babynames | Character Names

Hi all. I was hoping for advice on some character names (I don't have little ones, or little ones on the way, so I hope character names are okay).

I like knowing the meaning of names, as it helps with symbolism, and occasionally, imagery. I like creative/unusual names, and have recently gotten "into" combined names (i.e. Sarah + Elizabeth = Sarelizabeh. Apprently I had a doll when I was like 3 with this name). But I'd like to open myself up to more possibilities and not limit myself to what sounds great right now, but doesn't stay with the story.

I was hoping I could get some honest feedback (and, as I'm aware of recent drama in here over asking for honest feedback, I *DO* want honest feedback, even if it means I suck at my name choices right now lol) on some names I have already picked out.

I would like to ask, if you can, that if you obliterate a name choice, could you offer a replacement of sorts? I'd really appreciate it.

So here are the names I'm questioning right now:

Peter Alan (oldest)
Zachery Curtis (middle)
Joshua William (youngest)

Calandria Mariana (oldest of 12 brothers and sisters)
(This is a name I know I could use help with. I thought it was *so* cool and *so* edgy when I was in high school, but it doesn't seem so anymore. I need a name that can have a couple differnt nicknames, but that isn't completely laughable when said aloud).

Thanks all.

Edit to add: The boys are in a totally separate story from the girl. Also, this is not for a fanfiction. These are both from novels I hope to publish soon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I would spell it "Zachary," but other than that, I like all your boys' names.

Calandria Mariana is definitely too over the top IMO. It's a few degrees shy of being a Mary Sue name for me. I would definitely find something a little less out there.

Names sorta the same style that could have nns:

Cassandra (Cassie, Andy, Sandra)
Anastasia (Anya, Ana, Anna, Annie, Stacy)
Henrietta (Etta)
Lucretia (Lucy)
Gabriella (Gab, Gabby, Ella)
Veronica (Ronni/y)
Georgina (Georgie, Gina, Gigi)
Julianne (Juli/e, Anne, Anna)

*ETA: With some of these, you should probably go with a more toned down middle name to avoid the same problem as your original. In my experience, I rarely if ever use characters' middle names, but if you do, I would name sure it isn't as "flowery" as these.

Factoring in your boys' names as part of your style:
Lydia (Lidy? Lindy?)
Charlotte (Charlie, Lottie, Char)
Catherine (Cate, Catie, Cathy, Cat)
Olivia (Livi, Livia, Libby)
Eleanor (Ella, Nora, Elle)
Josephine (Jo, JoJo, Josie, Jodi/e at a stretch, ETA -- Joey)
Jacqueline (Jackie, Quinn)

Hope that helps you! =D

Edited 2008-08-23 15:03 (UTC)

This is extremely helpful. Thank you.

I second the first commenter - unless your story is set in some kind of fantasy world then your girls name really is a little OTT. If you must use it (and assuming you're in a real world setting) at least have people react to it in the way they would in RL ie they will remark on it, they may ask where it comes from or they may be rude about it, they certainly won't spell it right very often etc. Obviously most of this tops holding true if you're in some kind of fantasy or sci fi setting where odd names are the rule. I would ditch at least one of the names and replace it with something more 'normal' if I were you.

Oh and if you're writing fanfiction rather than original fiction ignore that advice and just for the love of God don't use it. It will make people assume she's a Mary Sue and hit the back button immediately (except those readers who get all OM I luv u, liek rite more now!!!1!! and they probably aren't the kind of people you want to be listening to judging from the fact you care enough to be thinking about this at all)

I wanted a name that can have many nicknames, so that she could go by one or several of the NNs and have her whole name come out rarely, and it would get attention, both good and bad. I'm not in love with the name anymore, but I do still want the same general feel of an unusual name, shortened into a more common nn.

It's not a fanfiction. It's a fiction [novel]. I hope to publish it within the next year (or two?) and it wasn't ever based on a fanfiction I wrote. It will [hopefully] be a book sitting on shelves in bookstores across the country, that one can pick up and read, then purchase. It's not an internet story based on real celebrities where one hopes to be involved in their lives.

OT, but icon love!!

:) ♥

The boy's names are good, I think, and fit together quite well.

The girl's... it does rather scream Mary Sue (or even in original fiction, Authroial Insertion). Is she related to the boys -? Because if so, I can't quite see how the same parents came up with them, if you know what I mean (one of my own spot-checks is 'would this person's dad agree to this name??')

How about Callista? It's a little similar, and a classic if unusual name. And Marianne is very close to Mariana.

No, she's not related to the boys. I edited my post yesterday to mention that they're from separate stories. She's actually a half-sibling, that didn't meet her father and his other kids until she was older. So her dad had no say in naming her, as he didn't know she existed then.

I've written down "Callista" with my other new possibilities. Still looking up the meanings of the names, so I haven't made any decisions yet. Thanks for your suggestion :)

Character Names

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