More unsolicited advice, sorry.

The naming of characters is something that most authors put a lot of thought into. Maybe the name is indicative of the characters ethnic or cultural background, or they’re named after a beloved deceased relative, or the name is a literary allusion to a famous classical hero. In historical romance there are popular hero names; Rafe, Lucien, Sebastian, and popular heroine names; Grace, Catherine, and Georgiana. It seems that the same is happening in the New Adult genre, I have never met an Eden, Rush, Emery, or Killian, but they are all over the place in books recently.

All of this is fine but some unsolicited advice for writers when choosing the names for your characters.

If your main hero or heroine’s name is truly unusual, give us a reason why. I just reviewed Idol by Kristen Callihan and her heroine’s name is Liberty Bell. Libby pokes fun at her own name throughout the book so it works. If she had offered no explanation then it would of just been odd. Keep in mind that unique names can be distracting. I love Jay Crownover’s books but all the odd (but cool!) names throw me off a bit every time I read one of her books. She’s a great writer anyway but I find it briefly diverts attention away from the story.

Make sure your names fit your time period. Self-published historical romance authors are the biggest offenders here. Tracey was not a girl’s name in 1810, neither was Kelly or Cameron. Do five minutes of research and just double check that your name actually existed in your time period. Sometimes this happens with contemporary writers too. I recently read a new book where two of the main characters were named Carol and Janet. It turns out that the author was older and had named them after her adult children. Unfortunately the names sounded dated and it was a little hard to picture a sexy heroine named Janet in 2016.

Make sure your character names work together. If there’s a group of friends in your book and their names are Luke, Luca, Laura and Duke, the reader can’t keep them straight. I’ve read a lot of books where either the main love interest and a competing love interest or brother will have similar names. Colin and Cooper, Nick and Nate, Finn and Killian, if they sound too much alike your reader will be confused. Ideally you want different names that work together and are from the same time period. Adam and Emily, Cooper and Finn, Ella and Sawyer, all work.

Finally, make sure your name isn’t already taken or is very close to a famous name. I recently helped edit a short story where the main character had the same first and last name of a Disney actress. The author didn’t know she just thought it sounded like a great name and it is, but a quick Google check could have saved her some trouble. I recently reviewed Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas. The hero’s name is Rhys Winterborne, which is way too close to Reese Witherspoon for me and I kept noting it as I read.

Just put a little thought into what your characters names say about them, you want readers rooting for them, falling in love with them, but not distracted by what they’re called.

Cheers!