It’s a well-known fact that characters in stories have names. On occasion, a character’s name may never be made known throughout the tale, but the wonder of pen and paper and the words written thereon is that every detail must be referred to in some way, and whether or not a character is outright given a proper name, they have to be called something. Short stories may often call the main character what they are or may be told from the mind of the main character, who perhaps doesn’t think of his own name. As a story goes on, however, it becomes more and more difficult and tedious for both the writer and the reader to avoid properly introducing a character. The longer a narrative goes, the more likely it is to have named characters; and the more focus a character gets, likewise are they more likely to be given a proper name. But what to name these characters? Beginners often ask this question and it is indeed a question even experienced writers may ask themselves as they delve into the newest addition to their portfolio. Entire stories have been written based on no more than a character’s name, but whether or not that’s the case, there is a number of important factors that go into giving your character the perfect moniker.

Setting

     In real life, a person’s name is influenced by many things, but perhaps the largest deciding factor is when and where they are born. For example, an American with a Caucasian family and a long line of Caucasian ancestors probably won’t carry a name like Juro Kagawa even if his parents were obsessed with Japan, owing to the fact that they, too, are American and thus wouldn’t have Kagawa as their surname. That of course wouldn’t rule out a name like Juro Clark since a first name isn’t traditionally passed down from the parents like a surname is.
     Equally as important as a character’s birthplace is the era they were born in. Take the name Adolf, for instance. Perhaps the most notorious and typecast name in modern history. According to most records, it was actually not an uncommon name prior to World War II. In fact, it’s popularity even lasted several years into Hitler’s reign, reportedly peaking around 1940, where the name sat comfortably in the list of the 100 most popular German baby names. Now it’s virtually a dead name with the majority of its current holders having been born before the war. The name did have other influential holders, however. Especially in Sweden, the homeland of Gustav II Adolf, Gustav VI Adolf, and Adolf Fredrik, who were all kings of the nation. The name was indeed also common among non-royalty in that region up until the war. Since then, however, the name Adolf has been all but outlawed in some countries and heavily looked down upon in others. Interestingly, though, the name Adolfo, which is the Spanish and Portuguese translation of the name, is still in fairly common usage today.
     Popularity isn’t the only part of a name that can change with time. Names have evolved with language to change their spelling and even gender over the course of their usage. Ashley and Madison were generally boy’s names when they first came around and remained that way all the way up until the mid-1900s, when their use as female given names rose dramatically. In some cases, such as with Ashley, new spellings of the name started to pop up at the same time as the gender switch, which is why you might also see people spell their names as Ashleigh or Ashlee instead.
     In other cases, changes in the language create a difference in spelling over time. In the English language, letters have come and gone, albeit not many. Æ, Ð, Þ, Ƿ, and even & were all once letters of the English alphabet. (& was never actually used as a letter, though). When these letters phased out, many names had to be fixed to accommodate their removal. For example, the Old English name Ælfwine evolved with the language to become the more modern Alvin you'd expect to see in use today.
     That’s all good and dandy if the story in question takes place in the real world, but what about a story based on fantasy or in an alternate universe? That’s where it’s important to get creative. History, geography, culture, and much more can be important to flesh out while you put together a name for your character. Most importantly, decide on a convention for naming characters and stick to it. Plenty of stories opt to stick to the tried-and-true tradition of having a first name followed by a last name, sometimes with a middle name in between. But others are comfortable switching it up. Even in the real world, the first-and-last name convention hasn’t always been the norm. Many modern names are actually derived from occupations. Surnames like Smith, Miller, and Potter are direct indicators that someone deep down in their lineage worked as a smith, miller, or potter, respectively. This convention began to take hold when it became necessary to differentiate between people with the same given name, since people of that era generally only had one name.
     Perhaps you may wish to give your character a name directly reflecting their immediate lineage; their parents. Occasionally, in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Aragorn would refer to his dwarf companion as Gimli, son of Glóin, using a custom of naming that itself also had a similar real-world version in regions such as Scandinavia. For instance, the surname Larsen literally means “son of Lars”, which helps to explain the overwhelming prevalence of names ending in -son, -sen, and variants thereof. Of course, there’s also no misdeed in following in the footsteps of another writer. Tolkien has no more governance over the X, son of Y format than J.K. Rowling does over the First-Middle-Last format or than Ted Dekker has over the X of Y format. Other formats exist, of course, and maybe you’ll like to create your own format to give your story just that little bit of extra memorability.

Genre

     Oftentimes, naming a character based on the genre of their story doesn’t really matter a great deal. A character named Elliot Noble is just as likely to be in an action thriller as he is to be in a romantic comedy or even a futuristic fiction novel. Other times, it can be important. Perhaps you’re writing in a steampunk setting, where you might fancy naming your characters suitable names like Dorian Costley or Professor Lawrence Pierce II, but the same names would become a little jarring given to characters in a martial arts flick. The main character’s name can also be a good way to let your readers know what kind of story they’re about to read. Maybe they’ll see a character aptly dubbed Dolan the Conqueror and expect a story about a great Irish warlord.

Meaning

     Giving your character a name with a meaning relevant to their story can create a little extra depth. As a reader myself, I quite enjoy it when I decide a certain character’s name is worth my time to look up and learn that it may as well be the perfect name for that character, all things considered. Sometimes it adds a sense of destiny to your character. For example, Luke Skywalker from Star Wars took to this trend. The name Luke (short for Lucas (Latin) and Loukas (Greek), both referring to a man from the Italian region Lucania) means “Light”. Guess who’s the protagonist.
    But maybe you have a character with a much more rebellious nature. Someone like the main character from Death Note, whose name is straight up Light. While he is the protagonist of his story and while his intentions within the story probably weren’t evil, he essentially turned himself into the polar opposite of what his name would imply. In other cases, perhaps the character themself learned the real meaning of their name and, rebellious to the core, decided they would do everything in their power to make sure that meaning didn’t characterize them. It could end up becoming the driving plot of the story if you let it.
    You can also take the inverse of this. Say you’ve fleshed out your character already - given them a personality, detailed their biography to the finest detail, told us all about how they dress from day to day - but you’re simply stumped about what to name them. It could save you some trouble to just look up names that have a connection to something about them. They like wearing flowers in their hair? How about the name Rose? They like running? How about Tadita?
    Now this of course doesn’t mean you should reject a name you like simply on the basis of its meaning. If you like the way a name sounds and think it fits the character and setting, then by all means keep it. In real life, most name meanings don’t affect the person they’re assigned to. It could have no influence over the story at all, or maybe not at first, but one day you decide to look up the meaning and it gives you a new idea for this character. Or maybe you made up the name and it doesn’t have any meaning at all. That’s fine, too, although you don’t have to stop there with the name! Made-up names can have meanings behind them, too!

Spelling and Readability

    In media that involves reading - novels, visual novels, certain video games, etc. - the ability of a name to be easily readable to its reader without any kind of pronunciation guide is extremely important. Dishearteningly, a large number of unpublished but aspiring writers aren’t aware of the necessity of this rule. A stroll through any sizable fanfiction website can reveal that much. There are those who would take any run-of-the-mill name (like, say, Cameron) and change the spelling or rearrange letters to something that is unnecessarily complex (like Kamyren). Sometimes it works, but most of the time, it doesn’t. It is true that the English language (and many other languages, in fact) have some very odd and sometimes contradictory rules in terms of syntax, but as fun as it can be to evoke them in unexpected places, doing so in a name puts unnecessary strain on the audience and it’s likely not worth their effort to try and sound it out every time.
    Naturally, differences across languages may result in a name having multiple different spellings, some of them looking very odd to someone not native to the area. For example, Kyösti is somehow the Finnish form of Gustav. If you have a character from Finland or if your story takes place there, it might slide a little easier, but even then some readers might have a hard time getting the name right.
    On a similar note, there are names that seemingly weren’t even thought up with a pronunciation and perhaps look like a mixed salad of random letters all haphazardly strung together. Interestingly, there are names in popular media that have gotten away with this, but there’s a reason for that. Cthulhu, the borderline unpronounceable name H.P. Lovecraft gave to the titular cosmic entity in The Call of Cthulhu, got away with it because it fits the theme of an eldritch abomination from an alien realm. Mr. Mxyzptlk from the Superman comics got away with it because that’s supposedly what names are like in the 5th Dimension. These are rare occasions, however, and it most likely wouldn’t be the greatest idea to attempt to follow in their footsteps.
    You may ask if this rule applies to alien characters or talking animals who would have native tongues much different from any we humans have yet come up with, and the answer is yes. While it may prove difficult to settle upon a satisfying name that is both legible and sufficiently outlandish that it sets itself apart from human names, it is not impossible. If a character absolutely must have a name that defies readability, you can also evoke the power of a nickname and use that as often as you can, even over the original name. In The Chronicles of Narnia, specifically book three (The Horse and His Boy), the horse we know as Bree was first introduced with quite difficult name for a human to pronounce and then the full name was never used again. It’s safe to say that nickname worked wonders for the novel.

Originality

    Most authors name their characters based on what they’re familiar with. Names like Jack or Benjamin fill the realm of storytelling. This is obviously not a bad thing, of course. Having a common name doesn’t take any depth away from a character. It can in fact serve to make your character more believable or less of a distraction from the story. If it takes place in modern-day America and you want a character named John Mann, more power to you! The only things to consider in this instance is who in the real world might share that name and how many characters from others stories might share the same first name. That first one is important because using a real person’s name letter for letter can cause problems for you later. Some might find it flattering or simply an amusing coincidence that their name showed up in their favorite book, but there have been lots of cases where things like that are taken as a direct attack, whether it really was or not. If you like a name, but it has already been taken by one of those real-world types, a smart thing to do might be to find alternate spellings or similar-sounding names and use those instead.
    Legal issues aside, another thing to consider is how a group of characters might have notable names. Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are all common names and basically without any connotations on their own, but together have become iconic in the eyes of any Chronicles of Narnia enthusiast. You could also try out combinations of names and surnames that go well together. Undeniably, Harry is quite common and Potter often will look like just another name, but together, they’ll instantly evoke the main character of J.K. Rowling’s chart-topping bestseller.
    But maybe complete originality is your goal. A character with a common name isn’t bad, but a character with a unique, memorable name tailored just for your novel can take it all to another level. As long as it’s done right. Medieval names are fascinating enough to draw in readers and fantasy stories almost exclusively rely on them or variants of them. Most of them are actually pretty great. I’m quite fond of Rowan, myself. J.R.R. Tolkien took already-existing names for some characters (like Bill the Horse or Gandalf, the latter of which was actually taken from old Norse poetry) and made completely new names for others (namely Frodo Baggins, Aragorn, and a huge amount of other prominent characters). It worked out quite well.
    Once again, it’s really important to develop a theme for naming your characters. A consistent and well-thought-out story is a good story, so two characters from the same family with the names Bob Jones and Count Usal the Thunderer, third son of Thrane would really disrupt the flow of the narrative. As mentioned above, it’s not necessary to use the standard First-Middle-Last format, but it’s important for all the names to sound like they come from the same place.