# Help With My Story ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237 "2011-07-25T02:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lovelynana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@lovelynana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelynana)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/1 "2011-07-25T02:59:19Z")
So, I am writing a story, and I was wanting help with names, one of the main characters name is going to be Stella Diamond. I was hopeing you could help me with her middle name. Also, some of her family members(Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brothers, etc.) names? Then, just some other names for the story, friends, teachers, anything. **Please** help !(: ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/2 "2011-07-25T03:55:32Z")
Stella Skye (“stellar sky”) Diamond. I would name the parents Bob and Agnes. They had mundane names, but chose to give their children grander names because they were once optimistic that their childrens’ futures would “outshine” their lives (kind of like the opposite of Akaky Akakievich). Of course, I’m making up my own story here which may not fit in with where yours is going. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/3 "2011-07-25T04:01:26Z")
> [@lovelynana](#): > > I was hopeing you could help me with her middle name. Stella \*Hope \*Diamond ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/4 "2011-07-25T04:13:14Z")
[Stella Blue](http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/stella.html) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/5 "2011-07-25T04:37:04Z")
“Stella Della Diamond” has a certain _je ne sais quoi._ ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/6 "2011-07-25T05:25:49Z")
This is better suited to IMHO than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/7 "2011-07-25T05:50:47Z")
Stella T. Diamond (STD) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/8 "2011-07-25T08:12:26Z")
The names of the characters are only a small, small part of the story. Spend most of your time, effort, and worry about getting the story right, then go back and insert names. Names are only important if they relate to a character somehow. For instance, if Stella Diamond is an astronomer or jewellery, and she chose that profession because of her name, then her name’s relevant. Otherwise, well, nobody is going to care very much. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/9 "2011-07-25T09:53:49Z")
the names that you give characters “charactize” them right away, & I don’t know anything about your characters. w/o being cliche, they should trigger a mental image “known to go with” the type of ppl they are and/or what they do for a living. & a name can instantly tell the reader how old a character is (different names are popular at different times.) also, don’t give a secondary character a particularly memorable name unless they really affect the plot in some way. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/10 "2011-07-25T09:58:55Z")
and, look thru the phone book, old year books, newspapers, stuff like that & take the 1st name of one & put it with the last name of another. (you don’t want to “list” a real persons real name.) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/11 "2011-07-25T11:51:02Z")
> [@lovelynana](#): > > So, I am writing a story, and I was wanting help with names, one of the main characters name is going to be Stella Diamond. I was hopeing you could help me with her middle name. Also, some of her family members(Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brothers, etc.) names? Then, just some other names for the story, friends, teachers, anything. **Please** help !(: Names are easy and cheap. Unless you are Hawthorne or Dickens, so that the names \*are \*the characterizations, first get the conflicts and resolutions established, then (as our gracious Lynn advised) the names can be easily plugged in. Without knowing a damned thing about Stella or her situation, we could not begin to suggest a name that resonates with the story. Stella Diamond in a science fiction story is a very different person than Stella Diamond in a detective story. And, as we have said, unless you are writing an allegory the names are mostly irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/12 "2011-07-25T16:36:07Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > This is better suited to IMHO than GQ. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator And I think since it involves a creative endeavor, we’d be better suited to hash this over in Cafe Society. Moving it there, from IMHO. Ellen “Eustacia Millicent Vanderpool” Cherry ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/13 "2011-07-25T19:04:54Z")
Pretty much what \*\*Lynn Bodoni \*\*and **DrFidelius** said… But, I’ll play along anyway. My mind immediately gave her the middle name Marie. Kind of common and ordinary, but it combines nicely with the first and last names and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Stella Marie Diamond. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/14 "2011-07-25T20:09:00Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > Stella \*Hope \*Diamond That works. So would Luna. I like Trixie Rabidhorse Diamond for Mom Thurston Sterling Diamond III for Dad You know, so you get the sense that one parent is a free spirit and the other a bit stuffy old-money. Stella’s little siblings could be Sterling and RH. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/15 "2011-07-25T21:52:49Z")
When I’m writing, I often refer to old baby name books. I have a ‘type’ in mind-where is the story set? What is the social class of the character? That being said, my characters ‘talk’ to me, they let me know what their name is, normally. That said…Trace & Cori are calling to me right now, I am off to play in Muddy Gap, Wyoming soon… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/16 "2011-07-25T23:55:16Z")
Stella Luz Diamond (“star light diamond”) or Stella Zira Diamond because her mother was a huge Kim Hunter fan and named her after her two favorite Kim Hunter roles. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/17 "2011-07-26T03:41:29Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > When I’m writing, I often refer to old baby name books. In all honesty, me too. A Reverse-Dictionary of Baby Names is on my Amazon wishlist as we speak as well. Like [this website](http://www.thinkbabynames.com/), you look up meanings and it provides names rather than the other way 'round. lovelynana, have you tried [nymbler](http://www.nymbler.com/) yet? I bet you’d have fun with it. In the box where it says “Type a name of your choice” put Stella and see what it suggests for names that sound good with it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/18 "2011-07-26T18:35:46Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > The names of the characters are only a small, small part of the story. Famous trivia: Scarlett O’Hara of Tara Plantation was Pansie Fontenoy of Fontenoy Hall in the beginning scribblings that became _Gone With the Wind_. She also toyed with Melanie for a while before recycling it to Ashley’s wife. I can’t remember the names of the male characters, but I know that Ashley was named for the river in Charleston and Rhett for a wealthy and old Charleston family (and probably not coincidentally it rhymes with Red, Mitchell’s first husband’s nickname). ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/19 "2011-07-27T04:13:11Z")
The best we can do is suggest names that sound nice, out of context. For a better answer: 1. For her name, what plot device requires her to need a revealed middle name? 2. For her family: what is the time period and location? ---
**Author:** ![Melysnl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Melysnl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melysnl)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-my-story/590237/20 "2011-07-28T16:28:38Z")
I have a “name bank” of nearly all of the notable names I’ve heard over the years. Nicknames, pets, people, etc…You should start collecting names too.