Character Names you've liked - that you've read!

[Shalyn]

OK - so you've been asked about the character names that you've created that you've liked.

What about characters that you've read? What names have you said, "Darn, I wish I could use that one!"

One of my favorite names is also another person's on this board's favorite names. But since I read the series first, I'm taking it!!!!

Chalaine - from the "Hidden Realms" series by Sharon Green
Tamarissa - from "The Blending" series by Sharon Green
Rissa - F.M. Busby's books


There are more, but I'm at work and my system's done processing.

[TamTam]

(snip)
Tamarissa - from "The Blending" series by Sharon Green

:eek: Woah, that's wierd. This name is eerily close to being a blend (no pun intended) of my and my sister's names. Tamara and Marisha. Maybe I ought to read that series.

[skysong]

Names of characters that I have liked:
Chrysoberyl from Brain Plague by Joan Slonczewski- great author if you like biology with your sci-fi
Jaenelle from the Black Jewels Triology by Anne Bishop
Phedre no Delaunay from the Kushiel Trilogy- Jacqueline Carey

Characters from my stories-
Elisa/Eliza- I have not decided wether to spell it with a s or a z since I like both versions- unnamed story
Tessa- unnamed story
Vesta- Winged Fire

[McClance]

Character names that I've read that I liked:

- Hrriss (Doona)
- Desvandapur (Phylogenesis by AD Foster)


I can't really think of many at the moment.

[Anareth]

Actually (I have book 5, "Prophecy" sitting here, as Shalyn lent it to me) it's "Tamrissa", not "Tamarissa." Close, though. TamTam--if you want to read them, be sure you like fairly predictable/repetitive fantasy romance (and don't burst out laughing at very silly descriptive sex scenes.) But they're fun mind candy.

Uh..."Moreta", anyone? Probably my favorite Anne-name. Hm...Kerowyn and Kethryveris, from the Valdemar books by Misty Lackey. Um...I suppose it doesn't count as making up a name, but Rae, in Robin McKinley's "Sunshine", is a well-named character.

[Shalyn]

Crud - I knew I'd get the spelling wrong! Actually, Sharon Green may come up with predictable fantasy-romances, but she rocks at names. I don't think that I've ever not-liked one of her characters' names!

And - not sure if this counts, but I love Cavatica's screen name now. It rolls off the tongue so nicely. Wish I could use it sometime....

[McClance]

I also liked Goshen (the Hawk) from The Gentle Dragon by Joseph K. Coates. It sounds vaguely like a name that I came up with one time, but I can't quite place it.

[Anareth]

Goshen is a biblical place name, with several namesakes. There's a Goshen Pass, Virginia, near where I went to college.

[Grey Bear]

Tamarissa is too close to tamarind for my liking.

I don't really pick up favourite names from books. Apart from Doctor Thirugnanasampanamoorthy, of course :D

I think if I pick up names that I like, its from classical literature or English lit from around 1500 onwards. I'm a huge Jane Austen fan (not to the point where I'm going to obsess about film adaptations - Clueless was wonderful) so theres always a chance of a name being snitched from her works. I also love Virginia Woolf - so much so to the extent that I called one of my characters Virginia Dalloway. She was nice, I liked her. Slightly bonkers, tendency to drink gin and tonic from a teacup, but still lovely.

I think the *worst* place to get ideas for names is from Fantasy or Science Fiction as a rule. I picked up this one book, erm, something called the Sword of Shannarama or something and realised that a, not only was it ridiculous, but also full of incredibly strange names that you might need a pronunciation guide for. I mean, good lord, it wasn't a book to put gently aside but to be hurled with great force, people.

Theres another name I like - Dorothy. Not for the obvious poofter connotations (what with I being a fully paid up member of the Pink Brigade), but rather for Dorothy Parker. Plus I've just finished reading "Wicked" on the side and I feel a lot for the poor old Witch after that apple-fed brat slammed her des-res on top of her.

GB

[Grey Bear]

Oh, and Biblical placenames are exquisite. My favourites to date include Jericho, Nineveh, Syracuse and Babylon. Of course, you can't get away with calling someone "Syracuse", so it had to become Sara Cuse. Nineveh is a favourite of mine - I named a sword-twirling, metal-haired assassin after Nineveh. Babylon's just got so many dirty connotations with it (I've had a Club Babylon, a stripper called Babylon Delight, a world run by ex-cons called Babylon Prime...)

Of course, the Bible's just as good as the Torah and Koran for names - especially female names. Mary, Rebecah, Salome and Lilith are some of my favourites. Plus Shakespeare is great for names - Jessica, Portia, etc.

The only problem with using a Biblical name, such as Mary, is that people often see it as old-fashioned. I don't think so. Biblical names usually are a lot simpler and easier for people to read than some overly convoluted nonsense. Plus, a character with a name like Mary has a set personality as soon as people hear the name.

And then you've got the Vedic texts. India is a massive untapped resource when it comes to names - my favourites include Rama, Sita (also the name of a friend of mine), Hanuman, Sarasvati, amongst dozens of others. You're bound to find something really unusual and unheard-of in Indian legends. Plus, Indian names are just amazing in their own right.

GB

[McClance]

Now I remember why Goshen sounds familiar! There's a species of bird called Goshawk!

[pern_queen_rider]

Sandraliene fa Toren
Trisana Chandler
Daja Kusibo
Nikalaren Goldeye
Eveumini
Glackiska Ivorasy
Yali
Kethlun

They are so...original. :D

[TamTam]

Of course, the Bible's just as good as the Torah and Koran for names - especially female names. Mary, Rebecah, Salome and Lilith are some of my favourites. Plus Shakespeare is great for names - Jessica, Portia, etc.
:ok: I agree with you here, GB. I love the names Naomi and Esther. (The story of Esther has always been my favourite Bible story.)

From Shakespeare, my favourite name is Desdemona. It's unique and exotic, IMHO. Too bad it can't be pilfered without drawing attention to itself.

And then you've got the Vedic texts. India is a massive untapped resource when it comes to names - my favourites include Rama, Sita (also the name of a friend of mine), Hanuman, Sarasvati, amongst dozens of others. You're bound to find something really unusual and unheard-of in Indian legends. Plus, Indian names are just amazing in their own right.

Sita is the name of a main character in the movie Fire. The movie also mentions that Sita (the original, not the character) had to walk through fire to prove her purity. Is this correct? I really ought to look into it some more. Some of those legends are quite fascinating.

[Aurelia]

I like the names of Adessa and Alessan from Anne's books.

[Vyon]

I like looking in the sports pages of the local paper for all the Polynesian names. Usually I don't need to for my own characters, they usually arrive complete with names. I vowed I wouldn't do it, but I've been commissioned by my brother to write a Harry Potter fanfic for his son. A.k.a. Cam Hendy. That name is concocted out of mixture of his own nickname and his father's. He will probably go to a wizarding school at Savanta. The current occupants of the long-closed Vasanta school thought that the idea was hilarious.

There's more scope for invention with Pern, because it's fuzzy around the corners. While we argue about the inconsistencies, they can be exploited for fanfic. Does anyone know the name of the river that comes out into the bay north of Tillek and south of High Reaches Weyr?

Meanwhile, there is a Pern-sized crawler on my ceiling that needs evicting (if I can catch it)

[Aurelia]

Is it a trundlebug?

[Royalmaiden]

I like the name Rhyssa, of course I got it from Anne's Pegasus series

I started a list of names from books that I liked, then I added to the list from a baby name book. I dont think I'm ever going to use any of those names, but it was fun to do :)

[McClance]

Haven't actually read it except for on a Message Board, but I love the name of Moya from FarScape. Just something about how it's pronounced.

[Aurelia]

I like the name of Uloa, from DD

[Monkeysrule]

Uh..."Moreta", anyone? Probably my favorite Anne-name.
I love that name, as well as Mirrim, for some reason, and Menolly. (I also happen to like the characters themselves.)

[Monkeysrule]

I like the name of Uloa, from DD
Chronicles of Pern, actually. Second Weyr. IIRC.

[Vyon]

Is it a trundlebug?

No, it was a New Zealand Wood Beetle, aka "Gisborne cocroach," and I'm not all that fond of black, thumb-joint sized cocroaches crawling on the ceiling above my bed, even if I know they're completely harmless. I missed it too. They breed in the fig-ivy that covers the outside of my basement flat.

[Bane]

I liked Odd Thomas..which is the name of the main character in Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas. Heh...who'd'a thunk.

I like Phedre from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy.

Robin (no, not the Batman one) from Orson Scott Card's Lost Boys is a nice name. As is Don Lark from O.S. Card's Homebody.

I like those.

[Aurelia]

I really like Lessa and Aramina as names, as well as Brinna, who had a son by F'lessan.

For boys, I like Elgion and Grogellan.

[Just Bob]

I would kind of like to nab the name of Hannibal Lecter if the original weren't so well known, and now has such clear psychopathic connotations.
I was rather fond of the name 'Ezekiel' until I saw two or three things with African-American characters of that name. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's not at all what I had in mind for my character, and it rather spoils it that the name is no longer rare and exotic in my mind.

[Ryuu]

There was a movie that starred Roger Moore and Anthony Hopkins called "ffolks" -- & yes, that's the correct capitalization of the title.

The story was of the hijacking for extortion of a couple oil rigs and a supply ship in the North Sea. The platforms and ship's names were: Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer.

[granath]

Some of my favorite Anne names are: Menolly, Morgelle, Lunzie, Moreta, Isthia, Damia (a fairly obvious femininization of Damian), Felessan, Piemur, Killashandra Ree, Larak. I love the name Angharad Gwyn, although that's a real Welsh name so I suppose it doesn't really count.

I love some of the names in Robin Hobb's Six Duchies/Pirate Isles trilogies. Althea and Malta Vestrit especially.

LotR is full of lovely names: Boromir, Faramir, Aragorn/Elessar, Arwen, Tinúviel, Legolas, Éowyn, Galadriel, Celeborn, Gandalf...

[GR'ass]

I loved Tobias from K.A .Applegates Animorphs,

Gaia from Francine Pascals Fearless series,

Lirael and Sabriel from Garth Nix's Old Kingdom trilogy,
Tarquin from Anne Rice's Blackwood Farm,
Verildaine Sarrasi from Tamora Pierce's Wild Magic Quartet, Dovesary from Pierce's Trickster,

One I read somewhere (can't remember the book, if anyone knows it, tell me) by the name of Jamethiel Dream Weaver,

Favourite Anne names would have to be Amareeha, Tirla, Damia, Laria and most definately Wind Blossom.

From Urban Shaman (can't remember author) Siobahn Walkingstick

Going to stop now, otherwise it'll be a real long list. . . . .

Oh, one other, a character from one of Sherrilyn Kenyons Dark Hunter novels, Sunshine Runningwolf

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

I'm with GB and Granath, I love Biblical names, and just about EVERY name in LotR :good:

For Biblical names/locales, I like Gilead, Manasseh, Bethel, Canaan, Japheth, Zephaniah, Malachi, Galilee, Corinth (I've used this for a dragon name:ok:), Ephesus, Gomorrah, Micah (Sorry, I just really like my name :D) and SO many more.

As for Pern names, my favorites are Sharra, Menolly, Robinton, Moreta, Sallah, Benden and of course, Pern!

[GR'ass]

Favourite names as well, Nathenial, yes Micah :evil: and Kalika, a derivative of Kali-ma. She is an Indian Goddess, I think.

[granath]

Some Hindu deities have lovely names too: Vishnu, Shiva, Hanuman.

Finnish mythology also has some lovely names, although they're obviously not very exotic to my ears: Aino, Ilmatar, Joukahainen, Väinämöinen...

[Just Bob]

Some Hindu deities have lovely names too: Vishnu, Shiva, Hanuman.

Finnish mythology also has some lovely names, although they're obviously not very exotic to my ears: Aino, Ilmatar, Joukahainen, Väinämöinen...
Plenty exotic from where I'm sitting.:good: