The novelist, film director, and screen writer John Sayles once told me that if he had his way, he’d name all his characters Ed. It’s so short, he said. He had things to say. Why type out a Sebastian or a Giancarlo when you just want to get to it?
Compare this to the experience of a Chinese friend of mine who went back to the mainland to visit family and returned with, of all things, a new name.
The change came through a consultation with Buddhist monks in the temple near her home, and where she has a relative who is a disciple well immersed in these studies.
Many things go into the naming of a Chinese baby—birth date, time, place, family, the fortunes ahead . . . But this was no baby at the feet of the monks but a young woman, married, working, and with babies of her own. The monks, all scholars, considered how she stood in relation to the five elements—water, earth, gold, wood, and fire.
water
When she left town, her name was Miao written with three signs for water strung together to signify a vast watery expanse.
wood
fire
Too much water, the monks decided. Wood and fire needed. 
Dutiful daughter, she deferred to her mother. Attentive mother, she did what was best for her daughter and took the guidance of the monks. Zhenyan, her new name, has the element for wood and a double fire sign.
Some months have passed and I asked her: has her life changed? Yes, she conjectured, but less as a result of a new name than due to the wisdom of the monks who spoke about tolerance and balance and other Buddhist teachings in the course of their conversation. Still, she loves her new name and feels like it ushered in new times, new destiny.
We are writers. We get to choose. We can go the John Sayles route, and just get to the point, or we can deliberate and decide a character’s entire trajectory through a carefully meditated pick. My preference is in the middle: a name that fits like interlaced fingers but which won’t slow me down.
Photo credit: water – Timo Balk, sxc; wood and fire – Alessandro Paiva, sxc
nice post. thanks.
Like Ted, or Ned. Or Ernest Deadwood or Rutherford Headstone. All middle of the road.
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Great post. I was just talking, two days ago, to my older son about his name and his brother’s name. I have been working on a post about our names, and how we have lived up to those names or not, but in actuality our names do reflect who we are, so far.
Being a new blogger, I would like to tell you that you have given me much knowledge about it. Thanks for everything.
Wonderful insight:-)
Wonderful insight:-)
would it be possible to translate your website into spanish because i have difficulties of speaking to english, and as there are not many pictures on your website i would like to read more of what you are writting
I’ve recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Great, I never knew this, thanks.
So beautiful, Denise! Each entry I love. I need to start writing again. You’re inspiring me, dear old friend!
Love to you.
wow, awesome article.Really looking forward to read more. Awesome.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me.
My name was chosen for me….. twice. The first by my mother, to honor my dear grandmother, Mary, the second by my freshman high school friends to capture my Irish(O’Rourke)shenanigans, hence “Rookie”. The second has stuck to this day…personally & professionally. I’ve done my best to live up to it. I believe name choices are fundamental…the person (character) either lives it, changes it or defies it. The reader counts on it being significant. Alas! When we choose it for our children…we are omnipotent for that moment & God help them!
Perfectly put. I especially like “live it, change it, defy it.” I believe I’ve done all that, at varying times, but most of us can claim the same, I’m sure. Naming my own kids was very hard. We bring to it the lens we care most about, and for me, at that time, it was protection. I wanted names that protected from the effects of an arbitrary world. Naming characters in my books and stories is also hard. Until I get it right, nothing good happens on the page. My son named the dog, after the hero in a book he was reading on dragons. My other son named the cat, after the feline heroine in an animated film he saw. // Thanks for your comment. Come by often. Always glad to have you.