What's In a Name?
I said I was going to do a writing blog this week, but it looks like I'll probably be doing *multiple* writing blogs, since I am apparently incapable of answering questions in short-form. Today's question comes from abbydarling, who asked:

How do you come up with names for supporting characters that only appear briefly in your story? Or how about character names in general? Do they just come to you? Do you ever change them once you're in the middle of your story?

I tend to be very particular about naming characters, because I think there’s a certain power in naming something. It’s rare that I would be in a situation where I was coming up with a name for an otherwise fully fleshed out character; it’s actually the reverse- finding the right name helps me figure out who a character is. In my process, choosing a name usually happens after I have the general gist of who I want the character to be (a sarcastic tomboy, a girly girl with bite, the logical child in a family of over-the-top siblings, etc), but before I really know the character as a person beyond the general niche that they might fill. As a result, I fully believe that the name I pick for a character ends up influencing who that character becomes. If Bailey from Tattoo and Fate had been a “Kaitlin” or a “Sophie,” she would have probably ended up being a very different person, and as a result, Tattoo and Fate would have ended up being very different books.

As a result, I never really start writing a book until I have the perfect name for the main character, because until I name them, I have no idea who they really are. In terms of finding names, I’m a pretty hardcore name collector. When I meet people, I often end up asking if they have siblings and what all of their names are (it's a better icebreaker than you might think). If I see a cool name somewhere, I write it in document I have entitled “good names.” Every month, my mother sends me her church bulletin, so I can see the names of all the babies that have been baptized in our (rather sizable) church at home. Some names are just waiting for the right character: for example, my dental hygienist has a step-daughter named Kyler. I think it’s an incredibly cool name. Someday, there will be a Kyler in one of my books- as soon as I find a character who fits it.

When I’m stuck, I use baby name sites online. Nymber is one of my very favorite sites- it allows you to type in a bunch of example names that you like, and it generates similar names that you might also consider. This is incredibly helpful for naming characters if I have a name that’s just almost right, but not quite there yet. Or (as is becoming more common) if the only name I can think of for a character is too close to something I’ve already used. I have a real problem with wanting to name at least one character in every book “James” (see also: Lissy and Lexie’s last name in Golden; the love interest’s name in Fate). I’ve also had to prevent myself from re-using Dylan, Cade, Jonah, and Jack, and after writing a Lilah and a Delia, I vetoed the use of Delilah for a character who the name otherwise would have fit really well. With the Nymbler site, I can go and type in all of the names I can’t use, and it will give me similar names that I can (the wannabe Delilah became an Ariana, which was the one of the first suggestions it gave me when I typed in the alternate names).

In general, I’m slightly less picky about names for supporting characters. I can’t imagine changing my main character’s name in a rewrite, but I’ve changed a variety of supporting characters’ names at different points in the process, for a variety of reasons.

+ Zo in the Tattoo books was originally Bo, but I decided to change the first letter of her name so that it didn’t start with the same letter as narrator Bailey’s. There were a couple of scenes where they were being referred to as “Bay” and “Bo,” and that was a little cutesy for me.

+ Brock in Golden and Platinum was originally named Cale (short for Caleb), but his name got changed when I figured out that Lilah’s other love interest was a ghost who I just HAD to name Cade.

+ Bubbles in The Squad series was “Baby” for approximately three chapters until I decided that Bubbles fit a million times better (and didn’t have the Dirty Dancing implications).

+ Zee in The Squad series was originally a Zoe, but I decided that (a) having a Zoe and a Chloe in one book was a No Go, and (b) since I’d already written a Zoe who went by Zo, I couldn’t reuse the name.

+ Fuchsia in the Golden series was originally a character I just could not think of a good name for- so I gave her a placeholder name (which was also the color of her aura), thinking that I’d go back and give her a better name later. And then I kind of forgot to go back, and my editor and agent both loved that her name was Fuchsia, so I ultimately decided to leave it.

Beyond the whole “I’ll change minor character names for pragmatic reasons, but in general think that the act of naming influences who the character becomes” thing, I have two other noticeable quirks when it comes to naming characters: the first is that I’m a total sucker for nicknames. The main character of Golden goes pretty strictly by Lissy, but it’s short for Felicity. Her sister is Lexie (Alexis). Zo in Tattoo is really Zoe-Claire, and the protagonist of Raised By Wolves (due out next summer) is a Bronwyn who goes by Bryn.

My other quirk is that my characters’ middle names almost always show up in the text somewhere- usually in the first couple of chapters. Lissy is Felicity Shannon. Bailey is Bailey Marie. Toby is Toby Guinevere. And Bryn’s full name is a mouthful- she’s Bronwyn Alessia, her original last name was St. Vincent, and once she was adopted into the pack, she also took on the last name Clare (and the book in fact opens with the words “Bronwyn Alessia St. Vincent Clare!”).

So, there you go, abbydarling. I think that's pretty much everything to know about my process for naming characters! Writers, feel free to sound off in the comments and weigh in with your own tips and quirks. Readers, I'd love to hear what your favorite names-you've-read-in-a-book are. And if you have a question about writing, ask away and I'll try to do more writing blogs soon.