Monday, December 29, 2008

Day 39: Name game

Let's talk about character names. I always wonder how authors decided on the names for their characters. It's hard enough to name a single child, let alone name every character in a book. I'm even more fascinated by books like Daphne DeMaurier's Rebecca where the main character's name is never revealed at all. What's fun though, in naming characters, is that you can completely typecast, or you can throw people off by going the opposite direction, like having the hard-core businessman in New York City named Cody.

Here are some names. What kind of character do you picture when you hear these names? (Directly after the names, I wrote my first impression--the ones after the "/" were my husband's first impressions.)

Wyatt:a cowboy /Earp
Natalia: dark haired and pretty/some Russian ballerina
Eunice: puffy with small eyes/uptight old lady
Beau: tall with an accent and a dimple when he smiles/a teenager with no direction
Kevin: a perv/a normal guy
Constance: a nurse/someone who wants her name said the whole way
Butch: beer drinker that works in a factory/a Lesbian
Tiana: an undergraduate majoring in pre-law/Asian-American clubber

4 comments:

Mandi said...

You asked for it...

Wyatt- car mechanic with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth
Natalia - blonde hair, pouty lips, slender
Eunice - "Who is that dangerously unbalanced woman?"
Beau - a muscular guy wearing a pink dress shirt and complimentary tie. (Don't ask me why)
Kevin - a postal worker
Constance - a Quaker
Butch - buzzed hair, beefy, turns purple when angry.
Tiana - a Russian dancer, dark hair, green eyes.

Embers said...

Wyatt: An older uncle who enjoys fishing.

Natalia: A younger girl, paler skin with perfect dark brown curls and a shy personality.

Eunice: An older lady with peculiar tastes.

Beau: A mysterious foreign business man with a sexy accent.

Kevin: Tall and lean with brown hair. The guy that doesn't really fit the puzzle, he's the big sports jock who joined the chess club.

Constance: A blond girl who hides her intellect behind a wall of blond moments, and air-headedness.

Tiana: Part Jamaican, the out going knows what she wants type.

Embers said...

oh forgot butch..

Butch: The big tough guy, has his own gang. However he secretly wants to be a barber.

Bryce said...

hahaha. I laugh at Bro Riding's responses. Sounds like my Dad. ;)
_________________

Wyatt- Owen Wilson (i dunno why)
Natalia - blonde, curvy Ruassian gymnast
Eunice - glasses and mouth hardware
Beau - romantic and Southern, dark hair and deep eyes
Kevin - a womanizer with bad breath (don't ask me how the two pair up)
Constance - a teacher, old aged, born in France
Butch - motorcycle gang leader, wears black leather and carries a piece
Tiana - sophisticated and beautiful, a business woman, dark hair and alurring eyes