# In need of help naming a character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 29, 2025, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135 "2025-12-29T06:58:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/21 "2025-12-29T23:24:21Z")
Presumably “Main Character” And I’d at least look at the social security website for names. [https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/) [https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/state/index.html](https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/state/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/22 "2025-12-29T23:25:46Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > And I’d at least look at the social security website for names. As I noted in post #2, and for which the OP thanked me for linking. Great minds think alike. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/23 "2025-12-29T23:26:20Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As I noted in post #2, and for which the OP thanked me for linking. Great minds think alike. 😉 Sorry. I did read the thread, but must have read over it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/24 "2025-12-29T23:40:28Z")
As do the both of you. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/25 "2025-12-30T01:10:02Z")
Grushenka? Stinking Lizaveta? ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/26 "2025-12-30T01:18:52Z")
See, I’m getting a two name vibe with this one. Maybe a Betty Anne, or a Sue Ellen. Or even Barbara Jo. But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/27 "2025-12-30T15:17:24Z")
Grushenka? “My little pear”? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/28 "2025-12-30T15:24:08Z")
My name is Sally. I always thought it was a name for some poor depression-era woman living on a sunflower farm, lol. Baking bread, feeding chickens, staring out over the vast plains, watching for Eb the mailman to drive up with her magazines and catalogs… Sally. Named after her great-grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/29 "2025-12-30T15:25:59Z")
She sounds like a Maggie to me. Mag for short, or Magpie to her friends, if she had any. Last name starting with M, for alliteration. Maggie McCullum, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/30 "2025-12-30T15:35:49Z")
Wichita, KS? Is “Dorothy Campbell” too on the nose? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/31 "2025-12-30T16:11:35Z")
How about ”Dorothy Gale”? 🤭 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/32 "2025-12-30T17:27:20Z")
If you’re interested in something a little odd, you could try Jerusha. It’s a biblical name that was somewhat popular in the late 1800s and then had a bit of a resurgence in the seventies and early eighties. It’s said to mean inheritance. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/33 "2025-12-30T17:33:21Z")
Victoria Emerald Shakely ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/34 "2025-12-30T17:40:52Z")
I would vote against too much alliteration though, lest you fall into the “Superman’s LL” trap. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/35 "2025-12-30T18:42:25Z")
Do a favor to your readers, and make all the names of main characters sound and look different. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/36 "2025-12-30T18:44:14Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Do a favor to your readers, and make all the names of main characters sound and look different Absolutely this. I write role-playing game adventures, and I always strive to do this. I still haven’t forgiven Professor Tolkien for giving the two big-bads in _The Lord of the Rings_ similar names. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/37 "2025-12-30T18:48:55Z")
On the other hand, all the first names should not be unique to them. I know several Mikes and Michaels, and most would find it unusual to know a bunch of people that all had different first names. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/38 "2025-12-30T18:51:57Z")
I advise writers to use [https://www.behindthename.com](https://www.behindthename.com), especially the Random Renamer tool and the Meanings tool (found under Tools). The site is a deep dive into etymology. Try also [https://surnames.behindthename.com](https://surnames.behindthename.com) for surnames and [https://places.behindthename.com/](https://places.behindthename.com/) for placenames. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/39 "2025-12-30T21:45:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > On the other hand, all the first names should not be unique to them. I know several Mikes and Michaels, and most would find it unusual to know a bunch of people that all had different first names. Are you saying to use some common names, or are you suggesting there ought to be multiple people with the same first name? If the former, i agree. If the latter, please, no. This is fiction. The gun means something, and the names should all be different. At least, if you want me to have any chance of keeping the characters apart. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135/40 "2025-12-30T21:50:59Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > If the latter, please, no. This is fiction. [![](https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-07-2015/86MLCF.gif) ](https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-07-2015/86MLCF.gif) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-need-of-help-naming-a-character/1026135.md?page=3)