Name that character!

by J.H. Bogran

It is my opinion that the author who had the most fun naming his characters is Ian Fleming. Let’s see three of them:

Auric Goldfinger, on the periodic table of elements the symbol for Gold is AU.

Pussy Galore, to quote a comedian whose name I’m ashamed to admit I can’t remember, “What could Mr. and Mrs. Galore be thinking when they named her daughter Pussy?”

Mrs. Moneypenny, sadly absent from the previous Daniel Craig movies.

I bet Mike Myers enjoys naming the characters in the Austin Powers’ movies emulating the Fleming technique. We have Allota Fagina, Felicity Shagwell, Basil Exposition, Random Task and Ivana Humpalot, and regardless of his recent diet, we will always remember that good ole Fat Bastard.

Other option includes putting your character’s name to good use while playing word games with the book title:

Jon Land’s tough Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong appears in: Strong Justice, Strong Enough to Die, and Strong at the Break.

John Lescroart does similarly with his Wyatt Hunt character in The Hunt Club and Treasure Hunt.

Barry Esiler uses John Rain’s last name to title his first four books: Rain Fall, Rain Storm, Killing Rain and Hard Rain.

Now, the question is how the rest of us, average Joes, do it?

The name should match the character, or at least, the plot intentions.

For my novel in Spanish, Heir of Evil, about the grandson of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, I named the character Oscar Brown. First name starts with the third letter—O—of Adolf; this was part of the long-range plan. Then the last name was the Americanized version of “Braun.” In other words, we have Adolf, Dennis and Oscar. Do you see the pattern?

For my first Falcon story, I chose Alexander Beck as his real name although he certainly uses different aliases throughout the novel. It is a long name; it has a certain ring to it, it speaks of a man who conquered the world in his lifetime. Falcon is one such man: determined, resourceful, unafraid.

For my work-in-process, the action is set in New Orleans and plenty of the characters are locals. Since I didn’t have a New Orleans phonebook, I called in a favor from a relative living there. I asked him to list ten to fifteen first names and then make a separate list of last names. All based on his acquaintances, public figures, old school pals, etc. Now when I need a new character’s name I check the lists and pair a first and last name and, Voila!

In the book The Whole Truth by David Baldacci, he thanks a few people after which he named a few characters. Some of them died early on, prompting the author to remind his friends that thrillers are a dangerous world. I just loved that.

I have named a few a few characters after real people, too. In that case, you need to be really careful, because the said person may not like how he’s depicted in your writing. Once I won a bet with a fellow author. She had to name a character after my wife. That was fun. By the way, I need to get me a copy of that book.

One thing is true, at least to me, when can play with the names all you want, but when you hear the one, there is a certain click in the back of your mind and the character is really born. He/She is no longer an amorphous figment of your imagination, the character becomes three-dimensional. Trust me on that!

J. H. Bográn, born and raised in Honduras, is the son of a journalist; he ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. José is the author of TREASURE HUNT, the first in the series of a professional thief that goes by the handle of The Falcon. Other works include short stories THE OUTPOST and LOVE ME TWO TIMES, published by Red Rose Publishing. The novel HEREDERO DEL MAL, is a thriller published by Editorial Letra Negra.

He’s a contributor editor to The Big Thrill magazine; co-screenwriter for two TV serials and writes movie reviews for Honduran newspaper La Prensa. He’s a member of the International Thriller Writers, Epic, Red Room and Backspace.