Name Game Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to the name game quiz from a couple of weeks ago.

If you want to take the quiz before you read the answers, check out the original post HERE.

Shirtless Nathan Fillion: Cynical ploy for more hits, or Mrrrrrrrowwww: You be the judge.

1. Popeye Doyle: movie The French Connection (Gene Hackman).

2. Travis Bickle: movie Taxi Driver (Robert DeNiro).

3. Sarafina Pekkala: book series His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman).

4. Elinor Dashwood: book and movie Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen).

5. Zaphod Beeblebrox: book, TV show and movie Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

6. Angus Thermopyle: book series The Gap Cycle (Stephen R. Donaldson).

7. George Bailey: movie It's a Wonderful Life (Jimmy Stewart).

8. Malcom Reynolds: television show Firefly (Nathan Fillion).

9. Mad Sweeny: book (and soon to be TV series) American Gods (Neil Gaiman).

10. Salacious B. Crumb: movie Return of the Jedi (Jabba's little ratty puppet friend).

11. Atticus Finch: book and movie To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee).

12. Corky St. Clair: movie Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest).

13. Raleigh St. Clair: movie The Royal Tenenbaums (Bill Murray).

14. Jerry Lundegaard: movie Fargo (William H. Macy).

15. Inigo Montoya : book and movie The Princess Bride (Mandy Patinkin).

16. Holly Golightly: book and movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (Audrey Hepburn).

17. Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced "Fungy Fipps"): several Jeeves and Wooster books and television episodes (P.G. Wodehouse).

18. Brian Crookshanks: movie Charade (Cary Grant).

19. Archie Leach (this is a famous person's real name and a character name): Cary Grant's real name, and John Cleese's character's name in A Fish Called Wanda.

20. Charlotte Haze: book and movie(s) Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov).

The Name Game

Names are fun.

- end post -

Heh.

No, but really now. The great fun in naming your characters is that you can chose a suitable name for a fully-formed adult. In real life, Eugene Schwab may grow up to be an Ultimate Fighter, and Rock Hardshanks may end up an actuary. Although, come to think of it, that's pretty unlikely. There's a certain amount of manifest destiny in a name, I think.

I remember an episode of Airwolf (yeah, you heard me right) - where the main character, Stringfellow Hawke, (*snort*) is talking about how pretty girls always have pretty girl names. Wait. That doesn't sound like ol' Stringy. On second thought, it was probably Riptide. (I get those 80's helicopter-centric action shows mixed up.) Anyway, his point is proven again and again throughout the episode when every gorgeous girl they meet is a Vanessa or a Gabrielle, and every plain Jane is... well, just that. The reason why this sticks in my mind is that one of the beautiful woman they meet is named, you guessed it, "Claudia."

I'm a Claudia, and I love my name. It's quite rare in the U.S., rare enough that it was a bit torturesome to wield it as a child, but well worth it in the end - so thanks Mom and Dad!

We as authors have less responsibility to our characters in naming them, which is deliiiicious. We can call a guy, oh, say, Severus Snape: a horribly cruel appellation for a child, but a fantastic name for a morally ambiguous wizard.

J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter and the aforementioned Snape, is a genius with names, although sometimes she can get a little too literal. This is fine, and even humorous when she's dealing with minor characters like Professor Sprout (Herbology teacher) or Adalbert Waffling (author of "Magical Theory"), but when it comes to a major character like Remus Lupin, the literalness of his name not only defies logic, it's also a spoiler. And speaking of which.... SPOILER ALERT, (but not really if you've ever taken Latin or studied mythology), Remus Lupin is a werewolf. But he wasn't born a werewolf, he was bitten as a child. How bizarre that he was given a name that pretty much translates as "Wolf Child McWolferstien Van Wolfysnout," and THEN LATER was turned into a werewolf! Quelle Coincidence! But I get it, Rowling's being sly, and I forgive her, because she's Queen Awesome, and also came up with the names Cornelius Fudge, Belletrix LeStrange and Neville Longbottom.

someone aged well

So then, here are some of my favorite names. Let's make this a game, shall we? I'll give the name, you provide the book, movie, or T.V. show from whence the character hails. Some of these will be easy peasy. For obvious reasons, I've left out names that are also titles. (Indiana Jones, Austin Powers, Sweeny Todd...)

No interwebs, please. Answer in comments below!

1. Popeye Doyle

2. Travis Bickle

3. Sarafina Pekkala

4. Elinor Dashwood

5. Zaphod Beeblebrox

6. Angus Thermopyle

7. George Bailey

8. Malcom Reynolds

9. Mad Sweeny

10. Salacious B. Crumb

11. Atticus Finch

12. Corky St. Clair

13. Raleigh St. Clair

14. Jerry Lundegaard

15. Inigo Montoya

16. Holly Golightly

17. Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced "Fungy Fipps")

18. Brian Crookshanks

19. Archie Leach (this is a famous person's real name and a character name)

20. Charlotte Haze

If you want to guess without reading other people's guesses, post below before you read others' comments!

And what are your favorite character names?

Name that Character - or rather, your character

Natural Build

Hackwar Smof Swunnset

Darth Competent

Chuck Banger

Harry Potter

Rinkashime Chikukachiari

Baraqijal

These are all my names.

Really.

At least thanks to the Internet and the magic of random (or semi-random) name generators. The above are my Jersey Shore, Fantasy, Sith, Porn Star, Harry Potter character (score!), ninja and fallen angel name(s) (Baraqijal is the angel who taught astrology).

Our friends at #Reverb10 asked the question, “If I could walk into a room of strangers and introduce myself for the first time with a fake name, what name would I choose?” Not really sure. I suppose Darth Competent would work. I’m guessing he is the scariest but most organized of the Sith. If I were still a single man, Chuck Banger would have a certain appeal to the ladies. Ladies? Where did they all go? Anyway….

So what about Character names? Does it matter what you name your characters? How should you go about naming your characters in your story?

Here is a pretty good link on the subject that is pretty comprehensive:

http://www.babynames.com/character-names.php

Here are some character names from my book BLACKHEART, and why I chose that name and/or what they mean.

Clayton Jaeger: My human main character. He’s a detective and he is also suffering from illness and the loss of his only daughter. In Chapter 1, the character he has come to arrest, Blackheart, comments on his name, “Take dust and water mix ‘em together you get Clay—the same mud God made man out of.” I consider Clay to be the common man, hopefully the most relatable character in my novel for most readers. Jaeger, his last name, means “huntsman”—which I think is appropriate for a detective.

Blackheart: AKA Carl Black, AKA Cyex, is the violent protagonist and antihero of my novel, titled for the same. Terribly scarred and at war with literal demons, Blackheart is like his name suggests dark—in many ways to his core. Discovering his true motives and nature (his heart) are one of the things that I hope will keep people reading.

Noel August: Is a psychic teenager who talks with angels. She spends a lot of time in the company of Blackheart and demons. I wanted a name that would stand for her purity and brightness. Noel is literally the masculine form of the word “Christmas” (French). In English speaking countries it is sometimes used as a female name. “August” is a reminder of summer (the book is set in a winter blizzard.)

Marauder: Nemesis of Blackheart. He’s been around for a long, long time. Marauder is the current name he goes by, but he’s also been known by Af, Pahadrone, Rabdos, Apep and many others (all references to other times, places and bad things he’s done). The name Marauder means “Plunderer” or “Attacker.”

A couple mentions for awesome character names from my fellow Scribblerati writers (and there may be more, these are ones I like that come to mind as I’m writing this): Claudia’s time travelling character Ursula Evermore; Lisa’s nature-steeped main character: Beryl Kodiak. Very fitting names. Read their books and find out!

So what are some sources for finding good character names?

A few I have used:

q Sit through credits at the end of any movie and jot down names. There are some awesome names out there in real life. Mix and match first and last names as needed.

q Books on Naming: I have 3 books on my writing desk that are full of names. The best is the “Writer’s Digest Character-Naming Sourcebook.” It lists thousands of names from many languages with definitions. I also have a baby naming book and a pet-naming book. All of these have come in handy when trying to name fictional characters.

q The Internet. Duh. J I’ve included some links (there are probably thousands of other related links) that will help you either find or generate names.

Random Name Generator from US Census

http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm

French Male Name Generator

http://nine.frenchboys.net/randboy.php

Harry Potter Name http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/406/

Angel/Demon Name generator:

http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=adname

A Plethora of Fantasy Names. Yeah. A plethora.

http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/fantasylinks.htm

This post is dedicated to my friends with the best names ever: Syshwinsnyx Mollieux and Wyoho Cheelaburb. You know who you are.

Happy New Year!