by Shannon Lausch

Created on: July 13, 2009

Stumped on what to name your male character? Don't think of choosing a name as a chore. Instead, think of naming as a fun escape from writing your story.

When searching for a name, always keep in mind plausibility. While creativity is important, plausibility is often more valuable. After all, naming your character, Solitaire Maverick, to reflect his nonconformist attitude is just plain insulting to a reader's intelligence.

But how do you find a plausible name? And one that's creative too? The following five tips will help you in your search for the best name for your male character.

Male Character Names Tip 1: Know your character

To help pick the most suitable name for your male character, you should know his background. Where did he grow up? What's his ethnicity? What's his culture like? What are his strengths, weaknesses, hopes, and fears?

Any of the answers to these questions can be a good source of inspiration for names. If you're an author who's opposed to character crib sheets, preferring instead your character to develop organically as you write the story, then work with any available information you have. The "Find and Replace" option in many word processors allow you to change a name without hassle if you should want to change it later on.

Male Character Names Tip 2: Consider the traditional methods of naming

To create a plausible name for your male character, these four considerations are key: location, year of birth, nationality, and ethnicity. These factors are what commonly influence names in real life.

You should also think of the parents. What would they name their son? What outside or inner influences (society, culture, attitude) would affect their decision?

Male Character Names Tip 3: Using symbolism

If going traditional strikes you as dull, there are of course other sources you can draw from to find a name. It's fiction after all. Abilities, talents, role, personality, hopes, dreams, fears, fate, and more can inspire a name.

But be cautious. Naming a pastor, Shepard, or a knight, Lance, would be over-the-top and may annoy readers. The key is not to be too overt in your name's symbolism. These names often distract readers and take them out of the story.

Names whose meanings that aren't obvious without special knowledge are better choices. If you want to name a character based on his astute wisdom, you could simply look up names that mean wise in any search engine and find ordinary names like Drew and Gregory. If you want to be more

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