Val Dumond

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Articles on Writing, Grammar, and Publishing
by Val Dumond

Names and Naming
by Val Dumond
©2008

What's in a name? "A rose without a name is still a rose." Oh yeah? Try calling a florist and ordering a dozen red thingamajigs.

Names are the part of us that reflects who we are - our society, its customs, its times, its values, and its celebrity. Names are the part that provide identity - the identity of the person, place and thing that we call a Noun.

Take a look at the names we use, the names and nicknames we attach to people, the names that identify items, the effect of name changes, and that elusive something we have named "euphemism".

What was the first thing that Adam did after being created? He began to name things - the flowers and the trees and the birds and animals and the fish and ... everything on earth. The proclivity to name things continues. We name our cars, boats, pet cats and dogs, even pet turtles and mice. Scientists have eagerly attached very academic names to all the skillion bones of the human body, all the thousands and thousands of species of flora and fauna.

Creative artists - writers, painters, sculptures, wood carvers, and architects - name their creations. Until it receives a title, an essay, painting, sculpture, carving or building lacks essence, the being that makes it real. Many artists claim that the work flows more smoothly after they find the right name for it. In the early days of movies, film moguls often changed the names of their stars to ensure them stardom.

Politicians, advertisers, and real estate developers depend on just the right name to attract supporters. Who wouldn't want to live in Paradise Valley or buy Yummy Bread or vote for Honest Abe!

Of course, you as a writer will name your book or story as quickly as possible. A title makes a written work real. The title is important to reflect an important metaphor or story direction, a place, a time, an incident. It helps to type out the title and stick it to your computer as you work. A name keeps you on target.

Because names set the stage, form identity, tell something about the object named, parents take great care in naming children. Some of them! Others select names of towns (where the child was conceived?), rivers, days of the week, or god-help-us, original names plucked from thin air or yelled out in the throes of childbirth.

Writers have more time to consider the names of their characters (a writer's children).

Here are a few suggestions:

• Choose a name that fits the personality - but not too close. Charity is a great name for the character who works with the Salvation Army, and it is a short-cut to knowing who that character is. Wouldn't it be a delicious name for an antagonist, a witch, or a two-faced wicked nasty relative?
• Give names to supporting characters that befit their roles.
• Be careful to vary the initials used in names. A story with a bunch of characters all with names that begin with the same letter can confuse a reader.
• In the end, depend on your character to "know" when the name is right. When in doubt, write out a profile of your character, then ask the character to do the naming. You'd be surprised what a character will "tell" you.
• Try naming a character with a recognizable first name - someone well-known to many people.
• Review some of the names in classic writing and see how well the author chose them.
• Be careful to rename a character based on a real person. Don't change just the first letter. Jenny, who appears in a story about Penny, may recognize herself. And then maybe not! Writers often write about real people, changing their names (or genders or physiques or hair color). Amazingly, people don't see themselves as others see them.
• Consider nicknames that close friends of your character may use. And consider name variations that your character may apply as they grow up.

How do you feel about your birth name? Has your name changed or have you changed it? How has your name varied over the years? Have you tried different spellings? Does your identity change with your name? Is your self-image altered by a name change?

Because this is deep subject psychologically, socially, and financially, there are many sites on the Internet to help you name the characters in your "baby".

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