Giving a character a name that is based on his storyline [closed]

Question

I'm trying to find an appropriate name for my main character. I want his name to reflect his personality and symbolize certain aspects of his past.

For example, for a character who has supernatural control of fire and whose home was destroyed in a fire immediatle after his birth there (as if his birth caused the fire) might be given the name Aiden, a name of Celtic/Irish origin meaning 'the fiery one' or 'born of fire'.

Is it a good idea to use the etymology of a name in this way? Will readers even know the etymology and understand the symbolism? Or how else can I find a telling name, without it being cheesy? I don't want to directly name the protagonist "Fire", for example.

Answer 1

This is a perfectly reasonable way to name your character and introduce the name with a little backstory.

Some people will call it cheesy. Some people will say that it lacks originality. But all stories are always just retellings of what someone else previously wrote. Your goal should be to give it a personal spin by using your own words and your own style. The way you present the ordeal, the way you show the characters, the way you show their emotions and describe their surroundings, the way you show the importance of this episode for the people involved - that's what makes it original and interesting.

I can't remember ever reading this exact scene somewhere before, but I am sure someone somewhere at some point had a similar premise. No need to obsess over this.

Your way of naming your characters reminds me a little of my own technique for coming up with names, which is to take a characteristic and put it into different translations until one looks interesting, at which point I slightly change it. You can read more in my answer to What are good resources to get fantasy names?

I would say that you already put a good deal of thought into this. What is missing now is the execution - go and write it! If you obsess over every name like it's the end of the world if you don't get it right in the first draft you will never finish something. If you feel the name is not good enough or you simply come up with something that is even better you can change the name later.

Answer 2

Yes, author's do this all the time. One of the books I use frequently is The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook", it lists 25,000 first and last names and their meanings from around the world and dozens of cultures. Unfortunately, my version does not contain many Asian names (Japanese, Chinese, Korean); I don't know if the current version does or not.

They write and sell this book for exactly this reason; people want to know what names mean and where they came from.

As for "cheesy": The idea that the firemen is going to be chagrined is implausible. Why? Aiden is an actual name, he suggested it, it is not any kind of obvious joke, it memorializes the kid's birth circumstance, so why would he be anything but amused the parent's liked his name suggestion?

It is also implausible the parents, having just escaped death and lost their house and possessions and under the pressure of a newborn and now finding a place to live and clothes to wear will be engaged in banter with a fireman and "loving a name" and deciding there and then to name their child with the firemen still there. You have gone from a highly traumatic experience that will stick with them long after the firemen are gone from their lives forever, they should be in an ambulance headed for the hospital and treatment of their infant (and selves) for smoke inhalation, they should be most concerned with the papers, insurance, and what they have lost in this fire. A fun task like choosing a name for a baby and being entertained is not on the table.

Dozen's of baby-naming books also include the meaning of names; Aiden is of Celtic origin. A better solution would be in the aftermath of the fire, in the hospital for hours waiting for doctors to give them the all-clear to take their baby home, morose and bored parents paging through one of the few things rescued from the fire: The baby naming book in the mother's purse that she grabbed on the way out. There they find "Aiden" and it's meaning, and in a bit of gallows humor decide its perfect.