Do You Mind Unusual Names?

[Zino]

I don't mind unusual names but if they are very foreign and long I'm gonna have a hard time learning them :'D like with some korean names in webtoons, they are often a bit similar, so I end up being confused a lot, when I'm not sure who is being talked about lol

[therosesword]

There's a great book: The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon. There's a glossary in the back with the names listed in alphabetical order but then you go to the page listed for them and you can find out where the name comes from and its meaning. The version I have is from 1994 so I'm sure there's a newer version but it's like the best book ever for names from all over the world.

[joannekwan]

I feel the same! Especially when they have similar vowel patterns.

[WillowTree]

Like Beau is a totally normal name for me

Funny story!! I had only ever heard that word pronounced separately from seeing it spelled. I thought 'Beau' would've been spelled as 'Bo.' So when I adopted one of my dogs, his name at the shelter was 'Beau'... Which I pronounced like 'Beau'-tiful...... We now call him Beauller because it took a year and a half for someone to correct me so it was too late to change it to 'Bo'. I had read so many books set back when people would use the term 'beau' for significant other and I had always pronounced it in my head like 'beau'-tiful.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

@skicoak Zzzax would like a word or two with you

[joannekwan]

LOL that was one of the points of confusion for some of my readers. I had to keep replying to them in the comments that it's like 'bow tie'.

Beau's originally short for Beauregard. Darn French and their confusing spellings. Don't even ask me to spell hors d'oeuvres (thanks spell check).

[WillowTree]

My sixth grade english teacher had a good laugh when she wrote 'Hors d'oeuvres' on the board and told us to pronounce it... The whole class said 'Whore's do-er-vers.'

[DiegoPalacios]

I have no problem with unusual names or made up ones, as long as they are fitting and/or sound good.

However: If you name your character something like "Shabadaba Shabadoo" i will find it ridiculous....(this can be a deliberate move too for some comedic cases)

[skicoak]

@skicoak Zzzax would like a word or two with you

Lol! I think Zzzax is safe... Unless we're supposed to pronounce the ZZZ part differently than a bee buzzing past your ear! 🤣

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Then in that case...howabout this guy?

[joannekwan]

Cursed. Get rid of him.

[Phantomlight]

This sort of conversation should be brought to the attention of the scientists who name prescription drugs. Like...how am I ever going to pronounce that to anyone, including my doctors? And how the heck do I spell them on a form when they ask "what medications are you allergic to?" I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPELL THEM SO I AM GONNA GIVE IT MY BEST SHOT AND HOPE I DON'T ACCIDENTLY SPELL SOME OTHER DRUG.

[artamazon]

Usually I don't mind weird, silly or unusual names. The only time I stopped reading a book due to the names was while reading one of the Dragonriders of Pern books. They all had apostrophes in their names and I couldn't tell anyone apart and I just got frustrated and stopped reading, lol. If I can't say the name in my head or tell the characters apart then that's too much for me. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it was one or two characters, but it seemed like every character's name was like that. I could have also been too lazy to bother and am currently remembering it wrong, lol.

[Rhonder]

The only thing I believe is that they should suit the setting. Seeing a "normal American student named Takeshi Narukawa", or "typical Chinese girl named Sarah Lindenbaum" most likely will be cringey if there are no particular reason for them to be called like this.

This is basically what I came to say, having been a victim of this myself in my younger years Deviations can definitely happen with justification, but I think it mostly is to the author's benefit to like... match the naming convention to the setting? Of course if you're creating an original race on a different planet or something you can make that up, but especially for comics located in real places... basically the above.

My personal example was in middle school I made this isekai-style story that started with the group of characters in a very typical north american style high school... but I also thought anime was really cool at the time, so I had a very north american looking cast of main characters with names like Raguna Takichiro, Arisa Sakura, and Tala Yumizuko. Ahh, that nostalgic cringe

[nathanKmcwilliams]

Impossible. Only Mr. Mxyzpltk can get rid of himself.

[liamnaughton7]

I think like many things it depends on the tone of the work. If the tones light or even just a little unusual then you can get away with a lot more.
I'm also partial to never naming characters unless absolutely necessary so take what I say with a pinch of salt.

[cherrystark]

This sort of conversation should be brought to the attention of the scientists who name prescription drugs. Like...how am I ever going to pronounce that to anyone, including my doctors? And how the heck do I spell them on a form when they ask "what medications are you allergic to?" I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SPELL THEM SO I AM GONNA GIVE IT MY BEST SHOT AND HOPE I DON'T ACCIDENTLY SPELL SOME OTHER DRUG.

Okay, speaking of medicine names... I still am not sure what brand is which when I want ibuprofen. But, with my asthma medication, I was taking albuterol for upteen years. Eventually, it wasn't helping anymore so I went to a new prescription. All I knew was the brand name since they were "different" turns out I'm just taking a stronger dousage of the same medicine I'd been taking. I had no idea.

[Iris-Grimoire]

That advice just sounds so american-centric (not even European considering the names you can have within just those countries). What matters the most is that, at least for your main characters, the name has to be memorable or can be shortened into something memorable. You can absoltely get away with, like, someone named Illanasagies Something Something because you can shorten it into Lana and it rolls off the tongue so well.(just pulled that name out of my head I hope it doesn't mean anything weird in another language)

A name that has meaning in a reader or just feels like it fits the character is what creates attachment. It's a lot of gut feeling to make them, but never stick with something just because it's safe, do it because it's the name that character would have.

[HGohwell]

That advice just sounds so american-centric (not even European considering the names you can have within just those countries).

Just to be super clear (I might have to go reword it) it was a generalized example. If you're writing for an American audience use "a good proper American name" like Jack and if you're writing for a Japanese audience you'd use "good proper Japanese name" like Hiro (wow all the anime I watch and that's the only name I can come up with right now). It's more use a "proper normal" name from whatever audience you're writing for because otherwise alienates your auidence.

[joannekwan]

For a fiction title, if one wants to pick a vanilla name (either first or last name), I think it would still have to be paired with a somewhat unusual name to stand out and be memorable, or have a good cadence to it.

Like:
Harry Potter
Jessica Jones
Percy Jackson
John McClane

are more memorable than
Harry Smith
Jessica Williams
Peter Jackson (not to mention there's already the famous director with that name so it would cause confusion)
John Simon

Like I always forget if the actor's name is Peter Evans or Evan Peters because both sound right. xD