The first and last names of a character are the gateway to a personality, a plot, a world, and a story. Whether the first name is original, classic, long or short, it brings your characters to life and allows the reader to have a first glimpse of the hero or heroine with whom he or she will spend the next hours of reading

Typically, one of the first pieces of information we know about a character is their first name or even their last name.

The first and last names of a character are the gateway to a personality, a plot, a world, and a story. Whether the first name is original, classic, long or short, it brings your characters to life and allows the reader to have a first glimpse of the hero or heroine with whom he or she will spend their next hours of reading.

This is why choosing a first and last name for your characters is essential, and choosing them well can make a difference. Whether for questions of aesthetics or practicality, you need to think carefully about the identity you want to give to your characters and the image you want them to convey to your readership.

OUR 5 TIPS FOR CHOOSING THE FIRST AND LAST NAMES OF YOUR CHARACTERS

THE BALANCE TO FIND BETWEEN SIMPLICITY AND ORIGINALITY

Don't forget that the first and last name you choose will follow you throughout the work of writing – and rewriting – your text. These character first and last names will stay with you for a long time. It is therefore preferable not to use first or last names that are too long and have somewhat complex spelling, at the risk of multiplying typos and typos. Obviously, nothing prevents you from choosing original and new names, to which the readership is not accustomed, as in La Horde du contravened by Alain Damasio, this will also make your characters unique.

The difficulty in choosing a first or last name lies in the balance to be found between simplicity and originality. Indeed, a first name that is too simple might not allow your character to stand out , but you must also ensure that its originality is understandable to the readership and harmonious with the theme of the story and the rest of the book.

ESTABLISH THE CHARACTER SHEET BEFORE FINDING THE FIRST AND LAST NAME

We regularly talk on our blog about the importance of creating a character sheet for a novel . A good way to find a first and last name for your character is to first construct, step by step , this character sheet. Which will allow you to have a clearer idea of ​​the person's personality, appearance, character, habits, etc. of said character. This will make it easier for you to find the most suitable first and last name.

Once this sheet has been established, you can easily draw up a list with several options for first and last names that you think could correspond to the character you are working on. This list may always evolve during the writing of your manuscript. In addition, on Édith & Nous , it is possible to import a new version of your manuscript as many times as you want , so you can make adjustments to the first and last names of your characters, even after submitting a first version. of your story!

CONSISTENT FIRST AND LAST NAMES

One of the most important rules when writing a novel is to be consistent. Whether it's the structure, the plot, the twists and turns, the characters (although they may contain some contradictions in their psychology): everything must make sense to immerse readers in a reading bubble. A lack of coherence could have the effect of taking them out of this romantic illusion to question the credibility of this or that element of the story.

The choice of first and last names for your characters is no exception to this rule! They must be harmonious since they help create the universe and atmosphere of your story.

WITH THE GENRE OF THE NOVEL

Depending on the genre you write in, there will be some differences. The genre of imagination, and more particularly that of fantasy , offers the author – through the magical and unreal dimension of the plot – greater freedom in the originality of the first and last names used. We will therefore be able to find characters named Severus Snape in the Harry Potter saga by JK Rowling or even Inej and Kaz in the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo .

You need to take into consideration all dimensions of the genre you're writing in to find a name that fits the overall mood and theme of your novel.

WITH THE PERIOD IN WHICH THE STORY TAKES PLACE

In addition to the literary genre, it is also important to pay attention to the era in which your story takes place. Indeed, depending on the period, certain first and last names were more or less common or were not yet used. We must therefore avoid anachronisms : it would be quite confusing to have a character named Enzo in a story that takes place in the 19th century!

A FIRST OR LAST NAME AS A REFLECTION OF A PERSONALITY

Your character's first and last name can also be a more or less blatant reflection of their personality or a trait of their character. In other words, a first or last name can send the reader an image of what the character might look like.

Each first name has a meaning, a story. We then speak of anthroponymy . This term is a discipline that allows you to study the history of names. It is a branch of onomastics which studies the origin of proper names in a more general way.

THE SOUND OF THE FIRST OR LAST NAME

The sound of a first or last name can influence our perception of the character's personality. The use of assonance (repetition of the same vowel in a word) or alliteration (repetition of the same consonant in a word) creates a stylistic sound effect allowing texture to be given to a word, and therefore here, a singularity to a first or last name. We do not project the same image onto a character who has the letters “l”, “m”, “s”, etc. in his first name, which are rather soft letters, and the letters “k”, “p”, “r”, “t”, etc. which are quite hard.

To give a concrete example, in his work Candide , Voltaire called one of his characters Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh. The alliteration in “t” and “r” supports the coldness of this character, because they are “rigid” letters. With his name alone, the reader can get an idea of ​​the personality of the baron's family and Voltaire emphasizes even more the harshness of the characters with whom Candide will have to confront.

THE MEANING OF THE FIRST OR LAST NAME

In addition to the sound, the first or last name of the character can directly provide us with information about the character himself, his character, his ambitions, his way of thinking...

The character of Martin Eden , in the eponymous book written by the American author Jack London , falls madly in love with Ruth, a young woman from the bourgeoisie. He then decides to give himself body and soul to his dream of becoming a writer, in order to bridge the social gap that prevents them from living their story. Martin will work hard to achieve his dream and finally live in his “paradise”. But faced with all the disillusionments he will have to face, he will realize that this life he has always dreamed of is not that extraordinary.

According to the Larousse dictionary, the word “eden” can be defined as a place of delight, a state of perfect happiness. From a biblical perspective, “Eden” is the earthly paradise.

The last name of Martin's character gives us a fairly clear image of his personality and the objective he wishes to achieve by undertaking all his work: to achieve what he thinks is happiness .

WHERE TO FIND IDEAS FOR FIRST AND LAST NAMES

You can simply consult lists of baby names, write a name with a different spelling than the one usually used or even invent a name from scratch, when it comes to inspiration , everything is good for finding ideas!

In this article, we will talk to you about two options, but don't hesitate to be more inventive to find the best first and last names for your characters, creativity has no limits!

IN YOUR DAILY LIFE

Don't hesitate to draw inspiration from the first and last names you hear in your daily life: in the street, in those around you, in a film or in music. Pay attention to what revolves around you.

Using this list system again will allow you to group together the first and last names that stood out to you, those that could very well find their place in your next novel!

THANKS TO A GENERATOR OF FIRST AND LAST NAMES

There are also first and last name generators on the Internet which can be a good way to help you find inspiration and renew your ideas. In particular, there are specialized generators for finding first or last names in fantasy or fantasy universes, for example the Fantasy Name Generators generator . But also random name generators like the Character Name Generator site .

The disadvantage of a generator is that it does not take into account the character sheet that you have just established as well as the character's backstory , so it is possible that the result is not always in line with the personality of your character. You be the judge !

MISTAKES TO AVOID

Some certain first names or surnames directly make us think of a known character, which send us images of characters from a novel, series or film. In these cases, it is quite obvious that they will hardly be able to be used for one of your characters.

Indeed, creating a new Sherlock or a new Katniss , without making us think of the heroes already bearing these same first names, seems quite complicated! On the other hand, these first names widely known to the general public can be chosen for very secondary characters or even animals to create humorous or not humorous references !

FIRST NAMES/SURNAMES THAT ARE TOO SIMILAR

It is preferable to avoid that, in the same novel, certain characters' first names are too similar, at the risk of losing the readership who might have difficulty remembering exactly who is who.

Obviously, if these resemblances are intended and contribute to the construction of the universe of the book, they must be kept, but on condition that they are controlled and that they do not harm the clarity of the story.

FIRST NAMES/SURNAMES THAT FALL INTO CLICHE

Finally, when deciding on the first and last names of the characters, we must also avoid falling into cliché. Of course, even if consistency is essential, names that are too caricatured risk making the character too conventional . Even more so if it is the first name of your main character , the real pivot of the story, since the reader will encounter him many times during his reading.

Finding character first and last names seems relatively simple. But when we take into account all the parameters previously stated: the right balance between simplicity and originality, coherence, the personality of the character and the image that we want him to convey to the readership or even the different pitfalls to avoid, it is clear that this step requires some thought !

This is why we hope that you have enjoyed this article and that, thanks to all these tips, it will allow you to name the characters in your novel more easily.