“A name can’t begin to encompass the sum of all her parts. But that’s the magic of names, isn’t it? That the complex, contradictory individuals we are can be called up complete and whole in another mind through the simple sorcery of a name.” ―
I’m working on a new book. That means I’m having to come up with names for everybody who steps onto a page. Well, if they are more than the shopkeeper or the girl scout who sells my character some cookies. Actually no girl scouts in this book and so far no unnamed shopkeepers either. But each time my character meets a new person, then a name has to come into play. And not simply for people she or he meets, but for the animals too. We do like to name our animals. Sometimes even our cars or trucks.
We like names. That’s usually the file heading in our bank of memories about a person we know or a character in a movie or a book. Of course, sometimes we call them “what’s-his-name.” Then we are busy coming up with that name of whoever has suddenly lost his or her label in our memory bank. That’s usually simply temporary. The name will come to us. If not right away, then hours down the road the right name will suddenly pop up out of nowhere. It was there all the time. Our retrieval mechanism is what was slow.
Writers have to come up with dozens of names in every novel they write. So when you look at the bookshelf above of my more recent books, you can imagine the scads of names in them. I try not to repeat the names I’ve used to major characters, but I’ve come close a few times. The main character in Words Spoken True was Adriane. Jocie’s mother in the Heart of Hollyhill books was Adrienne, and then I had Adria in River to Redemption. I perhaps should have rethought Jocie’s mother’s name but she’s not a character on stage too often in the stories and is sometimes referred to as DeeDee when she is. The name Adria was so perfect for my character in River to Redemption that I wouldn’t have wanted to rethink that one. The good thing about those three characters is that they are nothing alike so I don’t think readers would ever mix them up even if they did read the books close together.
I enjoy coming up with names that fit my characters. I know I’ve written about naming characters here before, but it’s been a while. I thought you might be interested in seeing one of my character list sheets that I keep for a book while I’m writing. So here’s a portion of my working list for the characters in my recent Appalachian book, These Healing Hills. First I name my main characters. I usually have at least two viewpoint characters. They are the ones I want to give perfect names.
I did struggle with finding the right name for Francine and changed it two or three times. I even started writing the book with her named Maddie, but it simply didn’t work. Finally Francine, shortened to Fran at times, was a name my character could accept. Then as I wrote about her, I had to come up with family names too. Those family names were even more important for my male main character, Ben. The Ben Locke name came easy. I wanted a name that would sound strong and very Kentuckian. I didn’t change his name. His family played a bigger part in the story than Francine’s family. So they had to have the right names. I thought Ruthena for his mother had the hint of an old fashioned mountain name. Woody was a little uncomfortable with his name for a while, but then it too fit him and his personality as a “jabber jay.”
Main Characters of These Healing Hills
Francine (Fran) Howard – Birthday April 2, 1923 – now 23 – changed from Madeline (Maddie)
Dog – Sarge
Father – Jim Howard
Mother – Charlotte Buxton
Stepfather – Harold Buxton
Benjamin (Ben) Locke – Birthday March 22, 1921 – now 24
Mother – Ruthena – 45
Older Sister – Ruthie – moved to Ohio to work in the factories during the war and married somebody there – 22
Sister – Becca – 18 (Rebecca Jane) (Husband Carl Hayden)
Younger brother – Woodrow (Woody) –15 (Birthday June 1, 1930) named for his father, Woodrow, who died the year before Ben comes home from the war
Sister – Sadie (5) Birthday June 7, 1940
In many of my books, I have animals who play a part in the stories. I had cats in my Hidden Springs Mysteries, and my characters have had plenty of dogs along the way. Most of the times, the dogs weren’t major characters, but in a few of the stories the dogs did matter. As you can see, Sarge, Francine’s dog, got a spot right there in the list of her family characters. Then in The Innocent, Carlyn’s dog, Asher, played an important part in the story. To name Asher I asked for help from Facebook friends and got so many suggestions. Asher, I think, was mentioned by someone. It’s actually a Bible name which made the name even better. The Bible is a great resource for names for characters and one I’ve used often.
Some of the animals named in These Healing Hills came straight out of my research of the Frontier Nursing Service. Mary Breckinridge, who founded the midwifery service in Leslie County, Kentucky, believed in giving all her animals names. She even named their jeeps and that beech tree. I had to find a way to work that into my story.
Animals & etc. names
Brother Lawrence – Mrs. Breckinridge’s name for a beech tree (actual)
Pinafore – Horse (actual)
Gretchen – milk cow at Wendover
Bella – Cow at the Red Bird Center
Jasmine (changed from Annie/Addie) – Fran’s horse
Moses – Betty’s horse
Clara Jane and Diamond Lil – Jeep names
Rufus – Coonhound
Priscilla – Sadie’s doll
Bruiser – Woody’s pup
Buttons – Sadie’s pup
So now I’m keeping a new list for the book I’m working on now. I have a mule named Ebenezer, a cat named Prissy, and a horse named Shadrach. But I’ll need more names as I go along. In fact, it could be I’ll need a name for a mountain dog before I’m through. So what would you name a pup that one of my characters might find lost along the mountain trail? He’d be part hound, part who knows what. He’d have long floppy ears and a happy puppy personality. I don’t know what color he might be. So if you suggest a name, you can suggest a color too. Then if my character does stumble across a pup, I’ll have a name at ready.
The following quote from Terry Pratchett made me smile and think of the name of my young girl character, Leatrice, in The Refuge.
“Letitia! What a name. Halfway between a salad and a sneeze.” ―
So what do you think about the names in the books you read? Do the authors get them right or do you sometimes think they don’t fit?
Oh, and what name do you suggest for that poor little pup abandoned in the woods?
Leave a comment and I’ll throw your name in my drawing hat for winner’s choice of one of my books. As always, you have to be at least 18 years old to enter and the deadline to enter is midnight EST February 18th. We’ll do this one fast. I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday. U.S. mailing addresses only for print books, but if you want to enter from a different country and you win, I’ll be glad to send you an e-book.
Thanks for reading, and Happy Valentine’s Day. Guess I should have written about love instead of names.
Comments 66
Names are so important in books, as well as life. I love to “meet”new characters and see what their names will be.
Before I come up with a lost little puppy name I have to tell you a story. We came home from the Smokey Mountains in October and apparently someone had dropped off a rooster here.He was afraid of our rooster so he wouldn’t come into the coop at first and he would roost in the tree.Finally one night (after it was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere and we couldn’t find owner)my husband and I moved him into the chicken coop .He now sleeps there but in the daytime stands at my patio door and crows at us. He likes people better than his own kind.I named him Troubadour because the name just seems to fit.
Now for the lost little puppy, I think he needs to be mostly brown and white with a few patches of black, a plain country dog. His name should be Skippy because he skills around all over the place and is rarely still. Now I think I will go read the other comments to see if I like the name I chose or one of theirs better!
Have a good week Ann !
Skips* not skills
Author
Skippy is a good name for a pup, Lisa. And I like your description of him as a plain country dog. A mixture of colors.
Fun story about the rooster than found a home at your door. Troubadour is a great name for a rooster that seems to have done some traveling around. Thank you for sharing your fun story about him.
Jubal, Boomer, John Henry, Scott (means “Wanderer” in Scottish)
Author
Jubal is an interesting name, Elizabeth. I can see that name for a mountain dog. I think I let a pup be named Boomer in These Healing Hills. Buttons and Boomer. Thanks for all the great suggestions.
The name that comes to mind is Rusty. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Author
First repeat of a name, Lucy. Rusty is a good name for a pup, I think. Hope you’re having a sweet Valentine’s weekend.
This is so interesting as I rarely think of the names in a book unless it is unusual like Jessamine. I guess I am more interested in the story, the meaning of events, and the way words are put together, especially if it particularly beautiful. Well naming pets is like naming stars. There are so many of them. Both pets and names! I found a red dog once so he became Red. A brown mixed hound dog became Buppa. A found black one became CoCo although Queenie was a contender. Then two dogs I paid money for got a different approach to naming. I wanted to speak what I wished their personality to be like on them. So I looked up the word friendly in different languages and Arabic was Anissa. Her brother I wanted to be peaceful and he became Yanni which is Aboriginal for peace. He was just that and my heart dog. Anissa was friendly.
So naming this floppy ear dog if one was of German immigration might be Ohren for ears. Froh is happy.
Best wishes on the naming. I think it is fun looking at words of other languages.
Author
Hmm, interesting that you mention the unusual name of Jessamine. I did want her to have a different name when I was thinking about Jessamine for The Gifted. I considered Jasmine, which isn’t quite as unusual, but Jessamine was the flower in the garden where her parents fell in love.
I like your approach to naming your dogs, Karen. I like Yanni for a dog name. That might have been what I should have named Frankie. 🙂 I also like Queenie for a dog.
I think “SAMSON” would be a great name for your mountain dog. I love that you include animals in your books as I love them. I just finished your book, Scent of Lilacs. As usual it was an awesome book and really enjoyed it. God bless you with your writing which I know he will as he has given you this marvelous talent.
Author
I’m so glad you enjoyed going down story road with my character, Jocie, and her family and friends in Hollyhill. She’s got two more stories, Orchard of Hope and Summer of Joy, in case you want to find out what happens next in Hollyhill.
Interesting that you picked the name Samson. I first went with Samson for the cat in my book, but have since changed the cat to a female and its name to Prissy. We’ll see if that lasts. Glad you like animals in the stories you read. Jocie had Zebedee. That was a good name for her dog.
Growing up we had a collie named Tippy. Later there was Laddie, another collie. After that there was a cocker spaniel mix we named Trixie. They were all good dogs out in the country where we lived and we loved them all. When I think of finding a long-eared brown, black & white pup abandoned in the mountain woods, even before I hear it’s pitiful little bark, I want to name it Wolf. And who knows, this little pup just might grow up to be a great guard dog, a protector of its family who took it in. Looking forward to your new book currently under construction and the dog you have in the story. Animals always make a good story more interesting.
Author
I like being able to work a dog or some other animal, maybe a cat, into my stories, Maria. I already have a cat in the one I’m working on now. She’s a crochety old cat to match her crochety old owner. LOL. The pup, if I do find him along a trail, will be much nicer. Wolf is a good name. My sister had a German Shepherd named Wolf once. He was a great dog.
Enjoyed this post ! We name a lot of of things here on the farm …our home , koi fish, vehicles, goats and of course our faithful dogs. I think LUCKY is a fitting name for a lost dog who is found and given a loving home.This is the the name we called our best friend …we were lucky and blessed to have found each other. He is missed every day by all who knew him. My KY grandpa had a foxhound named HOOPY JOHN , and a pair of Beagles called SKIPPER and TINY. Looking forward to your new book !
Author
Fun names, Nancy. Your grandfather’s Hoopy John makes me smile. Lucky is a good name for a rescued puppy. We had a horse named Skipper once. We named him that because some called my husband Skipper when he was a little kid. And my brother-in-law when he was a teenager had a beagle named Tiny. She was under sized but he loved that little dog.
We used to name our cows when I was a kid, but that was because some of them were raised on a bottle. So glad you enjoyed the post and I hope you will enjoy An Appalachian Summer when it comes out this summer.
I find names help me visualize the characters. For a floppy-eared dog, I picture him/her as a basset hound regardless of what else might be mixed in. That would mean the dog would be colored brown or a combination of brown and black. For a male dog, I might name him Brownie, Gus, or Fred. For a female dog, I might name her Brownie or Flopsy. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Author
Fun names, Suzanne. Brownie is a dog name for sure or a horse name. We once had a mare named Brownie.
I do think certain names bring up certain images of characters. Such as Mrs. Higgenbotham. Trouble with long names like that, it’s a lot of typing every time you have to put in their names. Hmm, maybe I’ll name some characters Sue or Joe. LOL.
I think most authors choose good names for their characters. Whenever I think of a dog in the mountains, Old Blue pops in my mind.
Author
Old Blue is a great name for a mountain hound, Connie. I guess for a pup it would have to start out just Blue. 🙂 When I was a kid, we had a dog named Blue.
How fun!
I think your pup in the woods should be a rust colored mutt named Rusty.
Author
A rust colored mutt named Rusty does sound fun, Erin.
How fun it is to read these details! I love naming animals, and whenever my family adds pets, they usually ask me what I think.
My pup, Ollie was found on a little country road, dumped off near my son’s farm. When I brought him home with me, I was thinking I’d name him Toby. But when he slid off the backseat on the ride home, I heard myself asking, “are you ok back there Ollie?” I have no idea why that popped out, but the name fit perfectly. Ollie is now a neighborhood pooch, making his rounds daily, guarding “his” lake. He’d be pleased to find himself in a story, but alas…his ears are not droopy. They stand straight up, hearing every tiny sound in a 5 mile radius. But…Toby still sounds like a good name for a pup found in the woods.
Happy writing, Ann! Thanks for letting your readers submit name choices. 🙂
Author
I think I’ve told you the story behind my very first dog being named Ollie. I named him after the man who brought me the pup. He wasn’t nearly as honored as I thought he should be, but I was so happy to have a pup of my own. Ollie is a good name for a dog and sounds as if Ollie was sending you dog thought messages for his name. I always enjoy hearing about your Ollie who has charmed your whole neighborhood.
And I don’t yet know what this pup lost in the mountains is going to look like. Floppy ears sound good but pointy ears might show up instead. We shall see when the pup decided to make an appearance in the story. 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed reading about how I keep track of the names in my stories.
I like all the names that have been mentioned. Consider naming the dog Abe if it’s male, and Abby if it’s female. I see a fluffy/fuzzy brown and black puppy in need of an owner.
Names are important. If they are unfamiliar and difficult to pronounce, they become a stumbling block or distraction. Names of characters in stories that take place in other countries sometimes can be a challenge. If all else fails, I give them a name that starts like the unfamiliar name and go with it. We as readers can be drawn to a character if the name is one we like or if it reminds us of a person or animal we like. Likewise, the opposite can happen.
❤️Valentine’s Day blessings!❤️
I do the same when I come across a name that I’m not sure how to pronounce! Hmmm! Interesting! 😊
Author
You’re so right, Becky, that what we think about a name is influenced by whether we have known a person by that name. I might not name a character a name if I knew someone with that name who left bad memories. But then again, I have to name unsavory characters at times too. LOL.
My preacher said he had a Sunday school teacher who told her students to do your trick with the difficult Bible names. Just call them Bill or Frank and keep on with the Scripture reading. 🙂 I do think we can be pulled out of the story by a name that is hard for us to process while we’re reading.
I’m guessing there might be a reason you, Karen, and you, Becky, sometimes think alike. Hmm.
You think??? Hmmm
Great idea from the S S teacher! 😊
Monty immediately came to my mind before I finished reading your newsletter. Tan, brown or dark brown. Naming all your characters seems like a monumental task! However, they all seem to fit. When reading a novel my pet peeve is to come across a name that I have no idea how to pronounce and that invariably slows me down. 😕 Doesn’t happen too often……..😊
Happy Valentine’s Day!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Author
I am usually okay with most of the books I read with those interesting names, Karen, but if you head out into fantasy fiction such as Harry Potter type books then the names sometimes look like a scramble of letters that tend to have too many z’s, lol. I understand why the names are that way, but when I can’t think of how to pronounce them, I tend to skip over them. Then I forget who is who. I sometimes throw in an unusual name in my books like Carlyn or Jessamine, but I can’t remember using one I didn’t think a person could pronounce whether it was how I heard it in my head that way or not. Jocie is one that many readers wonder how to say. Some will spell her name Josie which is how I imagine it sounding. But since it’s her nickname from Jocelyn, I can see why some might think it should sound a different way.
Tan or brown sound right for a mountain dog.
To my knowledge I’ve not had a problem pronouncing any names in your books. I’m probably one of those that spelled Jocie with an “s”. 😊 She is one of those characters I’ll never forget—still miss her! Harry Potter books are not on my list of reads. The ones most often that give me problems are historical novels or ones set in a foreign country. I was able to buy a second book of yours with my winning card—The Innocent. I thought I had read them all in that series but I missed that one. Thank you!!! 😊
How about Clancy for the dog? could be some Irish or Scottish background in the characters. I am reading the Refuge right now, love it!
Author
Clancy is another great name, Sally. I may have to come up with a dozen pups. Thank you so much for reading my book, The Refuge. I’m glad you are enjoying Darcie’s story.
I think names are so very important. I am always interested in the characters names.
For the pup in the woods…Tadpole! (Tad for short.)
Author
That would be an interesting name, Melanie. Tad sound very mountain. And I love names too. Sometimes when I am at author events and somebody has a different name, I’ll ask them where they got their name. Sometimes they know. Sometimes they don’t. And I should write those stories down so I don’t forget them.
Hi Ann, for some reason I am picturing a floppy eared puppy named Clyde. Not sure why, it just popped into my head! I had written to you a while back about our cat Henry picking his own name by meowing at it when I was naming off different ones to give him. Maybe the perfect name will come to you as you are writing about your new puppy character…maybe he will bark at you in your head, when you hit on the perfect name! 🙂
Author
A floppy eared pup sound very cute and Clyde would be a great name for a mountain dog. I’ll have to wait and see if that pup does show up on the side of one of my mountain trails and that if he does, if he whines or barks to let me know the perfect name. I should have tried that with Frankie. Maybe I should have named him James or George. That might have made him a calmer, more serious minded dog. LOL. No, I had to pick Frankie and that sounds like a name for a dog ready to have some fun.
How about “Gulliver” for the puppy. I’m sure he’ll enjoy great adventures.
Author
Gulliver might be good, Betty, except I actually named a cat in my book River to Redemption Gulliver. And I named the cat that because it did go off on adventures on occasion just like the tomcats we had when I was a kid.
We had a beagle named Buster.
Baxter would be a blue tick.
Author
We had a collie/shepherd mix we named Buster, Paula. He was a great dog. A blue tick hound would fit well in a mountain story.
Hi Ann, My family loves nicknames, esp. my Dad. We all had nicknames growing up with my 4 brothers. No girls. Although I now have 3 grandaughters and 1 grandson. (My newest granddaughter, #3 , will be here Monday). She will be born in Frankfort Ky. And No, they do not have a name picked out for her yet!! So I have been thinking a lot about names lately.
My favorite names for dogs are Lucky and Halle, the sweetest chocolate lab, the best dog we have ever had!
Author
Congratulations on the new granddaughter coming your way, Janice. How exciting! And in these days when parents often know the sex of their child long before the birth, it’s somewhat unusual for a name not to have already been picked out. But maybe they think they will get a better name once they are holding their sweet baby in their arms. I can remember the fun of thinking up names for my babies before they were born. Of course, we had to think of both boy and girl names, and often names my husband liked, I didn’t and vice versa. But all three kids got names.
I like the dog names you suggest. Oscar was my best dog ever, but I’ve had several that were second best.
Thanks for sharing a fun yet detailed part of your writing process,Ann! That would be a fun challenge to come up with names for characters, including the animals that appear in your books! Since the dog in your newest story is going to be redeemed from the mountains, could you name him Boaz? Here’s some information about the meaning of the name, Boaz: https://www.behindthename.com/bb/fact/25748 Just a suggestion,Ann,no pressure. I’m sure the name you pick for your dog in your new story will be perfect! 😉
Author
Boaz is a great name, Emily. One I could use for a man in the mountains too. I like knowing the meaning of names and often use a baby name book to browse through names and read the meanings to see if those names will work for my characters. Or in some cases, my dogs and cats. LOL. Since I haven’t met my dog along that path in the story yet and I’m not sure I will, I don’t know what the pup’s name will be. But I enjoy reading everybody’s suggestions.