What's in a name?

"We should be aware of the MAGIC contained in a name and realize that this single item is wholly and completely owned by the person with whom we are dealing...and nobody else. The name sets the individual apart; it makes him or her unique among all others." (I think this was from Dale Carnegie).

The most beautiful sound in the world? A persons name.
If someone says your name you respond, even if it's not you they're talking to. If you have to find your name on a page of 500 other names, you usually can spot it right away. Am I right or am I right?

Have you read a book where the names mean something to you? Honestly, I didn't pay attention much before Harry Potter. Then I only thought it was obvious that the characters got certain names like Draco (dragon), Goyle (gargoyle), Filch (steal things), Minerva (Goddess of wisdom & war), Skeeter (mosquito), Severus (severe), Narcissa (narcissistic), and Voldemort (flight of death).

This leads me to ask about character names. Do they name themselves? Most of my characters name themselves as I write the story. After I realized many authors purposely find meanings for their characters, I tried it too on my latest WIP:

The dad, Hank = ruler of the home.
The boyfriend, Aiden Shields = Fiery Protector.
The BFF, Monica Stillman = Quiet advisor
Angelica Savage = (any guesses??) (my critique group helped me name my MC)

While names are intriguing and thought provoking, there have been times a name has been distracting. For instance, the spelling throws me or it's a forgien name I can't figure out or ridiculous names. How about Harry Pitts? I have a friend named Rob Roe. No big deal, right? How about his brother named Rocky? Or sister, Sandy? Or dad, Skid?

What does it amount to? The name has the potential to take the reader out of the story. No writer wants that to happen. Choose carefully my young padawan writers.


How do names affect you? 
How do you name your characters?

Have you ever Googled yourself??

"I wish my name was Brian because maybe sometimes people would misspell my name and call me Brain. That's like a free compliment and you don't even gotta be smart to notice it." Mitch Hedberg

I think as writers we need to know what's associated with our names out in the wide, open world. Many authors add a middle initial to make sure they get the the credit for their hard earned work and not to be mistaken by another person with the same name.
My name, Taffy, is obviously going to pop up with candy and Taffy Town. And with the last name Lovell, I'm linked to an astronaut and city (there's even two creeks in the City of Austin with both my names: one is Taffy and one is Lovell!). Look at what else popped up: (heehee)

An amazing picture Sarah Eden drew of me (took her hours and hours).

Guy named Taffy

Taffy asleep

Taffy the Golfer

Did you know there's a mugshot.com? Yeah. Taffy's on it.

And a cute married couple. Wait. That's me! I almost didn't recognize my younger self.  *smiles*















I'm curious to learn what your name is linked to on WWW. Go Google your name then come back and tell me about it! Or do a blog post and link it back here so we can all read about you.

Where everybody knows your name

The other day I was reading a PDF of a book an agent asked me to review. While I enjoyed the storyline and intriguing characters, I constantly and, might I add,  consistently was taken out of the story by one simple problem: character names.
No, the names themselves weren't unusual or hard to pronounce. No, the names didn't remind me of someone I knew/hated/loved.
The names were ALWAYS in the dialogue!
Trying reading the example below out loud (my own made up dialogue):

"Hey Mary. Did you hear the news?" Henry asked.
"What news, Henry?" Mary asked back.
"About school. We get three days off! Isn't that great, Mary?" Henry said as he did a little jig.
"Henry! You just made my day." Mary threw her arms around him in a happy hug.

This example was seriously how the dialogue went throughout most of the book. Annoying!
Do you talk like that? I don't. Having a one-on-one conversation with someone I sure hope they know their own name and I don't need to remind them every time I talk to them.

Let's redo the dialogue:
"Did you hear the news, Mary?" Henry said.
"What news?" she asked.
"About school. We get three days off!"
"You just made my day!" Mary said as she threw her arms around him.

Notice the difference? Other than my brilliant (said in Grinch voice) writing, did the dialogue read better?


What takes you out of a story?

Names, Characters & Eternity

In the LDS church, we believe that families can be together forever. These 'ordinances' are performed in our temples. Worthy members of the church can enter the temples to be married and hopefully, reunited after death.

We also believe that many of our ancestors who have died before they were married in the temple still have the opportunity through us, the living.

Today, many members of church went to the temple with over 140 names of my ancestors. I was unable to go but many stopped me and told me how much they enjoyed helping my ancestors.

And how much they enjoyed the names:

Margaret Coke
Dorcas Benedict
Phebe Earll
Fawn Price
Matilda Gleed
Elizabeth Cotton
Thomas Howard (Duke of Norfolk)
Sir Knight Tomas Howard (1st Earl of Suffolk)
Lady Mary FitzAlan
Capt. John Benedict
George II Count of Hesse-Darmstadt
And my favorite! Christmas Poll (male)

I have found the mother lode of names for any books or stories within my own family!

What about you? Any interesting names in your family?