This week: What's in a name? Edited by: Lilli 🧿 ☕ More Newsletters By This Editor
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Aside from parents who are about to name their child, who consider names very important, we take the first name for granted. You know what I mean. Joe is a mechanic or bartender, Edward is a lawyer, Mary is a soccer mom, and Karen is, well, you know what they say about Karen.
Occasionally, a name will make us pause and think about what they mean to their owner. When this happens, it’s usually because of a horrible name someone may have been given. However, according to some psychologists, names have a measurable effect on people. In short, names can influence how we perceive people; and characters. |
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Because fiction is a version of reality that has been pared down, every detail must carry out some important function. Therefore, our characters need to be named carefully and we should use their names as some sort of unobtrusive literary device. To add nuances to the story we are telling, we should pack as much meaning as possible in the name.
Here are some first names, and their meanings, to consider for your mystery stories:
Abbadon
A Hebrew name, the demon of destruction in the Bible.
Bran
Meaning “raven” in Welsh. Also one of the Celtic gods of death.
Corbin
Meaning “little crow” in French and English.
Gizem
(Turkish Origin) meaning "enigma, mystery, secret".
Here are some surnames, and their meanings, to consider for your mystery stories:
Cunningham
Irish: surname adopted from Scottish by bearers of Gaelic Ó Cuinneagáin ‘descendant of Cuinneagán’, a personal name from a double diminutive of the Old Irish personal name Conn meaning ‘leader’, ‘chief’.
Driscoll
Irish: ‘descendant of the messenger’
Ellis
English and Welsh: from the medieval personal name Elis, a vernacular form of Elijah (see Elias). In Wales this surname absorbed forms derived from the Welsh personal name Elisedd, a derivative of elus ‘kindly’, ‘benevolent’.
Vanderberg
Dutch: topographic name for someone who lived by a hill or mountain, from Middle Dutch berghe ‘mountain’, ‘hill’.
At the end of the day, story development is more about what your characters do, think, and their relationship with other characters. So, don't sweat it. Sometimes the character tells us their name - if we really listen.
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| | Twenty-nine (13+) There's some things in this world you can't explain. (2142 w) Winner: 2020 Quill Awards. #2235558 by Nightkeeper |
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