What's in a name?

 As Mr. Shakespeare had Juliet say in that tragic play, 

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose 

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Well, that might hold true for roses and your doomed lover’s surname. Thanks family feud! But when it comes to naming a character? I beg to differ. 

Here’s my story.

A couple years ago, I submitted the bones of a story to my publisher who was launching a series based in a small town. We were given a map of the town along with key details about a historic inn which had to feature in our stories. I had my characters, their goals, their wounds, their basic personalities, and their names. I signed a contract and was off to the races. Yippee. 

No, wait. 

Someone else was already using the heroine’s name in their story and they signed a contract first. My heroine’s name would have to change.

Horrors!

Calamity!

Much gnashing of teeth!

How could I give this fully formed woman who baked delicious cupcakes a new name?

What choice did I have?

So … I renamed her and the earth continued to orbit the sun. (Though it still rankles as you can probably tell.)

Now we come to my current book. 

My hero was Stan* from his first breath on the page. I spoke to Stan. I dreamed of Stan. My heroine, Jinny, fell in love with Stan. 

Stan survived the first draft, the self-edits, the cruel-to-be-kind comments from my editor. 

Until I heard from a good friend that her marriage was ending. Her husband, Stan, evidently forgot a wedding vow, the one about being faithful. Stan broke my friend’s heart.

Stan was dead to me.

The Stan in my story? He had to go. The name Stan was forever tainted. Stan would never be a hero. Were I to write a gruesome thriller, Stan would suffer. He’d suffer so much that masters of Medieval torture would avert their gaze and consider switching careers.

I had to find a new name for my hero.

It took some deep thinking and soul searching. I had to forget Stan ever existed. Wipe all molecules of the other Stan from my memory and remove any hint of a connection to the hero of my book. 

And so, Ben was born.

Holy moley, golly gee, it wasn’t easy. 

I’ll be nervous about naming my characters now. Maybe I should borrow from history, or other cultures. Or be inventive. How does Lozamda9 sound?

*name changed to protect my friend’s privacy

Luanna Stewart has been creating adventures for her imaginary friends since childhood. She spends her days writing contemporary romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and historical romance. When not torturing her characters, she’s in her kitchen baking something delicious. She lives in Nova Scotia with her patient husband and five hens.

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