Mar 24 2009
Writing Tip: Get Thee to a Baby Name Book
Looking for the perfect name for your character? Stuck for inspiration? Desirous to add depth to the culture or themes of your story? Consider curling up with a baby name book.
Just as every writer should have a good dictionary and thesaurus to hand, so I believe every fiction writer needs a good baby name book. I have used mine (this one) to name characters I already had, invent characters I hadn’t thought of, and even get new story ideas. Names are a vast depository of treasures just waiting to be mined.
A random opening of the Big Book of Baby Names & Announcements yields fascinating information and lots of potential stories. Did you know that Vesta means “Guardian of the sacred fire” or that Vivian was “imprisoned by Merlin in King Arthur Legend”? I flip to the Ns and find that Nissa means “Friendly Elf,” Nitara is Hindi for “Deeply rooted,” Nika is Russian for “Belonging to God,” and Nova, a Hopi name, has the elusive meaning of “Chasing.”
In the section for male names, I found the name of one of the O’Roarke boys in Burning Light–Kieran, which means “Little and dark-skinned” in Gaelic. I can discover things about other Seventh World characters here, too: Jerome is a “Holy name,” Nicolas means “Victory of the people,” and Michael proclaims “Who is like the Lord?”
If you don’t have one of these treasuries on your shelf, I highly recommend picking one up. Look for one that includes names from many cultures and languages and gives some background information about them. In the meantime, check out BehindtheName.com, one of my favourite Web sites, which goes into name etymology and meaning.
I love looking through the Baby Name book! I also like to list names of certain origins. For example, I’ll write, “Welsh Names,” at the top of my notebook page, and then find every name I can of Welsh origin. It’s a lot of fun!
Another Elisabeth – Elisabeth F. this time. :) What a coincidence you should write about this! My mom and I were talking about it just last night. We were talking about how my parents chose names for me and my younger siblings, then about names in general, and then I went and got out my binder with pages of names for stories in it to show her. A long time ago I made a habit of writing down character names in lists of all sorts, so I wouldn’t forget them or the stories they came from. Now I have them organized in alpabetical columns in my binder. A good comprehensive baby name book sounds like a good investment! I’ve been having a little bit of trouble coming up with new names recently.
Names! I do love a good name. Did you know that the ancient Hebrews belived that a name was more than a specific you-come-here? Rather it was a challenge, something to live up to. So someone named Elisabeth which means something like “My God is an oath” or “My God is abundance” would be expected to show that in their life. That is, to show how God keeps His promises and offers abundance to us. Cool isn’t it!
When I pick names for my characters, I often start with the meaning and then find a name that I like from there. Behindthename.com is really good for that. And, oddly enough, the “Council of Elrond” website has a section where you can look up your name in Elvish or Rohirric which also includes a brief history of the origin and meaning of the name so you can see how they came up with it.
I like this piece of advice! It’s true. Years ago, I started making lists of names – when I found a good one in a book, I’d add it to my list and then, when I had a story set in the same era as the book where I found such-and-such-a-name, I’d give it to a hero or heroine. THEN I found the baby name book my parents bought before I was born. It was – and continues to be – amazing! When I need a name for a character, I get out the baby name book and look one up. Sometimes I’m looking for a name from a certain era, sometimes I’m looking for a name with a certain meaning and sometimes I’m looking for a name that begins with a certain letter. The baby name book always comes up trumps!
What I love it when I find a name I like – and lo and behold! Within ten minutes I have a character and a plot! Fun! :)
I love my baby name book! I always used it to get name ideas and I was distraught when I lost it! I use the “boys” section alot for last names. Thanks for the great blog! It’s a great encouragement to aspiring writers!
[...] Rachel Starr Thomson » Writing Tip: Get Thee to a Baby Name Book [...]
Alexandra, you’re welcome! I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Please feel free to comment as often as you like!
Leigh, that’s awesome. Someone pointed out to me recently that “Elijah” means “The LORD is God,” so every time Elijah faced down the pagan priests or showed up in Ahab’s idolatrous court, even his NAME declared the truth.
Elis(z)abeths — you are such a cool bunch. Thanks for blessing my blog with your creativity and input!
Thank you so much! I’m always on the search for creative names!