The Power of Names: How I Choose Character Names in My Novels
Why every name carries meaning and how character names can support a story's deeper themes
I believe there is power in words, and any kind of naming can be purposeful and intentional. Let me tell you about how I came up with names for characters in my books.
To a non-writer, it may be peculiar to learn that writers think of their characters as people, but that’s the way we view them. They exist in our minds. They take on their own identities and personalities, and they come alive in our imagination. They may be based on an existing person or take on characteristics of several people.
In my case, a particular character may borrow elements from real people to create fictional characters, but none of my characters are based entirely on actual people. I often fuse several people into one character. I’m going to use Lonely Dove as an example. I launched the 2nd Edition of the book today and published it under my company, Trust in Your Soul, after taking back the rights from my original publisher. Sophia, a secondary character, is an amalgamation of several of my close female friends.
Naming Characters
When it comes to naming my characters, I typically don’t choose names of people I know, especially people I don’t know well. The closest I have come to naming a character after someone I know is Anjali or Anji from Lonely Dove, who is her own person. I have a cousin whose name is similar, but not the same. I’ve loved the name Anjali for many years, and carried it with me for a long time. I thought that if I ever wrote a book, I’d name a character Anjali. But Anji doesn’t resemble my cousin in any way.
Naming Protagonists
So far, my protagonists have names that support their self-development and their character journey. I write about my characters’ pivotal moments that lead them to discover aspects of themselves, such as self-acceptance, self-worth, or self-love. I want people to embrace their uniqueness. My aim is for people to see that their ultimate journey is to be themselves, because true happiness comes from being who they truly are.
My characters’ names are linked to the self-development journey they are on, although not overtly. In Lonely Dove, Anjali, the protagonist, means “divine gift” or “offering” in Hindi. Anjali is on a mission to find her soulmate or twin flame, and eventually learns that this involves self-love; she needs to see the gift she offers. Anjali goes by Anji, pronounced like “Angie,” a play on the word “angel.”
In my second novel, Can You Be, the protagonist’s name is Naina, which means beautiful eyes in Hindi. She lives a sheltered life and needs to learn to recognize the possibilities around her; she needs to open her eyes to what life has to offer.
Naming Other Characters
Even the secondary characters I have chosen have meaningful names.
In Lonely Dove, Anji’s best friend is Sophia, which means wisdom. In the book, Sophia is Anji’s voice of reason. William is another of Anji’s friends, and his name means “strong-willed warrior,” which is evident in his personality. One of Anji’s love interests is named Donovan, which means dark, and when you read the book, you’ll understand why that is relevant.
In Can You Be, Naina meets Raiya, with whom she develops a strong bond. Raiya means treasure in Hindi. There is also a character with no name, whom Naina calls Holy Man because he appears at the exact moments when Naina needs support and guidance. Priidik, Naina’s love interest, is an Estonian name meaning “peaceful ruler,” and he holds that role in the story.
Naming My Books
I haven’t had the same deliberate approach to choosing titles for my books as I have had with my characters’ names. I chose the title “Lonely Dove” before I started writing the book. A friend of mine gave me the words and inspired me to write them. I am a pantser, and I had an idea of what I wanted to accomplish, but no outline. It was clear to me that Anji would have a vision in which someone called her “lonely dove,” setting her off on a search for her soulmate, but I didn’t know how the story would unfold. In the end, “lonely dove” became Anji’s calling card, so the title remained.
The title for Can You Be was originally “The Box” because the story begins when Naina receives a box from an unknown sender. The contents set off Naina’s journey to change her life. “The Box” didn’t sound like a good title, and after completing the manuscript, I soul-searched for a new one. The book is about Naina exploring who she can be, and thus I settled on the current title.
Names are instrumental to storytelling, and I believe they can support a novel’s plot and theme. I believe words carry energy, meaning, and intention. The same is true for the names of the people who inhabit my stories.