Several of my favorite characters have unusual names. I'll have the initial reaction of "Wtf?!" when I come across one, but if the character is well-written he/she could be named Tater Tot and I would have no problem with it. Some unusual names are even kinda awesome, like Anthem Fleet or Secret McQueen. Unusual names only bother me when I have trouble pronouncing them.
CRIMINY STAIN
(Wicked as They Come by Delilah Dawson)
TULA BANE & HECKLECK
(Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci)
MOOKIE PEARL
(The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig)
(The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig)
KAROU & AKIVA
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone series)
(Daughter of Smoke & Bone series)
BUMP & TERRIBLE
(Downside Ghosts series)
(Downside Ghosts series)
SIRANTHA & MARCH
(Sirantha Jax series)
(Sirantha Jax series)
RUPERT
(love interest in Paradox series by Rachel Bach)
(love interest in Paradox series by Rachel Bach)
What do you think about characters with unusual names?
12 comments:
I love it, makes the series distinct! Like when someone says "Do you know Terrible?" Readers will instantly know who Terrible is. Love that!
Yes! Great point, Braine.
Love this! BTW I totally jacked your graphic for this weeks post *hugs* :D
I have no problem with that as long as it doesn't look better on your blog than on mine ;-)
I kind of think there's a time and place for weird names. If it suits the world and/or your story, weird names are interesting and fun. I think the only one of your examples I'm familiar with is the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, but I've always thought Karou and Akiva were cool names, and very suited to the story, so their weirdness never bothered me. :)
Rachel @ Paper Cuts
You're right, Rachel. If an author is going to use odd names, I agree that they should fit the world/storyline. Like Bump, Terrible, & Mookie. They have unusual names, but they are criminals and enforcers so their weird names fit their characters.
I love Bump and Chess and ESPECIALLY Terrible ;)
You might like Mookie, Jessica. He's like an older version of Terrible. The series has no romance, but it's still a fun read.
As long as it's not over done, I love unique names, even in a more "real world" setting. Hermione fit in great alongside Harry and Ron...
Karou was a cool name, but I kept pronouncing it like 'caribou'...the reindeer-thingy. Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but I will continually butcher the name in my head if it has a weird spelling. The worst name I ever came across was a Djinn named Djinni (Jenny). The whole cast was Djinn-something-or-other. Awful!
I've only met Bump & Terrible but I do like unusual names. :) I was trying to think of some...but I'm drawing a blank. *ha*
SFF authors come up with the best freaking names ever. I keep a running sheet of names I find to try to convince my husband one day that it would be the name of our child.
With our first child I wanted to name him Dresden for Harry Dresden and he totally shot me down. At least I got Drake as a middle name. But still I CARRY the child shouldn't I have last vote!?
I love Rupert and Sirantha names so much.
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