Day 5 - Naming Characters

[NellChenoweth]

it's like you read my mind! and, i don't like the name Chad either. but, i just think it's an ugly name though. i hate the name Emily too. When i think of Emily, i think of some weak, obedient, damsel in distress type of woman.

[seekerofbooksncoffee]

I do not like the name CHAD!

[TheAwesomeBunny1]

My brothers' name is James, but he's Autistic so I always envisioned James as mysterious...

My sisters name is Katie, and she is very kind, so Katie makes me think of sweet people.

Yeppers.

[jessicarabbit814]

LOL! I agree! Chad! Lol. Chad and Brett. Idky, but Bret does it for me, too. I don't really like either of them. Lol

[LexicalTrap]

Hanging Chad...

[kateekatKASH]

Omg I thought I was the only one that felt that way about 'chad'

[PeachesMacWhipPokey]

What do you think of the girls that are always named after a season? Summer, Autumn? And names that aren't truly names, like Ever and Haven?

[helenmcgellan]

you just.. keep on chaddin

[jessicarabbit814]

"But it is never, EVER, Chad." LMAO!!

[ais541890]

Chad Lindberg! He's awesome!

[blueimpediment]

i know a chad. i dont like him

[TEAMFANGALLTHEWAY]

dang it, my name is Emily

[lalalalala14anubis]

Lol my name is jackson too! So cool

[crazyslimshadybabe]

Your eyes are so blue.... pretttyyy :)

[CarFox6]

When I hear the name "Britney" I think of the stereotypical dumb blonde. In a few years I'll probably think of the stereotypical drunk party girl when I hear the name Ke dollar sign Ha.

Did you know that Silas is the name of an albino monk dude who likes to whip himself in The DaVinci Code?

[xXKaylieAnnXx]

I'm writing something like a story and my main character's name is "Kaylie" (hence my nickname). So, Kaylie was supposed to have a brother.

I have absolutely no idea how to call him. Right now, there just "insertname" written in the text. I'm thinking about calling him Caleb, but would that be too close to Kaylie?

Kaylie and Caleb? Does this sound weird?

[CarFox6]

@xXKaylieAnnXx I think that would be fine. I mean, parents often give their children similar names. It's not that uncommon.

[xXKaylieAnnXx]

@CarFox6

You think so?

Okay then. I hereby declare that his name shall be Caleb ;)

Thanks!

[amiful]

I had prejudice against the name Chad as well until my little cousin was named Chad and he is the sweetest, most amazing kid ever. So now I love the name. Ha.

[sam316547]

When I'm naming characters I always search through lists on baby name sites. Or look up names with a certain meaning that I'd like my character's name to have. :D Gottah love those sites. Seriously...

[3doglove3]

I always have to laugh at the name Chad. Chad. Hahaha!!!

XD

[UnnaturallyChirpy]

LOL, took me forever to name my male lead. He was NEED TO NAME until I finally did it, I actually jotted down in my notes "THE TIME HAS COME. HE'S NAMELESS NO MORE."

[UnnaturallyChirpy]

@UnnaturallyChirpy But nevermind. He's nameless again because your new book has the same name. But I can't be mad, your book sounds amazing.

[gixieblade]

My parents originally came up with Samuel Alexander if I were a boy. They couldn't come up with a girl's name they liked, so they stuck with the female variants, and liked the idea so much that they did the same to my brother.

For characters I invent, on the other hand, I usually use advertisements or road signs. It's fun to just play around with letters.

[tootsiebutt1]

My frat name is Brad

[JustMarleeYo]

I hope I’m a cool as you one day. :D DFTBA

[madasrabbits06]

I just met a guy named chad who is extremely annoying.... this is fitting.

[flufffyboots]

to me, the name Karen means an evil person who hates me o.O

[mheyize]

Chad reminds me of the hanging chads from the 2000 presidential election

[beyondbookworm]

Juliet.... the girl who killed herself for a dude........ -.-

[phoenix39]

I have the same connotation for the name Chad.

[VysBlog]

"Keep on Chad-ing" haha I have to get my friend Chad to watch this :)

[AlicetheShort]

...... the name Harry means a lot to me.

[AwKnees]

After watching this I was compelled to put on a mint julep mask.

[iliveonplanetspace]

I just ask twitter, twitter has some creative names.

[emmaroseful]

I'm having a tough time picking a name for my baby boy that will be here in November. I want something different, but not too different. It is tough thing to agree on a name with your spouse.

[crazybomb1671]

I am such a wierdo when it comes to naming my characters, I literraly draw the characters, know what they look like and everything then I full out ask them "What's your name?" And usually I get a response. Maybe it is just me being messed up but that's how I name them... :P

[FRAYEDjade]

You like names to mesh? Is that why most of the names from As You Wish are Shakespearian?

[emsmorningglory]

My name is Emily. My parents thought they were giving me a really unique and uncommon name. Guess what the most common name for my birth year was . . . that's right, Emily.

[rosiepoupakina]

Ha, my name is rosie :) xp

[WatersDragonfly]

ive never read sisters red before but maybe i will cuz i like the name silas lol

[pepsicola1295]

One time when I was writing, I named my main character's love interest James. From that point forward, I could only picture James from Pokemon, so I envisioned the normal brown-haired character as a guy with blue/purple hair, a rose in his mouth, and a Team Rocket uniform. It made for an... interesting visual.

[infinitasderentis]

I was watching a show called Kalahari Tails the other day. Curiously enough, two of the main characters (also ground squirrels) are sisters named Scarlett and Rosie.

Also, the mud mask is brilliant, and admittedly one of the reasons I clicked on this video. I have no trouble naming characters, but your videos are just so interesting :)

[wordyNerds]

Ha!

Lovin the face mask!

[emmetgirl]

My cousin and his wife just named their baby Silas. There's also a Silas in Weeds, which my housemate and I just started watching the new season of. The Weeds character is becoming increasingly sexualized and unlikeable (or at least I don't like him). This creates ample opportunities for my housemate to deliberately misinterpret any comment I make about my excitement about the new baby. Anyhow. Silas is one of my favourite boy-names.

[SenseOrSensibility]

Sometimes I like a name until I meet someone with the same name, who is not a very nice person. Then I tend not to like the name as much.

I tend to wait and let character names come to me, but I know very quickly if a name doesn't "fit" a character.

[IlluminateTenor]

haha, I have two characters in my book named Aesthael and Olandia. And I know a guy named Silas

[SlightlyBookishBlog]

Somehow, I have that same vision of Chadd, but only if it is spelled with two d's. Yeah, I don't even know.

[cookietcb2]

I can't read any books that have one of my family members name as the main character

[sankakkei]

Yeah, I kind of feel the same way about Chads, despite having a cousin with the same name (and he's a nerdy type)

[gabbiechang]

I always felt the name Briana was one of those demanding, think they are all popular and cruel girls...When I read books or watch TV, Briana is always the 'bad' person.

[shessomickey]

I often have trouble balancing very unique names with more commonplace ones, for the same reasons you describe! My first impulse is usually with the unique, especially for fantasy stories or novels, but I scale down the unique factor with most characters.

[TheMartynaR]

what do you think of Martyna/Martina :O ?

i love the name Silas, actually.. it became one of my favorites after reading Sisters Red :')

[ShatterdKhaos]

I hate the name Michael...Every Michael I've meet or seen in fiction was a complete Douchenozzle. So I'm scarred of the name. That and the named Brittany (all spellings) never had good experiences with that either.

[MammaMia]

@ShatterdKhaos Same here! It seems like all the guys I write that suck are named Michael And one Chad.

[ShatterdKhaos]

@MammaMia Yay! I'm not the only one. But for me Chads aren't so much dicks as they are potheads...I think Chad and I think of stoners... although I've never met a stoner named Chad. hmmm...

[MammaMia]

@ShatterdKhaos I'm not entirely sure I've met anyone named Chad. Weird how we can have that outlook in our heads for no real reason. Just the SOUND of a name.

[ShatterdKhaos]

@MammaMia I right, It's so weird. But hey, it is what it is.

[ATrueGeekGoddess]

I feel the same way about Brad

[MsKpopper]

Chad Dylan Cooper.

LOLOLOL.

[KelseyBeePink]

My best friend calls her dream guy Chad. I know all of his amazing traits and stunning good looks. My dad is completely convinced that anyone named Kim is skinny and beautiful, but Kimberlys on the other hand and fat.

[inmyworldkindagirl]

When I hear the name 'Chad' I think of the Chad from Charlie's Angels lol

[bookgirl1997]

I think you should do a video about what you think about the Casey Anthony verdict.

[tomboyonbeauty]

Yess! I can never find a good name for my characters. Ususally the main characters. I usually ask all my friends "Name. I need a name. What name do you like?" Until i find one that fits. Dosn't always work. Lol

[GidgetRae91]

@tomboyonbeauty You could try picking up a baby name book. That what my friend and I do... It works rather well because not only can you get suggestions for names you've heard of but most naming books have where the name derived from and the meaning behind it.

[tomboyonbeauty]

@GidgetRae91 Oh okay. Thats smart. I actually think i have one of those but i aways forget about it. Thannks:)

[barbrafl]

Thinking up names is one the most fun yet hardest parts of writing. I still have a character without a name and I'm just peaking 70,000 words. Still hunting for the one that fits. Glad to know I'm not the only one who searches for a long time before stumbling across one that I really like.

[booksessed]

You said Chad so many times that it sounded funny and I laughed like an idiot.

[scowrules]

I actually have a similar reaction to the name Chad. 'Never met a Chad I liked' and that sort of thing.

Which is awful of me, considering I went to school with a kid named Chad for YEARS, and he was the sweetest, geekiest beanpole ever. Nothing like what my mental picture of all Chads is.

I blame the internet, where Chad doing something stupid/being awkward is a runny gag for pictures.

[MsDarkMuffin]

I was so confused by Four in Divergent. When the meaning was 4, I kept thinking hot guy. When the hot guy was meant, I kept thinking 4. Argh. And then he had such a boring name that is so common in my country that I almost threw the book against a wall. I'll keep calling him Four.

[Rachelw]

@MsDarkMuffin I know exactly what you mean. I had somewhat the same experience, whenever I saw the name Four i had to keep reminding myself that it was a person and not a number.

[mckriket2005]

When I first started reading the Harry Potter series, Hermione's name was one of those that distracted me. I had never heard it before. So, while I read the first book, I kept trying to figure out how to say her name.

[EddieHots]

I know what u were talking about distracting unusual names. In the Immortal series, there is a girl named Ever Bloom. Its that it its strange as a name, it was strange seeing "Ever" in the middle of a sentence.

[ArtemisRampant]

Speaking of names, I love your name. Jackson. For some reason I have a thing for giving female characters sort of androgynous names - not always, but a lot. (I also knew a guy named Jackson once...this isn't a major prejudice, but I think any character I named Jackson would have to be invariably blond.)

[MissWolvesandRoses]

I love it when you do videos on writing. Even though I know it is mostly personal what works for any given writer, I still like people telling me how they do it. I have had characters walk into my brain with their names attached, and others I've had to go shifting through and change continuously till I'm happy. :)

[OneNOnlyBabydoll]

I liked that Silas's last name was Reynolds. It reminded me of firefly...

[thecindylorraine]

Would you like the name 'Chad' more if it was short for something like..

Chad-wik or something...??

[JessieLightyear]

For some reason I tend to name my heroines something like Elizabeth or Katherine or some long kind of Victorian sounding name. I think it's because I like A) the nickname opintions to help with character relationships and B) the heroine then seems kind of timeless and her values and goals can be applied to the past, present, or future

or I just think they sound pretty... one of the two

[TheMinuteVlog]

Every Tyler I have met except one was a raging douchaholic. This is to the point that my one friend Tyler got a nickname that I always called him by. No Tylers for me.

[TwizzlerOwl]

Is it just me who will go to baby-naming sites to find interesting and unique names for characters?

[JessieLightyear]

@TwizzlerOwl Oh no, I do that too. And then I'll take those names to a "name meaning site" to make sure they mean something cool or good for my character :)

[pandora181900]

Me during Chad bit: Yeah! Screw Chad!

Me during Emily bit: Uh... yeah... sc-screw Emily.

I am (guiltily) an Emily.

[Alewksi]

If you were in a character in a book, your name would be Jamie. You just don't seem to fit the shape of any states for me with that city name in them.

[realGeorgelucas18563]

i try to either have a character with a normal first nam, but their last name makes the whole name a pun like Cassy Blanca. or a character based off someone i know with a variation of their first name and their last inital, like you would be Jackie P, that sort of thing

[lolololliepop1]

When i read i never pay attention to names. I feel the character could be called anything and still be awesome. :D

[TheCoryKid]

Holy crap! I just realized that I missed Day 4!

Anyway, yeah, would not have liked Emily if she had been in your book. She's prissy and fake and two-faced.

[backstreetfan98]

My first thought was: "She looks like Maleficent.." xD

[ItsGemmaG13]

I do that too but I can't think of a name I do it with right now.

My friend is the world's worst for doing that though. 

[quirkyOverload]

Nancy is an old lady

Anabelle is an innocent little girl

etc etc

yeah i have this problem too. though sometimes i can see similarities between people with the same name. eg Kate bush and katie melua are both out there musicians.

It must be so hard to pick names for characters. I think that is the one thing that stops me from writing every time i pick up a pen.

[zanirra]

Roxanne is an amazing, rocker, superstar girl :) What a cliche.

Mary is a bore. Plain, ordinary and nice. OR she's this incredible driving force in everyone's lives and the fact that she has such a simple name simply makes her awesomer :)

[CrystalShinigami]

To me, names have their own flavor. Kind of like how you can tell a Harry Potter character from a Stephen King character, you know?

And, as for me, I name my characters based on name meaning, usually, and--OH MY GOD, your eyes are SO blue 'cause of that mask!

Sorry, I was writing as I was watching, and I looked up, and it startled me. <3

[LeahForTomorrow]

I usually find names by their meanings, if I like a certain personality trait then I find a cool name that fits that character. My sister named her first daughter Braelin, (Bray-Lynn) and at first I didn't like the name much, but then I realized that it fit my niece and now I think that it's a beautiful name. Her second daughter, Kaitlynn, also has a "funny" name, but Lynn is Braelin and Kaitlynn's godmother, so it fit. I love both of my nieces, no matter what their names are. :)

[TheFerret78]

That's right! You Chads just keeping Chadding!!! I loved this video. I too don't know where I get my character names. They just come to me. It's kind of creepy how they just come to me out of thin air.

[NinjaMtWayToNarnia]

After I told dad about the book he was like "So SCARlett is quite scarred!" 

[KellieCarson]

I knew a Chad when I was in 2nd grade. So now every time I hear the name Chad I think of awkward but sweet red headed guy. But I see the frat boy. Any time I hear the name Brittany, though, I think YUCK...like as soon as I hear the name. I think blonde, book smart, loves to flirt and snobby. I like my name. Most people hear Carson and think either that's a really pretty name or What were her parents thinking?

[kamikazestrwbry]

sometimes i flip through my baby name books until a name strikes my fancy for a character :)

[Boredallthetime777]

Chad is definitely a horrible name but I don't agree with Emily either is so common that it doesn't bring forth any feelings or thoughts. I think it's better for a character to have a horrible name than one that doesn't make you care for. Like me with Emily. Awesome video by the way!

[poppyberryrox]

Hey people! What does this name sound like! Amelia Roseary Elise Evermont? My character in my book.

[ANinjaDinosaur]

I have the same problem with the people named Jim. I know it's really unfair, but everytime I hear it, I just have the very definition of the average male bogan pop into my mind. I just can't help it. (Which is why when I was told that 'Jem' from Infernal Devices was pronounced 'Jim', I was totally pissed off. Who could be less bogan than Jem?)

[KatOfDiamonds]

I love your PRO TIP in the des-box.

Yay for naming names! Actually... Chad to me is Chad Dillion Cooper from the Disney show Sonny with a Chance/So Random played by Sterling Knight...!

Silas to me (other than your book) is the hottie from Weeds played by Hunter Parish...

Funny how I am like ooooo BOYS in this comment.

Bedtime me thinks.

[AndreaCLiraMartinez]

I understand about naming your characers. For me, sometimes the names come to me when I begin writing. But recently when I look at last names for characters, the first names come up instantly. Plus, I have to look up first names to match them with the last names. It's weird...for me at least.

Can't wait for your next video!

[mingolando]

I've only known one Chad, and he matches that frat-boy connotation you have.

Also, "17 a's and an e" BEST LINE EVER.

[LiamAtRandom]

I don't know a Chad but if I did, I would probably make fun of him constantly.

Naming my characters is weird. Usually I know how I want it to sound and what I want it to mean, but I have to hunt to find the right name.

[almostlaurel]

I know a Chad. He's very hot, but very, very, VERY...Chaddy.

[finnickfan]

Jake is my Chad.

[flyingcamote]

im glad you finally posted a video for today. i was hoping you wouldnt get behind on the 31 days of vlogging. goooo jackson! :)

and i also really like the topic. people should probably apply this to naming their children as well. chad's are a bunch of no bueno. maybe one day that name will just disappear. ::crosses fingers::

[desertislanddream]

Your mask makes your eyes stand out. It's pretty.

I agree on the name Chad *shutters*

[doubleAAbattery7]

I like to write a lot, and I understand everything you've just said about character names. I like to go for the more unusual, but still pronounceable names. And usually the first letter of that name can be the deciding factor. I always think of an L name as sort of softer sounding (or should be when naming someone soft) while R is always a more male, or more powerful character. When I have a character in mind, I usually go for the baby names and search through the right letters.

[TheBigBlueNargle]

I started reading sisters red today. I'm in LOVE with you.