What's In A Name (Patricia Potter)

Several months ago, I asked members in this community what they would like discussed. One reader asked about names and how we came up with them.

I was reminded of that as I was writing a proposal for a new book and was trying to find the best names for my next generation of characters.

It was easy in the beginning of my writing career. We all have names that immediately bring images to mind. In my western heroes, it was always strength. Short, stark names like Matt (though I think psychologically that came from my long, devoted association with Matt Dillon).

So my western heroes included Rafe, Rhys (an Englishman who tried to steal an earlier book and got his own), Wade, Ben, Clint, Sean and Ben.

Sometimes the name strikes me at the same time as a story line. One was MacKenzie. I knew from the very first inkling of the story line what his name would be. Couldn’t be anything else. MacKenzie was the half-breed son of a hermit Scotsman who loved Robert Burns.

He was an ruthless Army scout accused of killing a sergeant. In escaping army custody, he kidnapped the general’s daughter. Her name also came easily. She was thoughtful and kind, the exact opposite of the brooding, defensive Mackenzie. What else but April? Reawakening. Soft. Gentle.

He, of course, was just plain MacKenzie until the last two pages when we discovered he was actually Burns MacKenzie, named after the Scottish poet. It made a great ending, the unveiling of a vital part of his being.

Probably my favorite western hero was named Lobo, an illiterate Apache-raised gun for hire. Again the name came with the story. From the moment he was born in my mind, he was Lobo. Despised by Indians and whites alike.

His heroine too needed a name that described her. Willow was a school teacher well versed in the classics who got her job by submitting an application as W. George Taylor and who continually shocked her town. first by being a woman, then by taking in a collection of misfits. A willow, her schoolmaster father always said, is strong because it bends with the wind but never breaks. That's Willow.

So basically I try to find a name that fits the character. If she’s a strong tomboy type, I lean toward a name that can be shortened to a nickname: Samantha (Sam); Catalina (Cat). If she's a softer heroine, I use names like Sara.

In “Notorious,” my heroine was an ex-prostitute who ran a saloon and was hard as nails. She took on the name of Catalina, but everyone shortened it to Cat. It suited her well. She had sharp claws. And she was the perfect match for Marsh Canton, a cynical gambler who had hard-earned claws of his own.

Scottish names are fun and easy. I love Scottish names, mainly because I love all things Scottish. They’re just plain fun. Alex or Alexander is probably my favorite. Strong and commanding (think Alexander the Great). But I’m also a sucker for Patrick and Lachlan and Ian and Rory. I get most of my Scottish names from the histories of the Clans. Women’s names in Scotland are always soft-sounding. Elspeth. Felicia. Mary.

There’s more leeway, of course, in modern books, and I own four different baby name books. After fifty books, I do run out of names, and I retreat to those books. One in particular is invaluable because the names are sorted by country of origin. Need a Norwegian name? It’s there. Or a Russian one? Yep, it’s there.

But still it’s a matter of finding exactly the right moniker for the character.
In my current work in progress, my heroine nearly died as a newborn. Her mother found Kira in a baby book. It meant “light” in Latin, and to Kira’s mother her child was a special light. She is that in the book as well.

The hero came from the streets. He was abandoned and he hated the name he’d been given by a foster family. He had ambitions, and so he changed his name to Maxwell. It had the sound of someone of importance. But when he achieved a certain level of success he became Max. It suited him, being a little of both: gutter fighter and successful attorney.

And so names come from different places. Villains usually carry the name of someone who displeased me at one time in my life. The names of heroes and heroines from people I like, or simply because they’re just “right” for the character.

Last names? Except for the principal characters, I usually pick them out of a phone book at random. Otherwise, I have a tendency to use the same names repeatedly.

How does everyone else choose names?