideas for baby names was to hang out at the cemetery.

You might find names you’ve never heard of or you might see name combinations that simply sound great. You might want to make some changes to the names if you’re worried that their living relatives will stumble upon your book and think it’s weird there’s a character who has the same exact same name as their great-aunt, but I don’t think that’s going to be a big problem.

Just google it

If you’d like to find a name that means death or find out what an upper-class British woman born in 1952 might have been called, you can usually find answers if you just google it. You don’t need to stay stuck trying to come up with a suitable name when there are answers just a few clicks away.

Keep a list of names you like

I know this tip won’t help you find a character name NOW, but if you start doing this today, you’ll thank me later.

Whenever you come across a name you like, write it down somewhere. You can keep a name dump in Google Sheets or have a dedicated writer’s notebook where you keep all your ideas. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s accessible to you, and you’ll find some great inspiration there when it’s finally time to name a character in your next story.

How to name a character – advice from real authors

My process of naming my characters isn’t very interesting, which is why I asked a couple of my author friends for their thoughts on the subject!

My friend Kelly Fuller had an ingenious method of picking the names for her current novel’s characters. She decided to fancast everyone in her novel (i.e. choose actors who would play the characters in a movie) and chose the actors’ first names for the characters. Because her novel is about a future First Lady, she chose the last names from West Wing cast and crew members. According to her, this method has totally taken the pressure off from choosing the “right” names.

I also asked my friend Karin Nordin, the author of Where Ravens Roost and Last One Alive. (You can read her interview here.) She advises authors not to waste too much time choosing names and recommends picking ones that sound good and aren’t too similar to each other. She also says this: “My biggest focus is making sure that the protagonists have ‘main character’ names so they’ll stand out. So if the book becomes a household name, people can easily reference it. No one will remember the Jim Bob Thrillers but everyone knows Jack Reacher.”

Do you need an easy way to start writing your novel?

Writing a great book requires more than having unforgettable character names, but most importantly, you need to get started. That’s literally my most valuable advice for aspiring writers – just start.

My free mini-course will tell you everything you need to start writing your novel this week. You don’t need to keep postponing your dreams any longer because you’ll know exactly what you need to do. Join us today and you can start calling yourself a writer sooner than you realise!

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Protagonist Crafts is a blog about writing fiction, written by a published author and creative writing teacher. You can find more writing tips and inspiration in the blog and you can get the best author tools at Writer Lifestyle on Etsy.