Name That Character!

writer's block, writing 1 Minute

Ok, people, I need help. I’m renaming my female character YET AGAIN, and I can’t make up my mind. I’m trying to find something that’s not über-common, yet not so outlandish no one can pronounce it. I’ve listed a few choices below that I’m considering, although in the end I can’t guarantee any of these are going to make the final cut either. What I’d like to know is your choice, and in the comments below, please let me know if you’ve heard of any of these being used recently in a situation where it might cause someone to say “She stole that name from Book X,” or “there’s a character on Soap Opera Y with that name”, or any place else you might have heard it. Obviously “Bella” is right out. Pretty much anything that can be found on any “Top 100 Names” list is also disqualified.

Published by D. D. Syrdal

Writer of vampire stories and science fiction. First novel, "Revenants Abroad", available now at Amazon. If you like a vampire you can go out drinking with and still respect yourself in the morning, I think you'd like Andrej.

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29 thoughts on “Name That Character!”

  2. Thanks, startingover. I’ve only known one person with that name, and she was very nice, and very smart. I don’t think it’s real popular here in the U.S. so it could be a real contender 🙂

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  3. Maren! It sounds strong, with a hint o’ sass.

    To me, Martine screams bitchy, French, ballerina-wannabe 😀 It’s very shrill sounding. Maryse is nice, but there’s a series by Cassandra Clare with a character named Mayriss that is pronounced similarly.

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  4. Thanks, Submerina 🙂 It’s funny how we all perceive names differently. Good to know about that other series character, though. I know I’m obsessing way more than I should, but if I don’t get the right name for this character, she’s never going to come to life for me. Men’s names are so much easier for some reason.

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  5. I love Martine, unless you want a real bright line between the European-sounding characters and the American-sounding ones, in which case I’d go w/my second chioce, Julie, which is kind of an American classic, in a nice way. Maryse is pretty but I’m not sure how to pronounce it; Maren’s intriguing but a wee bit masculine, and this is my weird problem (showing my age!!!!!!!!!!!) but Solveig always makes me think of “I Remember Mama.” Other than that last, they all have a freshness to them, not derivative of anything.

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  6. I was thinking Martine might be good, since the character has ties to Quebec. If there’s doubt about how to pronounce a name like Maryse it’s probably not a good choice. Maren is Norwegian, and most Norwegian girls’ names are not the typically girly sounding names like Amy or Tina that we’re used to. The only Maren I can think of was an actress on the original Battlestar Galactica tv series back in the 70s, Athena (I think she was the sister of Capt. Apollo.). I actually prefer stronger-sounding names, I tend to dislike most women’s names because they sound too childish to me.

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    1. I know what you mean – I am not a big fan of those girly, cheerleader-ish sounding womens’ names that have been in favor in the U.S. for most of our lives. My rule of thumb, for girls’ or boys’ names, is “could a person be President, or CEO, or Chief Justice with a name like this?” You can always adopt a nickname if you want to, but starting out with a name that calls to mind a pole dancer or a five-year-old seems like a hurdle to overcome.

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      2. Do you know, I read a lifestyle piece in the
        times the other day by a guy who seemed really proud, in this nonconformist-urban-hipster-from-Brooklyn sorta way, that he had named his toddler daughter HAZEL. Honestly, what kind of name is that for a baby?!?!?!

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      3. I have been trolling baby name sites (quelle surprise, I know) and there seems to be a great resurgence of very old-fashioned names lately. Everything old is new again, I guess. Hazel really is an ugly name, though, and I will forever remember that ancient tv show about the maid named Hazel (that may have been the name of the show, I’m not sure).

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      4. Yeah, with Shirley Booth and her boss “Mista B.” That’s all I can think of when I hear that name, as well.

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  7. If she was my character I’d name her Julie, mainly because of Kenji Sawada who is a wonderful 60/70s pop star who goes by the name of Julie:

    I adore JULIE! :3!
    Don’t like any of the other names for one reason or another.

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      1. Well maybe not where you live, but a couple of those pictures were more than a little risque and if my boss walked up and saw me checking her out online, I think it could be an awkward moment.

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      2. My concern wouldn’t be that he’d find ’em too risque’, so much as he’d peg you as a wrestling fan, and want to talk to you about WWE Raw all the time. It could get tedious.

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