Why do so many writers use similar names . . . (meaning, quote)

[Sandhillian]

Why do so many writers use similar names for characters or businesses that make it difficult to keep them straight? I have noticed this so often when reading and I am an avid reader. As an example, in the book I am currently reading the daughter's name is Alta and she has given checks to the Atlee Amusement Company. There is no connection between her name and the company. Another book might have a Charles Durnold and a Chester Derchold. Has anyone else noticed this? It seems like a writer would want to make their characters/businesses easy to differentiate.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by Sandhillian

Why do so many writers use similar names for characters or businesses that make it difficult to keep them straight? I have noticed this so often when reading and I am an avid reader. As an example, in the book I am currently reading the daughter's name is Alta and she has given checks to the Atlee Amusement Company. There is no connection between her name and the company. Another book might have a Charles Durnold and a Chester Derchold. Has anyone else noticed this? It seems like a writer would want to make their characters/businesses easy to differentiate.

Because when it comes to names, most writers are pretty dense in ways well beyond differentiation. I see this all the time. Harry Turtledove (or whatever e-sweatshop is churning out his books) is terrible about it. WEB Griffin is always recycling names, or getting them messed up. One Star Trek author needed some names for a cluster of redshirts, and presuming that she must surely be the only Trek fan who also cared about hockey, just used the last names from the Pittsburgh Penguins' first line. It's even worse when it comes to foreign names, because rarely do authors take time to ensure that they make any sense. I can't tell you the number of Russian guys I've seen in novels with female last names, or female patronymics as last names. I think it's the thing to which authors tend to give the least thought, generally to the detriment of their work.

[Maine Writer]

I'm taking a writing class right now. This week's lesson includes choosing appropriate names based on age, era, region and more. Thanks to the lesson, I'm in need of a new name for the protagonist.

[Rocky Raab]

I suppose one could just use Jim Smith. There are so many real Jim Smiths that there is a "Jim Smith Society" that holds conventions. (At least the name tags would be simple, huh?)

I sometimes will pick a last name from the phone book and then graft on an unused (at least in that book) first name. For some sense of authenticity, try scanning the credits of a movie made in the country you're writing about. They always employ a lot of locals for minor but credited jobs. I've "borrowed" some delightful names from Britcoms, for example. The Bond movies were great for this; always "Filmed on location in..."

[poconoproud]

When I choose names, I go through a baby book for the first names. Those books have the meanings and origins of names, and an ample selection. For last names, I use the phone book.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by poconoproud

When I choose names, I go through a baby book for the first names. Those books have the meanings and origins of names, and an ample selection. For last names, I use the phone book.

But in the Poconos, there are only four last names!

Kuiper, Witte...

OK, I am being facetious. My sister lives up there and not long ago she went to the funeral of someone's aunt. When she got there she saw a bunch of other people she knows, and they were there because this same woman was their sister-in-law, cousin, etc...these are the long-time Poconos people, not the more recent crowd that's moved in over the past decade or so.

[poconoproud]

lol... it is true that the family names of the white settelers to the Pocono region still resonate today.
Until about 20-25 years ago, this area was undeveloped....but since the 80's building boom, we have much more diversity as far as names. The big question around here is "Are you a local or a transplant?"

Some of the old names take up several pages in the phone book! You'd be surprised how many Burger, Solt, Serfass & Merwine families there are in a small town!

[skippercollector]

Maybe I do things backwards. I always have the character names long before anything else, even before I come up with a complete plot. And, yes, I am well aware of name history and etymology and meaning.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by Sandhillian

Why do so many writers use similar names for characters or businesses that make it difficult to keep them straight?

The technical term for this disorder is "lack of talent." And as you've seen, it's an epidemic!

[joetownmom]

Originally Posted by Sandhillian

Why do so many writers use similar names for characters or businesses that make it difficult to keep them straight? I have noticed this so often when reading and I am an avid reader. As an example, in the book I am currently reading the daughter's name is Alta and she has given checks to the Atlee Amusement Company. There is no connection between her name and the company. Another book might have a Charles Durnold and a Chester Derchold. Has anyone else noticed this? It seems like a writer would want to make their characters/businesses easy to differentiate.

Good question and good writers don't - or should not.

I don't. I actually take a lot of time and effort in choosing character names, first and last. I sometimes use names of real locations but if I make up a name for a business of some kind, I make sure that it's not similar to anything else in the book.

A good editor should catch things like that, too.