In my upcoming novella collection, We Three Kings, I’m writing a contemporary story to follow two historical stories. It’s basically three billionaire romances where the heroes come from the same family, and they make their money from gold in the 1800s, frankincense in the 1900s, and myrrh in modern day (my story). The family name is Weise, but by the time my novel takes place, the name has been changed to Wise. Get it? They are the three Wise men.
This has me thinking about where character names come from. So often I see writers asking readers for help, and it seems to be one of your favorite things ever. I believe it’s because names are personal and because they carry a lot of meaning. Authors don’t choose them lightly, so I thought I’d share the seven different ways I’ve named characters for my books.
1.) Named after a reader. In Husband Auditions, I was looking for a name to give my main character. I wanted something traditional but also cute because we were basically comparing dating in the 1950s with modern day relationships. I asked for ideas on Facebook, and Mary Anne Hake said, “Nobody ever uses my name.” Thus my character became Meri, short for Meredith after her grandmother. It turned out even better than expected when I realized the name Meri could be a great play on words since the character’s goal was to marry.
2.) Named by a reader. I’ve done a few contests where the winners get to name one of my characters. In my upcoming romantic comedy, April Kidwell chose to name a character Myrna. The name is in honor of her mother even though the character is tattooed and pierced with a pixie haircut. I’d previously given her a different name, but Myrna makes her more unique.
3.) Named for symbolism. Gemma in Hero Rehearsals has a twin sister named Jewel. I named them such because they are competing for their worth like precious gemstones being graded by a jeweler. I named my redhead from Finding Love in Eureka Genevieve, so she could be “Gen with a G,” kinda like “Anne with an E.” In Lighten Up, I named my preacher’s kid Bethany, and her siblings are Christian and Trinity. Their names represent the forgiveness they all have trouble offering their dad who ran off with the church secretary.
4.) Named for heritage. Kai is Hawaiian in Husband Auditions. Grandpa Johan is Norwegian in Finding Love in Big Sky. I’m currently shopping a novel with a hero named Antonio Javier Cruz Desoto who is obviously Hispanic. Their heritage plays a part, and it just wouldn’t feel authentic if they went by Bob or Pete.
5.) Named for sound. Somehow I accidentally named the heroes in my current trilogy Kai, Karson, and Charlie. A writer friend thought I did that on purpose, but no. I try to avoid repeating sounds or even numbers of syllables because it can become confusing for a reader. So as I continue this series, I’m being super careful to vary it up more.
6.) Name hunting. As a flight attendant, if I’m looking for a name, I might scroll through my flight manifests for something that stands out. I use baby naming websites and last name finders. My mom told me about having a classmate named Lavella Moon, which she thought was the most beautiful and unique name. I used Lavella Moon in a book.
7.) It’s just their name. Some characters arrive in my mind already named. Holly Fontaine. Jaqueline James. Laney Winters. Sometimes I already have the name in my head, and I have to ask, “Who are they?” I also have names of characters in my head that I’m still looking forward to meeting. I hope I’m always pregnant with new characters like this.
To those of you who have helped me name my characters, thank you so much. I’m still trying to figure out why the Weise name was changed to Wise. It’s German, so it could have something to do with WWII. It could have something with immigration or business or mistaken identities.
Please share your stories of real-life name changes to help me out!
Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there's nothing else she'd rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.
Mum’s mothers last name is Gerdtz and he joint the Australian Army and changed it to Gerdts so it didn’t look German. (His mother was English and Father have been out here quite awhile).
It’s possible the same for Wiese although its possible people would pronounce it We see (like easy with a W)
I saw my name in a book once and it felt so weird (hence I don’t want my whole name in the book) Where as Janet Tronstad and Jillian Hart using my Dad as the conductor on a mail order bride book (they came by train) made me feel special. It was Mr Blake but while they didn’t know him I felt it was what he would have done if in the same situation.
Another book had an older lady who was the wife of the victim called Thelma Blake. Made me pause as Dads sister was Thelma Blake and had died at 15 and the baby mum lost would have been Thelma Joy Blake (called Joy). But the lady was older 70ish and a little eccentric but loveable and I kept thinking I wonder if this is how my Aunt I never knew would have been like.
I like different names. No the top 10 of the year. Although here in Australia Amelia has often been in the top 5 but not in books as much. If the name is unusual I love when the author lets us know how its pronounced. (Note to American authors some names especially from the south are uncommon in other countries and we don’t always know how to pronounce them). A friend had a granddaughter Aunesty and I had to ask how to pronounce it. its basically honesty. I had never heard it before.
Thank you for sharing. I’ll use something like this. And how fun to see your name in print!
Hi Angela from snowy cold Michigan. I am a German American retired German high school teacher, who has done lots of genealogy research. WEISE (wi – sah) – no silent e in German, means WISE. Anti German sentiment in the United States began during WW1. So that is one reason to change a name. During WW2 many German speaking Jews immigrated to the USA, so the family might have wanted to change the spelling of their name, but keep the meaning. Researching census documents – often the census taker misspelled names or their cursive writing was not very legible.
Our German family – Great Uncle Otto, who immigrated to the US from the Ukraine in 1914 kept the surname Mueller. My family immigrated to the US from Berlin, Germany and kept our surname Brandt. My German first name Renate is usually not fond in books. But a few authors have used my reviews or Josie Riviera used it in one of her books.
Living in the Chicago area in the 1980s, we knew a recent Vietnamese immigrant, who had changed his name. Name changes were more prevalent when immigrants came thru Ellis Island (1892 – 1954).
Thanks for an informative thought provoking blog. Stay warm and dry. Happy Writing.
While
My great greats change their name from Eichler to Eckley (Northern Michigan). I need to go back and check for certain when it was done, but I believe it was in the late 1890s.
Thank you, Renate!
Great info and inspiration! So fascinating. And fun that you’ve seen your name in print.
It’s really interesting to hear how you come up with names for your books.
I’m afraid I’m no help with the name changes as don’t know anyone who’s done this. Quite the opposite in fact – my husband is called after his father, who was names for his father, going back and back…when we visited the small town in Ireland that the family is from it seemed like every other grave in the graveyard was my husband’s name, which was a little unsettling!
That’s fascinating too. What a heritage!
When my grandmother’s family immigrated, they ended up with four variations of their last name at processing. Jantzen became Jantz, Johnson, Jansen, and Jones.
Did you have to research to find this out? So fascinating.
When I write stories, I use ancestors’ names. Have you looked at your family tree?
That’s an idea! May they live on through you.
When my maternal however many great grandfather came in the 1700’s, his last name was Weber and it became Weaver. I have no idea why, though!
Trudy your great grandfather had a German name. Weber is German for Weaver.
Looks like lots of German names were changed!
When my husbands great great grandfather came over to America from France, the people signing him in, in America had trouble spelling his name. He thinks the man was slightly deaf. So he spelled his name: Smanski. Before he came on the boat it was: Sczmanshky. And it has stayed Smanski ever since. My cad had one brother: Lourn. Both mom and dad love Uncle Lourn a lot. So since I was the first born between the two brothers, I was to be Lourn also. They didnt know the sex of a baby before it was born all those years ago. And fathers were not allowed into the delivery room. So when I was born a girl, my mom put “etta” at the end of Lourn and I became Lournetta. I love my name and that I am named after my uncle.
That’s beautiful. <3
Some of my ancestors changed the spelling of the last by dropping the final e from Pecsatore so the family could travel together to yhe US. There was limit on how many family members could travel on the same ship to prevent fighting.
My friends adopted a five year old and when the family legally adopted him he asked if he could change his name completely using the adoptive’s mother maiden’s name as his first, the father’s name as his middle and then the family surname. Parker Ray—- was adopted and name legally changed.
Very resourceful! And how sweet about the adoption.
Sometimes people will change the spelling of their last name to make it more easily pronouncable or to distance themselves from a similar sounding name that has bad feelings towards it and they don’t want to be mistaken for the bad named people.
Yes, that’s what I’m thinking.
My grandmother’s name was Josina Blanche. They called her Blanche. My middle name is Josina. My uncle’s name was Lorenzo Eston. He was called Eston. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
A beautiful heritage. Thank you for sharing.
I dabble in writing, and have yet to get the courage up to really do something with it… but I was just chasing a thread tonight and trying my hardest to find a name. Two characters were jumping out at me and the final main character took a bit of searching on behind the name. Just found it incredibly coincidental that I was struggling with this maybe two hours ago. It’s so true how hard it can be to figure those little details out.
It’s something all writers grapple with, and if you’re writing, then you’re a writer!
interesting ideas