“John Q. Public: Choosing Effective Names for Your Characters”

In my novel The Farpool, one of the lead characters is named Kloosee ank kel: Om’t.  So what’s in a name and why did I choose this name for this character?  I could have named him Hamlet, Popeye, Jay Gatsby or Curly. 

There are as many kinds of fictional names and reasons for fictional names as there are authors.  In my case, I chose this name for several reasons. For one, the Seomish are a marine people and their language involves a lot of hard consonants.  Just listen to dolphins sometime.  Since their language involves hard consonants, so do their names.  Kloosee ank is like a given name.  Kel means tribe, in the Seomish language.  Om’t is the name of the tribe.  That’s how I came up with the name.

Sometimes, when you’re looking for a good name for a character, the name just pops out.  Take Johnny Winger, the hero of my series Tales of the Quantum Corps.  Trust me: I didn’t deliberate on this name long.  It just came to me.  One thing to watch out for is make sure you choose character names, especially if they’re main characters, whose names don’t sound alike. 

Another technique I have used to develop names is to look at maps or atlases.  Many towns and cities, in countries all over the world, come from names of people.  Pick one, roll it around on your tongue, maybe alter it a bit and voila!  Instant name and it often sounds real too. 

I have used rosters of personnel at my workplaces to find names, sometimes changing them slightly, sometimes not.  Another good resource.  Or think of your neighbors’ names…or even their pets.

You don’t want to pick a name that just sounds funny or odd, unless that’s the effect you’re trying to achieve.  But you do want, particularly for main characters, to pick names that are distinctive in some way, memorable in some way.  In researching my later books, I have started to make a list of the major players, just to keep them straight.  Here’s one for my current work in progress The Farpool: Marauders of Seome.

1. Loptoheen tu kel: Ponk’et– celebrated tuk-master of Ponk’et and Farpool team leader for the Ponkti team that travels to mid-20^th century Earth.
2. Lektereenah kim kel: Ponk’et – the Metah of Ponk’et
3. Klindonok ka kel:Ponk’et – second in command to Loptoheen for the Ponkti test mission to Earth. 
4. Kolom le kel: Ponk’et – assistant to the Metah of Ponk’et; chief of staff of the Mek’too (Ponkti council of state)
5. Mokleeoh loh kel: Om’t – the Metah of Omt’or
6. Manklu tel kel: Om’t – Master kip’t pilot and Farpool-team leader for the Omtorish special ops team that travels through Farpool with a mission to stop the Ponkti.
7. Fregattenkapitan Werner von Kleist – commander in the Kriegsmarine OKM (Naval General Staff, an aide to Adm Doenitz) and principal contact between the Germans and the Ponkti
8. Korvettenkapitan Dirk Melkopf – commanding officer, U-boat U-376.
9. Pakto klu kel: Sk’ort – Wavemaker technician from Sk’ort who becomes one of Chase’s mission team members, but who is also a spy for Sk’ort.   Pakto has a mission from the Metah of Sk’ort to gain as much intelligence on Omtorish plans for the Great Emigration as possible, so that Sk’ort will be able to secure favorable position and influence when the kels arrive in Earth seas. 
10. Koktet lu kel: Om’t – Omtorish engineer who helps operate and maintain the new Farpool at Lik’te Island.  Koktet is the one who befriends Angie Gilliam when she comes through the Farpool (from 1943 Earth) after the wormhole is re-opened to help Chase and the special forces team defeat the Ponkti and also to begin the Great Emigration.
11. ADM Raymond Davies – U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations in 2115 AD
12. Dr. Josey Holland – Biology Dept branch chief for cetacean species, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
13. Likteek klu kel: Om’t – member of the Kelktoo (Academy) and protégé of Longsee lok, who died in The Farpool, from effects of the great ak’loosh, when the Coethi attacked. (The Farpool).

As you can see, I’ve got people from Seome, Americans, Nazis, a wide variety of names and characters.  I may even put this list into the front of the book.  I’ve even done little capsule bios to help me remember them, although some have more extensive descriptions in my Notes. 

Naming your fictional characters is a true art.  Try not to be too clever; critics and English majors look for hidden messages in books and names.  Make the names sound real and appropriate to the setting, time and story you’re writing.  You wouldn’t give some eight-legged squid from Tralfamadore a name like Jedediah.  Not if you want to be taken seriously.  And you probably wouldn’t give some Civil War soldier a name like Koktek lu kel: Om’t.

Ian Fleming gave his British secret service agent the name of James Bond.  Could he really have been named anything else?  A good character name sounds right, fits the character and the story.

Spend some time on it.

The Word Shed will take a holiday break over Labor Day, so there won’t be a post on September 4.  The next post comes September 11 and will deal with the nature of fictional dialogue.

See you then.

Phil B.