Does he pull them out of thin air? Not likely.
Here are some possibilities and I’ve used them all.
- Newspapers, especially the obits
- Cemeteries
- Research
- Listening to music
- Friends and family
Stu Summers, author of Summer’s Love, used his own name and his main character is a famous author. I’ve never met Stu so I can’t say if their personalities are the same.

And his girlfriend? Shirley is a blonde and even though her hair is a mound of teased fluff, don’t be fooled into thinking her elevator doesn’t go to the top. She is full of practical wisdom that women often find in beauty shops. She is a large-boned woman with big feet. Her perfume is loud and so is her laugh. Her last name is Monroe because she reminded me of a long ago star named Marilyn.
And so it goes. Names are fun, but names are also important and not to be taken lightly. My main character living at Sweetbriar Manor, Agnes Marie Hopper, has the spunky spirit of my mother. I love the name Agnes, but the name Marie Hopper came straight from my mother. She never had a middle name so she gave herself Marie. Now that takes courage. Her maiden name was Hopper and somehow it just seemed to fit Agnes. She is small and petite yet strong and agile. She has red hair though it now comes from a bottle. She is a widow who still grieves for her husband, Charlie, who was a small tobacco farmer.
At the beginning of my story, Agnes lives alone, except for her pet pig, Miss Margaret, who is a great comfort to her. The name seems like a dignified, southern name to me. I first heard it used for a relative’s cat. I knew I would have to use it some day.
Where did your name come from? My daddy said he just “thunked mine up.” My sister’s middle name, Rae, came from a family friend. I have passed that name to my son as Ray.
Names are indeed important. How do you choose the names of your characters? I would love to hear your ideas and add them to my list.
~~~~~~

Carol's
book series, Agnes Hopper Shakes Up Sweetbriar and Agnes Hopper Bets on Murder,
was inspired by her mother's spunky spirit and her dad's humor.
Hi, Carol! Character names are so important. Names often carry connotations--emotional meanings or feelings we associate with them--strength of character or wimpy or beauty. -- I had fun naming the minor characters in my book. I've been teaching in a small rural town for 24 years, so I gave "shout outs" to teacher friends, other friends, family, and students by combining names. For instance, a detective in my book is Donnie Wade. Don and I started teaching the same year, and Wade is my roasted coffee bean supplier (he turned me into a coffee snob). :) My daughter's best friend since birth, Kristen, is the name of the teenage girl's BF in my story. Mrs. Campbell is an algebra teacher in my book, but the real Mrs. Campbell was my favorite English teacher in high school. Travis Powell is an attorney in the story, but the name is a combo of my brother-in-law's first name and my sister-in-law's last name. It was so much fun naming characters--and even more fun when people recognized their name in the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen for sharing some great ideas about naming characters. I love your suggestions & will certainly give some of them a try.
DeleteI love naming characters. It's like naming kids. Most often, I use a baby name book for first names and, maybe, a telephone book for last names, though last names must fit the character's background. Sometimes, I'll find historical names I think are interesting. Whatever the method, it has to fit my idea of the character.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandy. A baby name book is a great suggestion. Naming characters is challenging, but fun.
DeleteBecause I write historical romance, I always check to see what names were popular in the year my characters were born. Then I choose names from that list that fit their roles and personalities. And because many of my characters are Scandinavian, their names end in "son" or "sen." Like: Pederson, Johnson, etc.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dawn for your reply. My daddy once told me he had a friend whose name was Meadows Brook, but he called him Field & Stream.
DeleteI love naming characters. It's like naming kids. Most often, I use a baby name book for first names and, maybe, a telephone book for last names, though last names must fit the character's background. Sometimes, I'll find historical names I think are interesting. Whatever the method, it has to fit my idea of the character. san antonio web design
ReplyDeleteThank you Evan for sharing. I agree, the name has to fit the author's image of each character. Not only visually, but the character's personality as well. And we somehow just know when it's a good fit.
DeleteHi Carol! I loved reading about Agnes in the first book and am looking forward to her other adventures in this one. Thanks for the insight on the names. They do fit your characters!
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