(This is a long post but it's hit one of my hot buttons. :-) )
Steve Rogerson wrote:
I liked Alison's analysis of the name Servalan
Me too! (And thanks to Tony for kicking it off.) I'm just fascinated by names and naming patterns in general. Two things that I like about Servalan's name for a female SF character:
(Disclaimer: I'm talking about naming in English. Input on names in other languages is alway welcome)
1) It doesn't have the typical "a" or "y/ie/i" ending that many women's names have both in RL and SF/F. (Jenna, Cally, Dayna) (One reason for liking my own name and Alison's for that matter.)
2) It's a three syllable name. Two syllables are much more popular. (Above list plus Soolin).
I've often wondered if the name was created before they knew that Servalan was going to be played by a woman.
because that is one area I really struggle with when writing - thinking up plausible new names.
One author I'd recommend who seems to come up with excellent names for her characters is Sheri Tepper. I think she's almost Dickensian in her coming up with names that suggest something about character. Six Moon Dance is a good example of this.
I end up either with very contrived names beginning with X or boring existing names of the John and Paul variety (no offence to Johns and Pauls cos I also include Steve in that list).
You might want to take a look at the name popularity lists to get some more ideas if you want to use names that aren't too contrived but are less common than John/Steve/Paul. (And you won't find those in the current top tens. :-) )
Another thing to bear in mind about the current popular names is that all most popular names are less so than when John and Mary were number 1. The pool of names used (in the US and UK) is now much wider. Also bear in mind that some cultures are very restrictive about what names can be given children. I believe this is the case in France where only biblical and saints names (I think there's a couple of other categories but can't remember them off the top of my head.) This explains why you are more likely to find double names (like Jean Luc) in France - it helps to make the name less common. If you were writing about a restrictive society like the Federation, you might decide that that is one of the restrictions imposed. Or you could go the other way and think that if this is one of the few areas where people are allowed to express themselves, they might be extremely creative.
It's a an excellent site for all sorts of stuff about names. It even has an international site. The front page has links for most popular names for the US.
The following URL has the 1000 most popular names for 1999 in the U.S.
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/NOTES/note139/1999/note139update99.html
(One thing to bear in mind when looking at popularity lists is that they
will vary depending on whether the compiler of the list counts variant spellings as separate names.)
I did a little scanning on this and the preliminary list for 2000 and found the following:
Jenna is number 65 for girls in the list of names for 2000.
Blake is number 84 for boys in the 1999 list.
Callie is number 265 for girls in 1999 list. Cally doesn't appear in the top 1000.
Other SF/F names that appear in the 2000 list:
Faith is number 60 for girls. Gabrielle is number 61 for girls. Trinity is number 76 for girls. Angel is number 68 for boys and number 85 for girls.
All of these are more popular than the name Brittney (86.) :-)
So I'm impressed by people who can come up with good new names. One method I've heard is to combine two common names into a new one so it has a familiar feel but is still novel.
Anne McCaffrey uses this a lot. Sometimes it works but there are some which I think don't.
For instance one baby (boy) is named "Robse" after two characters Sebell and Robinton. My problem with this name is that I have no idea how to pronounce and it jars every time I see it. Is it "Rob-see", "Rob-suh" or even "Robs" (as in "the burglar robs the bank")? I don't mind if I pronounce a name wrongly and then find out that it's wrong. I just don't like a name that always presents a problem.
Taking some more pertinent names, say Bercol and Rontane. You could make Coltane, Bertane, Colron out of these. I wouldn't use "Ron" as the first syllable since any two syllable name beginning "Ron" tends to remind me of "Ronseal" (brand name for wood stain and varnish in the UK). YMMV of course. :-)
I once used the name Lujan for a name (not a character) and got told by the course tutor that it made her think of a name for a toilet cleaner (Loo+janitor). I changed it to Lirjan. :-)
Or if you wanted to have a character who was Servalan's and Jarriere's love child (and why not? although for some reason, I tend to think that it would have to be an AU where Jarriere was the one who became pregnant), you could have Jarrilan, Serviere, Valaniere (hmm, maybe we're in fantasy prince land with this one.)
Going back to the "a/y/ie" endings, you can use these either to meet people's expectations or perhaps to break them, using a name that evokes one gender for the other.
The difficulty is clearly widespread given that very few brand new names become popular. Names such as Lorna and Wendy are therefore exceptional is this, but how many other recently invented names have become so widespread?
Vanessa is another one. (Created by Jonathan Swift from /Es/ther /Van/homrigh plus an 'a' on the end.)
Bear in mind that people as a general rule are more creative about girl's names than boy's.
Kat W