It's funny how it works, but more often than not, a female lead will have a short name or go by a shortened nickname. Gabby instead of Gabrielle, Dani instead of Danielle, Sam instead of Samantha, or Mac instead of MacKenzie.
And then there are the unique names for female sleuths. Names like Lyric, Stella, Addie, Londyn, Bristyl, and Teagan. You might even recognize some of these names from some recent bestsellers.
Names that you don't often see nowadays as main characters are some of the most popular names from a past generation like Lauren, Karen, Natalie, Janet, Candice, or Carolyn. In fact, a few of these are found more often as the main antagonist or a secondary antagonist.
Names with three syllables are not often used. And neither are those names with the accent on the second or last syllable, like Colleen, Breana, Denise, Elaine, Elizabeth, Victoria, Catherine, Valerie, or Eileen.
The same situation is true of the male counter parts in romantic suspense or mystery. Names like Paul, William, Charles, Benjamin, and Larry can make great other guy names - bestie, antag, side kick, or voice of reason, but not usually the romantic interest. Even Joe or Dale can fall into this category. Is it the soft consonants that are used?
The male lead will usually have one or two syllables with hard consonants. There was a time when names like Clint, Flint, Skeet, Rick, and the like were the most popular. Single syllables with and ending in the t sound have become a little passé at this point.
But the rule still holds with those names that are a little more normal. Names like Scott, Matt, Eric, Travis, Quinn, Wade, Steve, Dan, Mike, and Matt are pretty well-used.
So what are the main character names in the book you're reading right now. Or what are the characters from your favorite book? Do they support my thoughts or blow them out of the water?
Share your thoughts in the comments below for a chance to win a free e-copy of one of my books.
The book I’m read now has Caleb, Addie, Grace and Roland.
ReplyDeleteOnlysis06
duellonlysis at aol dot com
Good names. Especially Caleb! The name of my grandson-to-be! Squee!
DeleteSamantha, Dusty
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
Samantha breaks my observation, but that really is a common name. I wonder why! I like Dusty!
DeleteThis is so interesting! My heroine in the new series is Alex short for Alexis. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do that with my kids, too! Kate, Rich, Brea, Brit. LOL!
DeleteWow. I really hadn’t thought so much went into ndnes of characters. Very interesting. Right now reading about Logan and Alex (female). There’s a Jeff and a Monty. So a variety. Listening about Madison. I like a variety of names. tdstevens821atgmaildotcom
ReplyDeleteMadison is like Samantha. They break my observations, but they're often used. I wonder why that is?
DeleteMaybe they just flow off the tongue well. 😉
DeleteWho knew that character names needed their own “What to Name Your _____” book??!!
ReplyDeleteLOL! That's about right. I seriously search the most popular names for the year my characters would have been born and choose them according to their personality or the theme of my book. Like my character Josie from A GIANT MURDER. The story is based on "Jack and the Beanstalk." The author of the most popular version of the fairy tale is Joseph Jacobs. So my character is Josephine (Josie) Jacobs. Funny how such details can have deeper meaning.
ReplyDeleteThat's really very interesting. I always assumed the names were randomly chosen according to the authors preferences. But what you said makes sense. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently reading "Sea Glass Inn" by Irene Hannon; heroine name is Christi & hero name is Jack. There's also a secondary characters named Steve & Beth. Then a 10yr old child named Hannah. I never thought there were "rules" when it comes to naming characters, but I know sometimes it's hard for authors to come up with names. I've often found in my Facebook groups where the author asks for name suggestions. Me, I love the old fashioned names you don't hear very often anymore My grandma was named Bertha & my neighbor from years ago was named Pearl. :-)
ReplyDeleteteamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com
DeleteI've never thought of why specific names are chosen for a story, but this makes so much sence to me. I'm between books right now, but Eve and Roarke are the main characters in one of my favorite series.
ReplyDeleteThe book I'm currently reading Among the Innocent by Mary Alford has Leah and Dalton!
ReplyDelete