questions on preserving a name's appeal

[cidae.livejournal.com]

Greetings, all! I'm Katherine (middle name's Tory, if you're curious); seventeen years old and from the Southeastern United States.

As a writer constantly in need of names for original characters, I've recently begun to eye this community as a potential resource, and it now seems I'm finally mustering up the courage to post requesting advice and name critique. While I've noticed the majority of recent posts to the community deal with the analysis of names belonging to living (or soon-to-be-living) people as opposed to figments of one's thought, I'm still fairly certain that others have experienced what I'm going through at the moment and could possibly offer advice.

My predicament isn't exactly one directly related to my writing, but it's gradually seeming to plague my creative instinct each time I become inspired to create new characters. Simply put, and especially addressing fellow writers, I suppose the question I'm trying to ask is:

When you're extremely fond of a name, and you know it could "destined" for something greater as time goes on, what do you do to preserve the name's appeal and keep it in the foreground of your mind until that "something greater" comes about?

To expand, would you feel ashamed or embarrassed to have used the same or a similar name for a personally meaningful "thought-up" image at one time and for your own child years later? In the very rashest terms, have you ever felt tempted to take a name for a "test drive"?

For quite a few weeks, I have been nothing short of infatuated with a certain combination for a girl: Alejandra Eden, nicknamed Andie. In my opinion, it has the potential to be an ideal package. The first name alone is a feminine variant of a classic; unique, but not outlandish; and could be interpreted as elegant, playful, or even deep and thought-provoking. The middle name, being succinct yet history-rich, nicely balances out the first without feeling like "filler" as many four-letter middles do. The nickname could last its owner through much (if not all) of childhood and could easily be revoked or tweaked should she find it clashes with her taste.

If I were to use the name for a character, I could just as easily see her as a shy preschooler as I could an upstanding college student, and this is partly why I find the name so appealing at the moment. Yet, despite that I probably won't begin making steps toward a relationship for a while, I would like to keep the name in the foreground of my mind should I, in the greatest instance, choose it for my future daughter. In short, I would like to be "doing something" with the name in the meantime to ensure it doesn't become stale, but I'm not certain I would feel right using it, no matter how great the time lapse, for two very separate and very different entities.

What do you think?

That's about all I wanted to cover. A substantial "thanks" goes out to all who took the time to read this monumental post, and I hope I didn't get too off-topic in my rambling. I'm eagerly awaiting hearing from some of you who have faced similar predicaments. :)

Comments

[satunian.livejournal.com]

I think you might be overanalyzing just a bit - though it really depends. I mean, say the author of Nancy Drew (I know she's been around for eons) wrote all those novels starring said Nancy Drew and then went on to have a character named Nancy Drew. Might be a little weird. Although might be sort of like an homage. What would you think if Jennifer Aniston had a baby girl and named her Rachel? It might be weird, but it also might not be. I guess it entirely depends, especially for what you plan on doing with a potential Alejandra Eden character. Is she going to be a one time novel heroine, a supporting background character or a persistant character through a series of writings?

If you're still on the fence about it, maybe split the name for a character (ex: Alejandra Lenore and Rebecca Eden) and save Alejandra Eden for a real future baby.

[sal_amanda]

I agree entirely with the above commenter. And also, I want to compliment you on how well-spoken you are, not just for a 17-year-old, but also has a human being of any age. I work at a college and I wish more of my students could express themselves as well.

[apathykisses.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I've been thinking about this as well, trying to name the main character of my book. I want to name him Vincent, but another part of me wants to leave that name untouched, incase I use it for my son. I'm afraid the image of my character might interfere somehow with the relationship between me and my child. Like satunian said though, I think it ultimately depends on what kind of story and character you'll be attaching the name to. Just the fact that you're hesitant to use it is probably for good reason. Or atleast that's how I feel in my case. However, I don't see why you shouldn't use it as just a "creative muse" as you've mentioned above.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

You may be overthinking this. But I would consider these points:

1. Keeping a certain name in the foreground of your mind, "doing something" with it until you want to give it to a child . . . I think that would cause the name to become stale much faster than just leaving it be. You'll hear it and see it so often that you'll run the risk of getting bored with it and ruining it for yourself.

2. You're still very young. I don't mean that in a condescending way -- I'm not much older. What I mean is that you probably have a while to go before you have children (I'm assuming this given what you wrote, as well). Let's say you have your first child ten years from now. You may not even like the name Alejandra Eden at that point. You may have met someone named Alejandra who was really nasty. Eden may have shot up in popularity and become boring. Or your taste may just have changed. It's more likely than not. When I was 17, I was fairly convinced that I would name my first son Michael. I'm 22 now, and Michael is not on my list.

Basically, my advice is: if you love the name now, use it now. Use it on some character and have fun with it. If you still love it in ten years, there's no reason you can't use it on your child then.

[love-story.livejournal.com]

I was browsing LJ communities today, found this one, and then ran across your post, so please pardon the lateness of this response... however, I feel compelled to comment because I have published a couple of niche-market novels myself and run across this very issue.

My first book centered on a character named Shasta, a name I had loved as a child and was very happy with in the context of the story. About one year after my book was published, I met my now-wife-and-partner, and on the night we met I cannot tell you how shocked I was to learn that HER name was Shasta! For the most part the coincidence has been rather fun and even a bit charming, but it does occasionally inspire curious (and occasionally somewhat snarky) emails from my readers who want to know if/why I named my main character after my significant other...

I also used several names that I loved, like Talon, Talia, Lyris and Violet, in that book and the next one. Now that my partner and I hope to try for a baby next year, I've regretted using Talon, as it's a name I adore. I think I would go ahead and use the name for my child anyway, were it not that my partner already shares the name of one of my other characters (and to make matters more complicated, my Shasta and Talon characters have a romantic relationship, which would make it entirely too bizarre and awkward!)

At any rate, I don't see any reason that you couldn't give your character a name you love and use that same name for a child later, PROVIDED that you are careful not to project the personality/expectations of the character you've created onto your daughter, who may be nothing whatsoever like your fictional Andie. :)