Forum: Author Hangout

Some time ago, I merged two story lines. In doing so, I created a problem with two characters having the same name. This later became a problem with another of my story lines. I recall mentioning this in the past, but decided to address the subject again.

My solution was to create a list of first and last character names.
When I create a file of story data for a new story I add my list of character names to the story data, and then select a new character's name from the list and delete the first and last names from my story data file.

In creating the list, I searched the Internet for lists of first and last names and added them to a spreadsheet using two columns for first and last names. I then sorted each column of names and deleted duplicates of the same name. I then randomized the list of names, so I wouldn't be picking the in alphabetic order. I now have a master list of first and last names that I use to select character names for my stories. The only problem I now have is with the older stories. my list of names occasionally contains the first or last name of an existing character.

Do you have this problem with your character names?

Yes! I've been worried about inadvertently reusing names, so a few months ago I started an index of names I have used, including which stories they appeared in and other details. Unfortunately, the only way I can gather the info is by at least scanning all my posted stories, and that has been boring enough that the project has ground to a halt. Like many other things in my life, I should probably simplify it.

For first names, do a search for 100 most common first names. Aside from that, it will offer 100 first names for different nationalities and races.

Probably can do the same for last names, too.

I made a list to pull names from by looking at yearbooks from random cities and just making a list of first and last names, so it's more random than the 100 most common.

Seemed to work well.

For each of my stories I maintain a "bible" aka a story outline, and a List of Names of All Characters, including some "on screen" for just one scene; to prevent such errors.

Some names, such as Howard Johnson, Robert Smith, Tom Jones, Juan Valdez, John Fernandez, I may use in more than one story, because they are common names. However, I avoid using such a name for a main character.

In a few stories, set a Generation or more apart, they may be relatives of a character in another story.

In several of my stories, involving the US armed forces, it is often a Plot Point that there is a Smith and a "Smitty" and possibly a Schmidt as well in the same e Company or even the same Platoon. Most of my time in the US Army (c.1980-2020) it was common to have multiple Smiths, Jones, Fernandez, Allens, Johnsons, Lee, etc.

I have read of multiple examples similar to this one: Two soldiers arrive at a new unit (during WWII often the Unit would train most of the soldiers, only technical specialists would be sent to a school). Ordered to line up alphabetically there would be a "Big Smith and a "Little" Smith (sometimes the nicknames were the inverse of actual size). It took about a year to train a Division, and 3 or four months to send it overseas. After some 2 and a half Years together, and more than a 100 Days in combat, both Smiths would be Wounded, perhaps one killed. The other would stay and fight to "protect" the body of the other Smith until he too was killed.

Guys didn't have to have the same or a similar name for that kind of loyalty.

It is probably not surprising that out of more than 8,000,000 men in the US armed forces that Hundreds, at least, had the same names, and were in the same unit.

In one of my stories a replacement has a similar name to a character killed earlier in the story. At least one of the veterans is irrationally angry about that!

Fiction stories must be more "realistic" in some aspects than Reality. Or else the readers will lose the suspension of disbelief.

Mistakenly transposing names is another issue. Proofreaders and Editors are a great help in minimizing those issues!