Do names shape our perception of characters?

When Juliet fell in love with Romeo, she made the famous declaration, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” to show that Romeo’s family name didn’t matter to her.

But Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite spunky heroines, disagrees. She said, “I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I’ve never been able to believe it. I don’t believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.”

And Mavis Himes describes a name “like an elongated shadow attached at our heels.”

Would Juliet still be a beloved tragic heroine if her name was Gertrude or Brunhilda? (There’s nothing wrong with those names of course! But they may change our perceptions of the character.)

Research has shown that we can make a first impression about someone in 1/10th of a second!

Influencing factors include:

• A person’s face
• Overall physicality
• And, you guessed it, names!

There’s even evidence that our names can shape our perception of ourselves.

But how does that apply to fictional characters?

Is our perception of a character influenced by their name?

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any articles dealing with this specific topic, but as an avid reader, my gut tells me I side with Anne of Green Gables.

Do writers use names to shape a character?

What about writers?

Do they purposely create names that will shape a character in deliberate ways? Do they have a secret writer code? A name generator? Or is it completely random?

Lean in a little closer, dear reader and I’ll tell you my secrets.

How do you come up with character names?

A reader asked me this question recently and so I thought you all might be curious as well.

There are 4 main ways that I generate character names. I’ve attempted to make this list as spoiler-free as possible, so if you haven’t read Beauty from Ashes yet, you should be safe.

1.) Biblical References

• Elyon comes from the Hebrew “El Elyon” which means “God Most High.”
• Arnion means “lamb” in ancient Greek.
• Beulah is a reference to Isaiah 62:4, where God declares that Israel’s land will no longer be called desolate, but “Beulah” or “married.”
• Gehenna was a location outside of Jerusalem where trash was burned. It was also used as an image for a place of torment.
• Delilah comes from the woman who seduced an ultimately betrayed Samson
• Has is a reference to Cephas, or Peter one of the twelve apostles. In earlier versions of the manuscript Has was actually called Cephas.
• Lucien was chosen for its similarity to Lucifer.
• Beauty from Ashes comes from Isaiah 61:3.

2.) Easter Eggs

You weren’t thinking of these, were you?

“Easter eggs” is also a slang term for hidden jokes, messages, and pop culture references that are tucked inside various forms of media.

There are Easter eggs in most of my writing, but a lot of them contain spoilers.

Since this post is spoiler free, I can only share a few

• Bucephalus was the name of Alexander the Great’s war horse.
• Eril’s name and physical appearance were influenced by Eriol from Card Captor Sakura—but not his personality.

3.) People who’ve made an impression on me

• Agatha is modeled after my great-aunt Elle. Her mother’s name was Agatha.
• Cira is one of my dear friends from college.
• Acadia, Naileah, and Ayam (Maya spelled backwards) are all the names of former students who I have fond memories of. I borrowed their names and some of their physical attributes when creating these characters.
• Sometimes people who’ve made a strong negative impression on me also end up in my writing, but I never use their real name. I think it may be a form of therapeutic stress relief to write about things that have troubled me. It also helps for generating strong emotions that I need to write scenes with a big conflict. Apparently, I’m not the only one if cups like this exist.

4.) Sometimes a name just pops into my head

Names like Kaya, Ellio, Elorah, Eiren, Roscoe, and Avathys sprang wholly from that creative crevice deep in my brain. I don’t know where they came from, but they fit perfectly.

Do names shape your perception?

What do you think?

Do names affect how you view a person? A character? Yourself?

Let me know in the comments!

References & Further Reading

• How our name affects our personality and identity: what social psychology says
• What’s in a name? – Psychology Today
• How our names shape our identity – The Week
• How your name affects your personality – BBC