What goes into naming names?
By that I mean the names for books, the characters that populate them and settings where stories unfold.
William Shakespeare asked in a play: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” Of course, Shakespeare was writing about Romeo and Juliet and the family names that shouldn’t preclude their love affair. That names don’t alter the nature of a thing.
True enough. But it’s impossible to deny the connections that develop between the names of characters and readers. Romeo and Juliet, for example, have become synonymous with young love. Just like Ebenezer Scrooge has become the personification of greed
I’ve always believed Harper Lee invented some of the best character names in literature in her novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird.” I mean, who wouldn’t want to read about Atticus Finch, Boo Radley and Scout?
Ken Kesey ranks right up there with Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
And that makes me wonder if there’s some sort of inverse relationship between character names and the way readers react to them. Like the slogan for the popular brand of jams. “With a name like Smuckers, it’s got to be good.” Consider the J.K. Rowling villain Voldemort — a wizard so fearsome he’s referred to as he who must not be named. Apparently, with a name like Voldemort, he’s got to be evil.
As for my novels, I put a lot of thought into the name of the small town newspaper editor who’s the protagonist of my mysteries. I settled on Tucker Preston, although his full name is Daniel Tucker Preston.
Here’s a secret: I based his name in part on the automotive entrepreneur Preston Tucker. Then switched the first and last names. Tucker started using his middle name as his first after his childhood classmates teased him by calling him old Dan Tucker.
I came up with Stanley Evans, the bombastic county commissioner who’s Tucker’s nemesis, to take advantage of the rhyming scheme between Stan and Ham. Most people dismiss Evans — at least behind his back — as Stan the Ham.
Still other character names are inspired by real life. I heard about an avid fisherman nicknamed Fish Head Fred while fishing myself for salmon on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Yeah. There was no way I was going to miss that opportunity.
So what goes into naming names?
A lot, I suppose. Especially if you expect rosy results.