I finally chose a character name from a baby book instead of making one up

For my new fantasy story set in a place like Savannah, I had to pick a name for my main hero. Everyone in my writing group said to invent a totally new name, but I went with 'Elara' from an old baby name book I found. It just fit her better than any of my made-up ones, and readers said it felt real right away. Has anyone else had better luck with real names over fantasy ones for a main character?

4 comments

4 Comments

margaret_singh12mo ago

Remember my friend spent weeks on a name for his space pirate captain, came up with 'Zylar Vex'. His beta readers kept tripping over it, said it sounded like a cleaning product. He changed it to 'Cassian' last minute, and suddenly everyone could picture the guy.

tara_palmer2mo ago

Honestly that hits close to home. Spent ages naming a fantasy tavern keeper "Morthos the Unseen". My writing group just pictured a weird stain remover. Changed it to "Old Tom" and bam, instant backstory. Sometimes you try way too hard.

ward.piper1mo ago

Oh man, "weird stain remover" got me good. That's exactly the kind of feedback that makes you want to scrap everything and start over. Its funny how a name like "Old Tom" feels simple but somehow says more about the guy than something flashy. I've been there too, spent hours on a name that sounded cool in my head but totally fell flat when I said it out loud to anyone. What did you end up doing with Morthos? Did he become a different character or just get a total makeover?

leohart1mo ago

Tbh that's the whole struggle right there. @tara_palmer knows what's up with the Old Tom thing, because I had a character named Zephyron for years and people kept thinking it was a cologne brand. Elara is a solid choice though, it's got that real world weight that made up names just can't match. Ngl, I ended up changing Zephyron to Sam and suddenly everyone in my group started caring about his story instead of joking about his name sounding like a fancy soap. Honestly there's nothing wrong with pulling from a baby book, real names just land better with readers most of the time.