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N is for Names.

There’s something rather mystical about names. There are magic spells that only work if you know your intended’s name. Rumpelstiskin was one, I think. We inscribe names on walls to honor those who have died in war. We make giant quilt panels to remember the names of those who died of AIDS.

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Welcome to Day N of Blogging from A to Z. Thank you, me mateys, for hanging in. We’re on the alphabet home stretch.

As I said, names hold special power. Whenever I write, I think carefully about the names I give to characters. I have an old baby names book published in 1953. Its navy leather cover is faded and the pages are brown and crackly, but I read this book every time I name a character. I choose names based on sound, connotation, and meaning.

I first learned about the importance of names in literature from my seventh grade English teacher. We were reading The Lillies of the Field by William Edmund Barrett. The protagonist’s name was Homer Smith. Mrs. Penn taught us that he was named Smith to represent Everyman. Now when I think of his name, what pops out for me is Homer–the epic poet.

Dickens had fun with his names. You just know someone called Mr. Pumblechook will be full of hot air and nonsense. And then there’s Ebenezer Scrooge. Kristen Lamb wrote an interesting post about the power of names using A Christmas Carol. Check it out here.

Modern authors play with names, too.

Joe Hill does this in his novel Heart-Shaped Box–probably the best modern example of names symbolism I know. At the beginning of the book, the anti-hero is a washed up, sold out musician named Judas Coyne. (Hmmm…reminds me of another guy who sold out for some silver coins.) The evil ghost is named Craddock, a perfect Dickensian name if I ever heard one. What’s especially cool about Joe Hill’s book is that the characters undergo a sort of re-naming as they evolve. Very cool!

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No, I don’t know Chloe and Ruby A., but I thought their name tags with illustrations were adorable.

So, Readers, do you notice names when you read novels? What is your favorite book with a memorable name? For you writers out there–what do you think about when you name your characters?