Free-write: 10 minutes, plus a little:
Recently I read Barbara’s post about names that has inspired this continuation of the topic. You may be interested in Silver in the Barn’s slant on this topic: http://silverinthebarn.wordpress.com/2014/05/15/names/
Names have always fascinated me as they each have their own allure.
Plant and flower names: Aster, Daisy, Daffodil, Fleur, Daphne, Violet, Ivy, Lily, Zinnia, Magnolia, Hyacinth, Blossom, Myrtle, Willow, Tulip, Primrose and Pansy. Colours: Azure, Blue, and Red. Day of the week: Sunday. Months of the year: April, May and June. State and Place names are particularly popular at the moment: Sydney, Alabama, Paris, Melbourne and Adelaide, and many more American names that slip my mind for the minute.
Animals come into play here. I heard of Arra and Balla, two rats, named after Arrarat, and Ballarat, two Australian cities. We had a dog called Rummy, and his litter was called after spirits. Now that we have no name cigarette packaging this will probably inspire a pair of dogs to be called Benson and Hedges. Our last pair of dogs was called Curley and Ambrose, after the cricketer.
Writing allows us to stretch our boundaries. Would you use made up names or do you prefer to stick to traditional names?
Traditional meanings may influence your choice. My own name Barbara has meanings of: barbarian, foreigner and stranger. Until a friend showed me her special name book I hated my name. In this book my name meant, ‘bringer of joy’- a far more acceptable meaning.
When my mother was born my grandparents couldn’t make up their minds for their second child’s name. An old lady visited and my grandfather, without discussing it, said, ‘We’ll name her after you!’ So Brenda was named, without a second name. All five siblings received a second name, a sore point, as Brenda missed out.
Our family tree has many name repetitions, like: Hector, Henry, William, and the careers are also repeated. I like the continuity.
With novel writing the repetition of names can be confusing, or even with the repetition of the first letter. Diversity helps.
Barbara Pyett 
When I was a child we had a cat named Zenocrate. Her kittens were called Anabelle, Mirabelle, Front Door Bell, Back Door Bell and Bicycle Bell. We kept Bike – a very plebeian son for an Egyptian princess.
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Some mouthfuls, did you shorten them when calling them? Front, Back, or just Bell? Perhaps Belly would have done! Zenocrate sounds very regal. Whereas Bike is short and concise!
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They all went to new homes before the novelty of their full names had worn off, except for dear Bicycle Bell, who became simply Bike.
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That’s a relief Hilary! Bike is quite manageable!
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I’m just happy we have an alternative now to “Foreigner” or “Stranger!” Down South we have an unusual naming pattern for girls where they are often given, as part of the first name, a surname from the mother’s side. So you will have Mary Carter or Anne Randolph, for instance, as first names, and the child is called by both:”Where is Mary Carter?” Also we have Douglas as a girl’s first name.
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In Australia at the moment a lot of surnames are given as first names, so Jackson or Mackenzie can be a boy or a girl. We do have double barrelled surnames, of those wishing to have both parents represented. I wonder how it will be in the next generation?
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Reminds me of a couple of names I came across not too long ago: Helicopter s/o Elvis, and Dandruff (something – can’t recall the surname). I’m not making this up…! 😉
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How would you like to be called Dandruff? Helicopter is a beauty too!
They are really out there, thanks Raja. 🙂
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Back when I had cats (and they kept coming and moving in…) I decided they weren’t cats at all. They were space aliens and they got Star Trek names and names from cheesy sci-fi movies. I had Vyger, Klingon and Triffid and others I don’t remember. I liked the idea so much I did a painting on a board of them landing in flying saucer. My name means “Sorrowful servant of God.” That’s really pretty difficult to figure out. Sorrowful because of serving God or sorrowful and serving God as a result or???
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Great cat names. I wish I’d taken the name of the book my friend had with wonderful name meanings. I’m sure Martha would have been something like, creative wordsmith. Maybe it’s time to make up another meaning without the sorrowful implication. Who wrote these meanings anyhow?
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I do like Fleur! Some of the made up ones are a bit much! The waitress at the local cafe is Skylee, well I’m assuming that’s how it is spelt, one can’t be sure!
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I love this! If it helps, my suggestion is looking in baby name websites and books, especially in the foreign names sections. I’ve got many names from there, like Ava, my favorite (and my books main character, lol). I tend not to use generators as they end up sounding fake or unnatural. But for fantasy or other genres, it could work. Anyways, finding a good name is almost my favorite part of writing, haha 🙂
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Your right, my daughter has my name book, but I should use the internet. Thanks for your comment ‘Daisy’? 🙂
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I was almost a “Fleur” – a name my father wanted but not my mother. I don’t think I’m a Fleur…. it also would’ve been a very difficult name to have in an Australian small country town in the late 1950’s. I quite like those old flower names and traditional (probably old fashioned names) – there are some very strange “made up” names around now.
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