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What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

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Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#31

Post by monk_e_boy »

munificent wrote: post #12

There is a practical consideration worth keeping in mind with names: they distinguish characters from each other . I found One Hundred Years of Solitude virtually incomprehensible because it features an enormous cast of characters whose names are all similar. There is José Arcadio Buendía, José Arcadio, Arcadio, Aureliano José, 17 (!) other characters named Aureliano, José Arcadio Segundo and José Arcadio (II) (who i…

Oh God, you just reminded me. The first time I read Lord of the Rings (when I was a wee kiddie) I got Sauron and Saruman mixed up and for 90% of the book thought they were the same guy. It wasn't until they met I had that 'mind blown' moment.

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#32

Post by gavinpc »

It was good enough for Shakespeare. There's "Malvolio," the discontent from Twelfth Night. "Horatio," the even-tempered observer in Hamlet. "Elbow," the drunken constable in Measure for Measure, and "Dull," the slow-witted constable from Love's Labors Lost (which also features the empty-headed schoolmaster "Holofernes"). "Prospero," the artist-magician who makes all right in the end of The Tempest. "Hotspur," the (actual) nickname of the irascible warrior from Henry IV Part I who could think of nothing but riding his horse into battle. (Of course, that was a real historical name, but it's no wonder Shakespeare latched onto it.) And who can forget "Mercutio," another hothead, the short-lived hyperglot from Romeo and Juilet? Not to mention "Posthumus," who all but dies to set right his folly at the beginning of Cymbeline. And then of course, "Falstaff," also from Henry IV, that great monument to the art of deception.

Does anyone need to guess the profession of Mistress Overdone, Mistress Quickly, or Doll Tearsheet?

Lesser characters: Shallow and Slender.

Not as sure what to make of Touchstone, Caliban (an anagram for "cannibal"?), and Bottom.

Dickens was just imitating, and in many ways bettering, his master.

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#33

Post by dang »

cgh wrote: post #29
dang wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is indeed a brilliant namer. I love Reverend Cherrycoke from Mason & Dixon. It's so perfectly 18th century a name. But if we're talking about The Crying of Lot 49 let's not forget Genghis Cohen, subject of a public spat at the time! http://dangerousminds.net/comments/thomas_pynchon_punctures_... While Pynchon's smackdown is devastating, I can't help but feel that he would have written a better one in later years.…

Thanks for posting this. I had no idea this even happened. As you're surely aware, in 1966, Pynchon was still only 29 (an incredible fact, at least to me), so that might explain the lack of subtlety. Another great namer was Mervyn Peake, author of the fabulous "Gormenghast" series. From it, we have: Lord Sepulchrave Groan Fuschia Groan Titus Groan Steerpike Swelter, the enormous chef Dr. Alfred Prunesquallor Mr. Flay…

Oh yeah, Peake was brilliant too. I always lump him in with Edward Gorey.

The best namer by far, I think, is Dickens, at least for the comic style of naming, which all these examples are. I wonder if it's harder to come up with names for sad things.

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#35

Post by dsr_ »

vdnkh wrote: post #18

I read a lot of scifi and have generally been impressed by the naming. I dislike Cratylic names when they're trite but authors like Phillip K. Dick and Gene Wolfe manage to pull them off. Neal Stephenson uses them humorously in Snowcrash (the protagonist's name is 'Hiro Protagonist'). I can't say I'm a fan of Asimov's names in the Foundation series - not Cratylic, just a bit off sounding. "Bayta Darrell" doesn't give…

Whenever Asimov was stuck, he would make a play on meaning in his names:

Preem Palver => Prime (First) Palaver (Speaker).

Hari Seldon takes the name "Chetter Hummin" => Cheater Human.

Dors Venabili => Gift of the Venerable

Bel Riose is simply Belisarius.

Ebling Mis has bad health (it ebbs) and then he misses the right answer.

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#36

Post by douche »

munificent wrote: post #12

There is a practical consideration worth keeping in mind with names: they distinguish characters from each other . I found One Hundred Years of Solitude virtually incomprehensible because it features an enormous cast of characters whose names are all similar. There is José Arcadio Buendía, José Arcadio, Arcadio, Aureliano José, 17 (!) other characters named Aureliano, José Arcadio Segundo and José Arcadio (II) (who i…

Flying Spaghetti Monster help anyone writing Roman fiction. The romans only used about a dozen or two dozen first names[1], and not too many more variant nomen. Keeping who is who straight when studying Republican Rome is hard.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praenomen

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#37

Post by tlb »

cgh wrote: post #7

Thomas Pynchon is a great inventor of names. From "The Crying of Lot 49" alone, we have: Oedipa Maas Wendell "Mucho" Maas John Nefastis Stanley Koteks Mike Fallopian ...and so forth. Granted, the humour in "Lot 49" is a little more juvenile than, say, "Against the Day".

In "Inherent Vice", the VC firm is Voorhees-Krueger (think 80s horror movie characters).

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#38

Post by dredmorbius »

dang wrote: post #34

Completely off topic, but the phrase "always an amusing resource for complex issues" contains the wittiest act of hyperlinking I've seen in a while.

Please stay on to... Oh. Well, carry on.

/me goes off to explore hyperlinking.

Why yes indeed, that is to ... um, um, something for.

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#39

Post by mkehrt »

munificent wrote: post #12

There is a practical consideration worth keeping in mind with names: they distinguish characters from each other . I found One Hundred Years of Solitude virtually incomprehensible because it features an enormous cast of characters whose names are all similar. There is José Arcadio Buendía, José Arcadio, Arcadio, Aureliano José, 17 (!) other characters named Aureliano, José Arcadio Segundo and José Arcadio (II) (who i…

That's kind of the point of the names in that book! They increase the dreamlike atmosphere.

Re: What Kind of Name Is That? How to Name Fictional Characters

#40

Post by progressive_dad »

cgh wrote: post #7

Thomas Pynchon is a great inventor of names. From "The Crying of Lot 49" alone, we have: Oedipa Maas Wendell "Mucho" Maas John Nefastis Stanley Koteks Mike Fallopian ...and so forth. Granted, the humour in "Lot 49" is a little more juvenile than, say, "Against the Day".

I was reading a reddit post the other day that looked like it was produced by a markov chain using martin amis and michel houellebecq as source material. Unexceptional except they used the name, "Gortibole Blubbet" for a fat old prostitute. My immediate thought was, "That MUST be from a Pynchon novel."
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