What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
I’ve just read ‘We All Want Impossible Things’, the debut novel (and 2023 Richard and Judy Book Club pick), by American writer Catherine Newman.
I’d better not say too much as I’ve read it for my book club (I chose it!) and I should save my thoughts for that but I will say that it was original and a good read (although – trigger warning – it’s set in a hospice and centres around someone with terminal cancer, so although it’s quite funny and shocking in parts, it’s still quite a tough read).
Anyway, three quite prominent characters in the book are called: Jonah, Jules and Jude. What the…?! I’d just about worked out who they all were by the end but for most of the book I had to stop and think each time I came across one of those characters. (‘Is that the daughter or the husband of the friend or the brother of the friend?’)
It was really annoying! Like being constantly interrupted.
Clearly, I’m not the only one who had a problem with it because the author acknowledges the ‘3 Js’ in this interview and explains her thinking behind it.
Having characters with similar-sounding names is something I tell my students (often!) to avoid and I always point it out if they’ve done it in a piece of writing.
Because if characters’ names are too similar, the reader will get confused and pulled out of the story. And a reader who keeps getting pulled out of the story (not just by names but by anything distracting – incorrect facts, inconsistencies, typos, etc) won’t enjoy the story as much as they should. They might even give up on it.
So, how can you make your characters’ names sound different?
1. Don’t use names that start with the same letter! (Erm, I might have already said that).
2. Also mix them up: have a combination of long names and short names (“Ann and Caroline”, for example, rather than “Ann and Pam”, which sound similar and could be confused).
3. Have a spreadsheet (or, a list) of all the names in your novel. I learned this lesson the hard way when an editor pointed out to me that in my first novel I had used the same surname for two very minor characters, twice. (‘Are they related?’ she asked). Now, they were at opposite ends of the book from each other and most readers wouldn’t have noticed, I’m sure but she was right to point it out (and obviously I changed the surnames of 2 of those 4 characters).
So, now I have a spreadsheet for all the characters in all of my Highland Girls books (that’s 3 so far, including the one I’m writing and I have over 60 characters, not forgetting all the dogs and horses!).
It’s a fairly simple Excel spreadsheet but it does mean I can sort by first name or surname or ‘job’ (or ‘species’, if, for example, I want to look at all the horse names I’ve used) and it helps ensure that I don’t repeat names or have too many names that start with the same letter.
This name thing is turning into a pet hate of mine.
Last night I was reading Mike Gayle’s novel ‘A Song of Me and You’, which I am enjoying (I’m going to see him at Evesham Festival next month so I thought I would try reading at least one of his books) BUT the same-name thing reared its head again:
The heroine is called HELEN (excellent choice) and the nasty ex-husband’s new girlfriend is called … HOLLY. Both ‘H’, both have 5 letters. Even though they sound different, I think the reader could get confused and with all the names, in the all the world, to choose from, why would you risk it?
Oh, and finally, on a slightly different note but still on the subject of choosing names for your characters, avoid the names of people you know, if possible!
If they read your book they will always (always!) assume that character is based on them, even if the name’s not exactly the same. And it can get awkward! (And you waste a lot of time trying to convince them it’s not them!)
The Highland Girls on Guard – 99p
Am I allowed a little plug…? My latest novel, second in the Highland Girls WW2 saga series, is currently just 99p on Kindle for a limited time!
Blog About Writing 
Couldn’t agree more about naming of characters! Another reason, if one were needed, for a good editor as after your nth. edit it gets harder to see.
Another pet peeve of mine is ‘wrongly’ named characters in historical stories. Although I confess I once came unstuck over a late medieval girl called ‘Tracey’ – apparently the name was used much earlier than I thought it was.
Ah yes, that may well be true (about Tracey) but most readers’ perceptions, like yours (and mine) would be that Tracey is a modern name, so finding it in a story set in the Middle Ages, would be jarring. Something similar happened to one of my characters in the serial I wrote for People’s Friend magazine, which was set in 1905. They changed my character Richard’s name to Justin! And although I looked it up and it is indeed an ‘old’ name, like Tracey, I’m sure most people would think it’s modern and it doesn’t sound right for an Edwardian character! Agree with you wholeheartedly, that historical stories need suitable character names!
The spreadsheet thing is vital. In my first crime novel I had three people called Steve and a Polly, Molly and Olly. Fortunately I also had a very good editor!
Ha ha, that made me laugh, Liz!