Names

Gibside Woods

Are names important in fiction, or just a character label? If you were choosing a label for a young magician who was going to have amazing powers, wouldn’t it be tempting to call him something special? But J K Rowling chose Harry Potter, something so ordinary we barely notice it.

Arthur gives out only a faint chime of recognition until it is linked with Merlin, and then it takes on a whole new significance. One of the most feared English kings was the eighth Henry, a name that today rings with total insignificance. How many kids are named Henry today? One thing I have noticed in Real Life is that its no longer possible to tell a child's heritage by name alone. Names that once belonged to a certain nation are now used by any parents who decide they like the name. Therefore we have lots of Scots, Irish and Welsh names filtering down into English households when there seems no link back to the roots those names might suggest.

Reading the cast lists of tv and films is entertaining, and not for the quirky spellings alone. Summer and Breeze are no longer unique, and I swear I have seen Field and Lane listed. I kept waiting for Hedge coming up, but then we veered off to the Peach Blossom tangent beloved of pop stars. Cute children with cute names are one thing, but when that child is in its forties, I wonder if it will be heading down the name-changing route?

Romance novelists scour the lists and come up with names like Blane, Dare, Noble, and Amaury. It seems the name has to be different, sharp-sounding and if possible have only one syllable. What does this say, if anything, about current naming fashions among  authors? and how do readers feel about it?

Border Reivers and characters

Yesterday the Border Reivers group met at Morpeth and we all discussed writing blurbs. A weird art, and I'm not sure the meeting was productive as seven of us all had differing views on what was required for a really good blurb. Interesting, none the less, and I came away thinking definitely more practice required at writing the -- things.

I knew character names were important, but had not taken into account - silly me! - the differing views of others. Because I think Don and Julie are good names for H/h, I wonder why they conjure up an image of a forty-somethings in someone else's mind. Why are those names generally deemed old and stodgy? Is it a personal thing? Do they know someone of that age, with that name, and are pre-disposed to think every one called Don is like the man they know?

Or is the name itself dated? H'mmm. More food for thought. I chose Don because it was short, sharp, free of overtones (how wrong I was!) and fairly standard like Richard, James and John, the sort of names that persist through every generation. Call him Jake and I think of a six foot lifeguard I once knew in my distant youth - and that doesn't suit my character at all!

Last night was a late one due to a dinner dance and today will be taken up by dh's imminent departure for France, so I won't get much work done today. But next week - no distractions!