Today I welcome author Sandra Kay Vosburgh as she explores the question of how important is a character's name. Read all the way through, as she's offering the opportunity for one lucky reader to win a free book.

Proverbs 22:1 tells us a good name is to be chosen over great riches. The writer is speaking of our reputation, the image people immediately see when our name is mentioned. To bear a name that represents integrity, honesty, and humility is of far greater worth than owning material possessions.

Just as our name represents to others our character, the name of our characters should represent them.

Their name should reflect their role and personality. The character’s name should also fit the era in which the story takes place. One way to ensure this is to google “popular names in [the year in which your story is set]”.

It may be necessary, as your storyline and characters develop, to change a name. For example, one of my characters, originally an introvert of forty-two, I named Jacob. He evolved into a younger man of strong yet humble character named Clark. The protagonist in my Sackets Harbor Mysteries is in her late sixties and uses her wit to outsmart the antagonist. I gave her the last name Whittaker.

A great source of names is a baby name book that gives the meaning as well as derivatives of the name. A woman of fifty may have the name Margaret. A teenager may be called Meg. A husband may call her Maggie. A man’s professional name could be Benjamin, but his mother calls him Benny—which, of course he dislikes and prefers to be called Ben.

If you are creating a woman of ill repute, Delilah may seem too stereotypical but Della or Lilah could work to provoke the same image.  A man of less than honest dealings may not be called Judas, but giving him the name Judd or the last name Jude could have a similar effect. Opposites can also work well. For example, naming a compulsive gambler Lucky.

Another resource for names is the Writer’s Digest book, Building Believable Characters. One section offers names for several nationalities, which is invaluable in giving your international characters authenticity.

How important is your character’s name? Consider some whose reputations have endured through the decades. Scarlet O’Hara, her passions ran hot. Huck Finn, like a fish always on the river. Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, determined to scout out what was happening in the courtroom. Charles Dickens, of course, is well noted for the names he gave his characters.

As writers, we enrich our story when we find just the right word. When we give our characters just the right name, we add depth and dimension to their personality and their role. 

About Sackets Harbor Mysteries:

Sandra is the author of Sackets Harbor Mysteries, set in the small tourist town of Sackets Harbor on beautiful Lake Ontario. Retired teacher, Ada Whittaker, solves the twenty-year-old mystery of whatever happened to the resort’s treasurer in Scandal at Stonecroft. In The Death Collector, Ada sets out on a mission to identify the person killing off the residents of Willowdell, Sackets Harbor’s premier senior living village.

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Fun facts about the author

The idea for The Death Collector came out of my career as a debt collector. A writer of cozy mystery, I wanted to write a novel with a play on the title.  

Judge Fausset’s Papillon in Book 2 is based on my own copper-colored Papillon, Zacheous. 

I write in a barn. My husband built an office for me in a corner section of the building that overlooks our pool and flower gardens.

Giveaway

Leave a comment telling where is your favorite place to read, and be entered to win your choice of an eBook or print copy (US only) of Book 1 in the series, Scandal at Stonecroft. PLEASE NOTE: Please include your cleverly disguised email address in your comment. For example: donna AT livebytheword DOT com   This is so the bots don't harass you. Comments left without an email address will not be entered into the drawing

You can learn more about Sandra by visiting her website www.sandrakayvosburgh.com. While there, sign up for her newsletter to stay up to date with her writing.

Connect with her online:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/skvosburgh

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Sandra-Kay-Vosburgh/e/B09Y9J581S

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/skvosburgh

Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sandra-kay-vosburgh