Imagine this:

Margaret Mitchell decides to write a novel. Ms. Mitchell is so busy figuring out how to bring her hero and heroine together that she doesn’t take much time to think about naming them. So she just uses the first names that pop into her mind— or maybe she names them after a couple of childhood friends. The book is published… Gone With the Wind, the Civil War saga about the romance between a southern belle, Matilda Klumskey and a dashing rogue, Eugene Butterfinger. Does the book go on to become a classic or does it bomb?

Thankfully, Margaret Mitchell took the same care in naming her characters as she did in creating a novel that would stand the test of time. Eugene and Matilda might not have gone over big with readers, but Rhett and Scarlett certainly did. While naming characters is an entirely subjective process, what you name your characters can be as important as any other element of your story. If you haphazardly christen your character with an inappropriate moniker, readers might like your story but every time they come across that name they’re going to cringe. Will that affect sales? Maybe not. Is it worth it to invest some time in picking names appropriate to your characters? Most definitely.

Names are frequently the first thing a reader sees when they flip your book over to read the blurb. Your character names are just as much an advertisement for your book as the cover. How you approach naming your characters will be as individual as your writing style, but one thing is for certain: if you take the time to create names that are perfect for your characters you will have a better book that the readers will remember.

“I happen to love picking character names,” says author Christine Dorsey. “I had three children to name but liked a lot more than three names. So now I get to use up all those leftover names.”

Christine named her daughter Elizabeth but also considered naming her Charlotte, Catherine, Zoe, and Samantha— all of which were used in Christine’s books. She has had heroines named Rachel, for her niece, Anne, for her sister and is working on Grace, for her grandmother. She says that since she writes historical romances she likes to use old fashioned names which is something all authors should keep in mind. Save the unusual names and spellings for your contemporary or futuristic romance.

On the subject of contemporary romances, author Debra Dixon insists she cannot begin a book until she has the character names. With her recent Loveswept title, Playing With Fire, Debra came up with the name Beau for her Louisiana arson investigator. She didn’t know what the rest of his name would be and says, “I tried out name after name after name. None of them fit… until I realized that he was a true ‘Southern son’ which meant he had to have a $25 handle.”

Debra finally found the rest of Beau’s name and he became Beauregard Elvis Grayson. The Grayson family story is that his mother named him when she wasn’t particularly happy with men. Hence the initials that spell out “beg.” Beau is memorable because Debra wrote a great character and gave him a name to match. “These names have everything to do with who these people are,” Debra says, and it’s something every writer should keep in mind.

As the author of over sixty books, JoAnn Ross knows the importance of finding just the right name. “A few of my characters have names for very specific reasons,” JoAnn says. In her upcoming MIRA title, No Regrets, slated for release next summer, the heroine is Molly McBride, a Sister of Mercy nun. Molly gives birth to a daughter after being brutally raped and JoAnn explains, “As a sign that blessings can indeed be born from sin, the infant girl is named Grace.”

JoAnn and Christine both like old fashioned names for their books. Christine prefers her heroes “to have strong names… but I do shy away from the stereotypical hero names.” Sometimes she finds her character names in records of militia from the time period she’s writing about. She admits to drawing a blank occasionally when naming secondary characters and has even been known to name a character after her dictionary—Webster!

JoAnn has used almost every baby naming book published and prefers the ones that give national origin and meaning. “I also like names with Biblical roots, “ she says. “Gabriel, Zachary, Noah, Hannah, Sarah, and Rachel, for instance— since they aren’t trendy and will stand the test of time.” She also has a favorite source for characters’ last names. “I always use National Geographic when I have to come up with last names for characters from foreign countries. It’s a lot easier than looking through every name in the phone book.”

Debra Dixon gathers her character names from several sources. “Living in the south gives me a wonderfully fertile environment for names,” Debra says. “Although I have no baby naming books, I use the phone book, my son’s school directory, and the credits of every film I watch. There are some wonderful names in the credits of movies.”

How important are character names? Are they really that integral to the story? Most authors think so, especially if they’re asked to change a character’s name. When you pick a name that fits the character like a glove, no other name will do no matter how hard you try. Debra ran into just such a situation.

“Two Loveswepts in the same month used the name Sullivan. After extensive effort by my editor and myself, it was determined that Sullivan Kincaid of Bad to the Bone could only be Sullivan Kincaid. Period. There simply was no other name despite a willingness to try.”

Occasionally, an author starts with one name only to find the character takes on a life— and a new name— of her own. “When I began The Renegade and the Rose,” says Christine, “my heroine was named Chloe. Part way through the fourth chapter I noticed I started writing Zoe, and that’s what she became.”

And then there’s the case of fiction mimicking fact. JoAnn experienced a Twilight Zone feeling when she found out that a character name she picked was eerily similar to a real person. She invented the fictional town of Whiskey River, after a Willie Nelson song, and set it near her cabin in the Arizona mountains. Then she created a villain named Black Jack Clayton who appears first in The Outlaw and again in Wanted!, the second book in the Men of Whiskey River Temptation series. Her husband was recently reading a book about Arizona’s outlaws and desperadoes and came across a chapter devoted to the territory’s most villainous outlaw who happened to live near where the fictional town of Whiskey River is located. His name was Black Jack and he was ultimately hung in Clayton, New Mexico.

“When I first came up with the name Black Jack Clayton,” JoAnn recalls, “I believed that I’d pulled it out of thin air. After reading about the real Black Jack’s dastardly deeds here in Arizona, I have to wonder.”

JoAnn’s experience goes to show that your imagination can be a powerful tool in naming your characters. Sometimes just taking what you know about your character and mulling it over can create a vivid and appropriate name. As these talented authors have proven time and again, character names are not only important, they are essential to telling a good story. Just about any source can be fodder for your fiction. You might want to try some of these sources for names and see where your imagination takes you:

• Magazines
• the Bible
• Yearbooks
• History books
• Phone books
• Family genealogies
• Directories
• Science books (for futuristic character names)
• Business cards
• Television Show/Movie/Album credits
• Maps or Street signs
• Songs

Baby naming books are still the most popular source for character names and should not be overlooked. These comprehensive guides have a lot to offer and most authors have one or two favorites that they come back to again and again. Following is a list of reference books to get you started on your quest for the perfect character name.

Baby Names for the New Century (A Comprehensive Multicultural Guide to Finding the Perfect Name for your Baby) by Pamela Samuelson. $5.99, 0–06–100753–6.

Includes names (and their meanings) from every culture and country as well as dozens of themes such as mythological and literary. There are some incredibly beautiful and unique names in this book such as the Irish Gaelic name MacGowan, meaning son of the blacksmith or the Greek name Callidora, meaning beauty’s gift.

Beautiful Baby Names from Your Favorite Soap Operas by Charlee Trantino. $5.99, ISBN 0–7860–025202

A compilation of names from soap operas with a summary of each character’s history. Here you will find such names as Frisco, Carlotta and Stefano.

Multicultural Baby Names by M. J. Abadie. $4.95, ISBN 0–681–45232–3

Includes African, Arabic, Chinese, Hindu, Hispanic, Native American and Hawaiian names as well as their meanings.

The Celebrity Baby Name Book by Stephen J. Spignesi. $5.99, ISBN 0–451–18788–1

Despite its confusing layout, this book offers an interesting collection of 1500 celebrity names as well as the names of their children. Names come not only from real names but also from movies, songs and televisions shows. If you name your cowboy Dakota, you’re in good company— that also happens to be the name of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson’s son!

The Ultimate Baby Name Book by the Editors of Consumer Guide. $13.00, ISBN 0–452–272858

You can’t go wrong with a book by the editors of Consumer Guide! Over 10,000 names, nicknames and variations as well as famous namesakes.

The Writer’s Digest Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon. $18.99, ISBN 0898796326

Lists 20,000 first and last names as well as their meanings. Arranged by origin with thirty six categories.

What to Name Your African-American Baby by Benjamin Faulkner. $7.95, ISBN 0–312–11348-X

An excellent source for beautiful and interesting African-American names such as Ijaro (romance) and Laiya (brave). Names are taken from four different African languages and includes the names of African kings and queens, gods and goddesses, explanations of African naming customs, a pronunciation guide, and popular naming trends. Many of the names would be perfect for futuristic romances as well as ethnic romances.

And if you want an added challenge: try this book:

Baby Signs: How to Discover Your Child’s Personality Through the Stars by Debbie Frank. $5.99, ISBN 0–671–50258–1

Includes common personality traits of each zodiac sign, how people born under each sign respond to the world around them and how different zodiac signs interact with each other. An interesting way of helping a writer develop her characters. You might want to keep this book beside your character chart!

Finally, for those of you who have internet access, a credit card and some spare time, check out the online bookstore Amazon.com Books at http://www.amazon.com. They are an incredible source for books with over a million titles. A recent search using the keyword “names” turned up an amazing list of possible sources.

So put your imagination to work finding the perfect character names and watch your characters blossom!