Book Talk: What’s in a Name? (Part II)

What’s in a Name? (Part II)

My previous blog dealt with modern genres such as urban or historical fantasies which have a basis (however slight) in fact.  Naming conventions are more stringent because you want human characters to fit into a realistic setting.  In a completely imaginary genre like sword-and-sorcery the guidelines loosen up. The ‘i’ and ‘ie’ rule of gender differentiation no longer apply. Think of Loki—very male and very bad. Nobody would dare call him a sissy-boy or mistake him for a girl.

However, other feminine endings still hold true, especially the ‘a’ rule. Very few heroic male characters have an ‘a’ at the end of their name. It sounds odd to our Western ears. Perhaps that’s why I never warmed up to Peeta from The Hunger Games. The name appears more fitting for a pet monkey than a boy warrior. The author’s intent may have been to show a hero is more than a name. However, every time Katniss cried out for Peeta, I expected the poor dear to show up with hummus smeared on his face and a black olive shoved in each ear. The name would have worked better for me if it didn’t always bring to mind a tasty sandwich.

Which leads to another point—imaginative spelling is a mighty fun play toy, but can easily backfire, especially with odd punctuation marks.  Ask people to read the name aloud without any hints as to expected pronunciation. You may find your hero, D’khed, is no longer Dee-KED (stress on second syllable.) Instead, readers are scratching their heads wondering why the ruggedly handsome hero is dubbed Dickhead.

A last plea to writers is please show restraint with apostrophes. A name is like a piece of art; just because it’s unique, doesn’t mean it’s any good. Someone who sees C’dlr’c’m on the page will come to a dead stop attempting to puzzle out the pronunciation. This is a bad thing.  You never want a reader to think of anything other than the story.

L. A. Kelley is the author of The Naughty List. She’s married with three kids and lives in Florida where the heat and humidity has driven everyone slightly mad. She never cleans under her sofa. You can find her at http://lakelleythenaughtylist.blogspot.com