As Juliet said, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” Yet we writers place a lot of importance on names. Hours of research can go into finding the name that perfectly captures the time period, ethnicity, class, religion… you get the idea. The general public probably has no idea the work that can go into deciding between, say for example, Luz and Biz.
In my situation, I chose Luz because light is the catalyst for everything in my story, and luz means light in Spanish. I had intended for my character’s parents to have a connection to Mexico, but as the story progressed, it felt tacked on. I dropped that aspect, and suddenly the name no longer made sense. I polled facebook for another unique name and ended up stealing my seventeen-year old niece’s best friend’s name. (What, I write YA. I can talk like that.) (Hi Biz!) I still catch myself referring to my MC as Luz, but I figure that should go away once I start writing book two.
In the meantime, there’ve been a couple new additions in Hooville that have required names. One I’ve come up with, but I need your help with the other. First, meet Willow:
Owen’s keeping her company. Next, meet my newest love, my unnamed Macbook Pro.
I’d like a name that means the source of creativity, or the holder of all the goods, or lifeblood. You know, something simple. 😉 Any suggestions?
I set a naming scheme years ago to name all my devices after characters from the Stargate TV series. I try to pick a name that best represents the device and it makes things easier. I even worked for a company that had all their servers named after Hannah Barbara cartoons!
Ooh, I like those ideas. My car is a spanish name, while Willow just felt appropriate.
I love the idea of what you’re after, can’t come up with anything, though. Hmm…
Luz and Biz both strike me as great names! Unfamiliar and memorable.
I’m sure it’ll come to me. Hopefully. 🙂
I love Biz’s name! Hmm, for your mac. I pick random ones. As you know from my GPS Marge. Suzie the mac. Melody? Mackenzie? Hera? I have no idea. I can name characters no problem, but Marge took a while to name… Good luck!! <3
I love Marge!!
Of course I know people named Melody and Mackenzie, so I immediately thought of them. Maybe I’ll name her Isabella or something like that.
Yeah for your kindle! You’ll love it. Funny how I prefer my nook now to books…. & I fought it for so long. *sigh* Good luck with naming your laptop. I have 7 new kittens to name. I’m tapped out 😉
I knew I’d like it, I just didn’t figure I’d have one anytime soon. I still haven’t actually read anything on it.
SEVEN KITTENS AGAIN? O.o
Minerva.
Roman goddess of wisdom (I think). Makes sense, since it haz the interwebz. 🙂
Adam
PS – Or Steve. Steve works.
STEVE!!!
All of my gadgets (except for MacLappy) are given Harry Potter names, including my Kindle. Good luck with naming your laptop!
I suppose I could name it after a Ben Stiller character…
Love the Kindle!!! How about Athena or Zeus for the Macbook? Or Robin. Robin’s a good name.
Robin, I LOVE those ideas! Maybe I will name it Robin.
Oh, please do! Pretty please!
Mayyybe…
I’m sticking with Pandora. Gotta keep those MCs in trouble! 😉
It’s growing on me…