What's In A Name?

By Dennis Lantz

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

Perhaps, Mr. Shakespeare. But I happen to believe character names are important. They can lend strength or weakness. They can indicate depth or shallowness. Names can also give glimpses into personality or make us feel certain ways about them. Can you imagine calling an innocent young boy, Dahmer? Or a wise elderly woman, Delilah? These names have connotations or expectations. It doesn’t mean they couldn’t work, it would just add an aura of skepticism. 

Anyway, some of the characters or creatures in my three novels have unusual names. Others do not. I like to mix traditional with exotic, unique ones.

In Zander's Tale, the main character’s given name is Alexander and he is, of course, named after the youthful emperor Alexander the Great. Not as obvious are Bleda, the vicious general or his minions Sary and Caruso. Google Bleda and you will discover he was the elder brother of Attilla the Hun. He wasn’t a good guy. Sary and Caruso were the surnames of some villainous serial killers.  

Two of the teachers in Zander’s Tale are Cato and Vervain. Cato was a Roman statesman and blue vervain is a flower. In the tale, Vervain is fascinated by flowers and nature.

Not all the names have meaning. Some are completely made up. Every time I've outlined a story, I jotted down a long list of possible character names. Many of them are just made up on the spot. Then I pick the ones I believe fit the characters.

For the record, I sometimes like to throw conventional naming on its head. Shamlee, from Pine Street and the Mighty Mutation Circus is not a grifter or liar. She is an upstanding young woman and a good friend.

Pine Street was named after… well, if you read this story, you will learn how he got his name. But in reality Pine had his first name weeks before his surname. I thought Pine was a good outdoor, nature-evoking name. The idea to call him Pine Street and explain how he came to be called that amused me. I wrote it in an early draft and it stayed.

In some stories, it isn’t just characters that you have to name. In The Spiders of Eden, there are genetically modified creatures. I wanted some of them to sound like dinosaur names, but to reflect something about them. Fast moving, bird-like creatures became choreopteryx and herds of deer-like beasts became beviosaur. A scavenger ‘dinosaur’ is called a carriodon.

The first time I ever encountered the idea that character names were specifically meant to elicit some sort of meaning or feeling was during my high school reading of Nathaniel Hawthorn’s The Scarlet Letter. My teacher went on about how Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Pearl were perfectly named. I wished I had paid better attention.

Until next time,

Read, Learn, Live.


 

 

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