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2)Walk of Fame - Hollywood actors and actresses may have been born with common names like Julia and Brad, but that doesn’t mean their offspring have to suffer
same fate. Will and Jada Smith’s children: Willow and Jaden; Demi Moore’s girls: Scout LaRue, Rumer Glen and Tallulah Belle; Gwenyth Paltrow’s daughter: Apple Blythe; John Travolta and Kelly Preston’s son: Jett; Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke’s son: Ronin. Singer Brandi’s daughter: Sy’rai; Thomas Jane (The Punisher) and Rosanna Arquette’s daughter: Harlow.
Even some famous faces were lucky enough to have been born with one-of-a-kind names: Keanu Reeves, Jude Law, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Macaulay Culkin, Kiefer Sutherland, Oprah Winfrey.
3)Movies and Television Shows – This avenue isn’t as unorthodox as you might think. I guarantee someone out there could come forward and claim, “I was named after some character on a soap opera.” Ridge and Thorne Forrester, The Bold and The Beautiful; Topanga Morris, Boy Meets World; Teal’c, Stargate SG-1; Leelou, The Fifth Element (my favorite movie of all time); Blade, Ellora Danan, Willow; Teela, He-Man cartoons. Need I say more?
4)Daily Life - For almost two years, I worked night shift, keying medical claims. Due to that job, I now have a nice long two-paged list of boys and girls names. You would not believe how many wonderfully unusual names I came across every time I flipped a page: Princess, Precious, Treasure, Oreo, Malachi, Ashanti, Treyvon, Diabolique (for real!), Natividad…the list goes on and on. Just think. You could be sitting at your desk, standing in line at grocery store/coffee shop/fast food joint, listening to a song on radio, eavesdropping on a conversation, or talking to your neighbor and next thing you know, you’re bombarded with names for your characters. Being a writer, one can only hope that you’re aware of your surroundings at all times and can see a potential story in everything that goes on around you.
5)Character Naming Contest/Vote – I did this for my third book, which will be Book One in a teen series I’m creating. I had about four different combinations of a name I was trying to come up with for my main character. I sent an email out to my co-workers, close friends and family, asking them to vote on name they liked best. The name that got most votes became name for my character. In return, I’ll be including a special thank-you on Dedication Page of book. Although there are too many names to print, if they buy book, they’ll know they had a hand in choosing name of character. If you go contest route, offer winner a free copy of book, a special gift, etc. If anything, you’ll get plenty of names for future books.
I attended a book festival in Prescott, AZ last year. A mother and daughter came up to my table, read back covers of both books, then walked away. A half hour later, they came back and purchased my first book (Secrets and Kisses) because female character’s name was Skylar. For whatever reason, name meant something to that young girl. It could’ve been her name, name of her friend, a relative…who knows? The point is, your readers are going to appreciate an “anomalous, exceptional, extraordinary, far out, incomparable, inimitable, special, standout, strange, uncommon” name. Now, you are ready to begin writing your novel. Your character has been born, breathing passages cleared (nice set of lungs there), weighed, measured…and awaiting a name. Get creative, step outside box and remember… a rose by any other name should be something besides Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane.
Copyright © 2004 Celise Downs. Reprinted with permission. Celise is a Young Adult fiction author and owner of Gemini Mojo Press. Her books, “Secrets and Kisses” (Mar 2004) and “Dance Jam Productions” (Sept 2004), are currently available on the publisher website at www.GeminiMojoPress.com/.
