I'm going to start writing my second script, tentatively titled Abattoir, soon but before I do, I need to pick the names of my characters which IMO is the most irritating aspect of the screenwriting process. With my first script, it was easy; I just named the characters after the names of the directors who made my favorite zombie movies (except some of the names were shortened into nick-names so it wouldn't be blatantly obvious). However I've decided not to do anything like that for my second script. Kiss Of The Locust was a bit tongue-and-cheek so it was appropriate but this one is intended to be much darker with influences including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Last House On The Left, and The Vanishing.

In short, how do you go about picking character names? Random mix-and-matching of names just hasn't been working for me.

I "cast" my stories with real people I have met.  People who have the traits I desire for my character.  I am not talking about close friends who would recognize themselves, but obscure people I have met during the course of my lifetime.

And if I think I can get away with it, I go ahead and use their real names.  If not, I use something close.

This technique helps tremendously with the action and dialogue.  When you have an honest-to-goodness person in mind, you can ask yourself, "What would [insert name here] actually do, or say, in this situation?"

This could be particularly fun for you since you are planning a story where (I assume) lots of people die.  Cast it with people you didn't like  

does it really matter?  Whats ina name?  A rose by any other would smell as sweet.  or something like that.  Just do it randomly.

I disagree with the random approach, for myself at least. I always consider the character's ethnicity, age and background to some extent. After I've narrowed that down, I pick a name that sounds good, and I mean literally sounds good. It has to have a nice ring to it when spoken. And the first and last names should work well together in all the above respects.

But that's just how I do it.

see, people arent going to go to a movie, and come out saying "My favorite part was his name, 'Phillip' see how it rolls off the tongue?  What a great movie, the plot sucked but that name, wow!"

Now your thinking:  "thats taking it to an extreme."  And it is, but the cold hard truth is, no one cares.  sure, I guess it matters, you can't name all the characters george, that would get confusing, or you cant have some random girl named like "Lasamasakakakamarat" because thats weird.  But no one is going to say, "that movie was good, but the fact that his name was Ricky made it just a littler better"

Which is why, names really dont matter much, dont spend more than five minutes tops on names, its uneeded

You don't think names matter because most professional screenwriters know the importance of a name that fits, so you don't ever think to question the names you hear when you see a movie. If you heard an Asian guy was named Trevor O'Shaunessy, or inversely, if a white guy was named Akira Takanawa - it would be weird.

See, names are important. Granted, not the most important thing, but not irrelevant.

To quote myself:

Quoted from Higgonaitor I guess it matters, you can't name all the characters george, that would get confusing, or you cant have some random girl named like "Lasamasakakakamarat" because thats weird.

honestly, what Im trying to say is its not gonna matteras long as you use common sense, as stated above, dont give them a weird name.  Like naming a kid lamp. naming a boy Jane.  Im trying to say it does not need to fit perfectly because no audience is really going to care all that much.  No ones gonna say: "Wow, I cant beleive they named him john, jake would have fitted so much better" or "Wow, his anem in ancient alantisian means peacekeeper, fancy that!"

"I need to pick the names of my characters which IMO is the most irritating aspect of the screenwriting process"
Im also trying to say that in a script, names are the least of your problems.  dont spend 10 minutes on names when you could be perfecting your plot, get it?

Quoted from Higgonaitor "I need to pick the names of my characters which IMO is the most irritating aspect of the screenwriting process"

That's the main difference between us, it's not a chore for me. In fact, I consider it a part of the process of creating an interesting character - and I enjoy it. I've actually been inspired to change plot elements because I came up with a cool name, and through that, a cool character. The more time you spend creating your characters, the easier it is to write  for them.

I used to find names a pain as well, but then I decided to use the names of people I know and sometimes base my characters off of their personalities.

Higgonaiter, when reading a screenplay names are crucial, it's alot different on screen.  Unless you're an award winning writer, chances are you don't want to name your main characters Mike, John, Joe, and Jim.  No offense to anyone, but Mike and John are very boring names since they're all over the place.

I mean make creative names.  Yeah, no one's gonna name their character Lamp or name a boy Jane, but use names that you don't hear often.  M. Night Shyamalan is a great example.  In all of his movies he uses names that you don't hear everyday: Malcolm, Elijah, Graham, Bo, Merrill...it's a hell of alot better than naming your main character Mike Williams because you can't think of anything else.

Oh, well I completely disagree.  I have never cared about names to much at all.  Pete, you quoted me quoting James, Im not sure if you meant to do that.

Greg, I disagree, its not just onscreen.  I am not going to read a screen play because the author named a character "Malcom"  Al Im trying to say is that it isnt "crucial"  its one of the least crucial things.

Ah, sorry about the misquote, I missed that. I stand behind the comment anyway.

Here's a correct quote:

Quoted Text Al Im trying to say is that it isnt "crucial"  its one of the least crucial things.

Personally, if I open a script and find bland, stock names I tend to think it may also have a bland, stock plot. If the writing is great, but the names are boring, then it's no big deal. But if the writing is just average to begin with and the names are boring, then that's just one more reason to stop reading. It's not the main thing I look for, or even in the top 5, but it does mean something to me.

We'll just have to agree to disagree.  

Names don't always make the plot, but they should at least fit the plot and the character. Some names have sterotypes attached to them, and it's often a good idea to stand by the sterotypes. Some plots are intended to happen in Anytown, USA (or wherever) and as a result, DESERVE common names. I do think ethnintricity should be factor into the choice of names based on race or origin for reasons previously noted, so there is a measure of believability within the plot that has to be considered. I don't think a script can be fully judged based on names, but I think they play a backend factor on what you thought of the film afterward.

The names I choose depend upon the nature of the character. I actually spend an inordinate amount of time on the names of the major characters to make sure the name they have will work for who they are. To figure out a name, I have three primary methods: I go through movies I like on imdb looking at the characters and the cast seeing which name would work for me; I come up with a random name off the top of my head either using a real name or, in the cae of The Fempiror Chronicles, coming up with a new word that sounds like it could be a name; and finally, sometimes whle writing a name just comes out and I leave it. I just feel it out until the right one sticks with me.

Now, I do have a strong tendency to go with patterns of names. While I'm not a Winona Ryder fan, because I used a lot of names from Beetejuice in The Soul Keeper, I named the wife in that story Lydia Deitz, Winona Ryder's character. I then named every subsequent victim after roles Winona Ryder has played (Abigail Williams, Susanna Kayson, Mina Murray, Kim Boggs). Why? Because a point of that story is that they all look alike, so I thought, "Why not?"

Lastly, for secondary characters who usually get the names of COP 1 and GUY BEHIND THE COUNTER WITH THE WIG, I give common names, so they have a name to hinge on, so instead of COPS 1-34, you have Tom, Dick, Harry, Steve, Bob, Bill, Fred...etc.

My thoughts.

Names can add to the characterspersonality. And a characters personality has a great effect on how the movie goes over. We as an audience like or dislike the characters. The name just helps add more of an image and more of a psychological factor. If anyone has seen American Beauty with Kevin Spacey... the name for his daughter... Jane was a perfect match. It helped to express her character more. She was seen as a plain girl... Like a "plain Jane". It's not that big of a deal but if her name was something more flamboyant it would divert attention away from the real theme of the movie. And that it sucks to be ordinary... anyways, I dont think I am making sense now. But names do matter.

-Andrew

I always have trouble with names, usually hero names.

I like using names as a suprise thing. Like, you think the bad guy is Baron Von Killsatan, but it's actually Bobby.

i bring out the old high school yearbook and find names...

i also make lists of names that i like... randomize it..and just take the top names on the list of the specified sex of the character i am looking for

wah-la

I have discovered HeroDreamer's online personanality...

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/necromancer.htm

thats awesome.... lol


ive only been here a couple months...some of you have been here for years..... these discussions may have been dead for a while now.. but they are fresh to my eyes... maybe i just cant help myself
but i have to throw in my two cents

im active in the forums i join.... once you realize you cant get rid of me without deleting me... you'll join me


muwahahahahah!!

Oh, in all honesty I'm one of the ones who doesn't mind seeing older threads pop up, but you know some people are rolling their eyes and getting grumpy, saying "By God, I thought we were all done with that!" Of course, I've said all I can say on names really, and I went off topic so shame on me. I'm bordering on taking this role: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/evilclown.htm

Quoted from George Willson Oh, in all honesty I'm one of the ones who doesn't mind seeing older threads pop up, but you know some people are rolling their eyes and getting grumpy, saying "By God, I thought we were all done with that!" Of course, I've said all I can say on names really, and I went off topic so shame on me. I'm bordering on taking this role: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/evilclown.htm

no, no this is you...

http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/eaglescout.htm

Well, I've had occasion to be along these lines: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/jekylhyde.htm

Choosing character names is a hurdle I'm well past but while this thread is still unearthed, I'm going to take advantage of it. How do you pick names for foreign characters who tend to have different names we're not used to hearing every day? I'm asking because, in this case, it's hard to tell if the names fit the characters, which normally isn't the case when using American names or names in general that we're more familiar with.

Perusing websites dealing with that culture could help with some variety so every Mexican isn't named Jose. There is really no substitute for being immersed, but not knowing whether your character sounds like a Toishi, Humberto, or Sergio, I imagine, won't hurt much.

Thanks George. Much appreciated.

Awesome site. Great contribution.

a lot of my names come from songs and movies

Alot of mine names just pop in head - Or they reference a book or flicker.

Basically, what to do with characters the audience doesn't yet know by name, but will?

For instance, do I start  calling the hero "John" (or whatever his name is) right from the start, or do I call him "man" until he's identified?  And if the latter, should I note in the screenplay that I'm changing his name?  Because it would be confusing to suddenly switch from "man" to "John", wouldn't it?

If you see him on the screen, then give him a name right away.  If he starts out as a figure hiding in the shadows, you can refer to him as the figure until he steps out into the light.  Then you can call him John.


Phil

Phil's way is the typical way that works in 90% of the instances for a screenplay. There's also the "tell what you see" method that should only be used if there is a dramatic reason to do it this way. If there is a some reason to withhold the name from the audience, it can be done in the screenplay, since it is done this way on screen, but like I said, there has to be a good dramatic reason to do it.

For instance, when the killer first appeared in Se7en, I doubt he was assigned his character name since he was pretending to be someone else, and telling his name in the script would have spoiled that aspect since his name is learned before we actually see him later.

Now it is important to be clear on who's who when you do this and definitely don't get carried away with it. Most characters should be named immediately.

Quoted from George Willson Se7en, as is billed, involves a serial killer hacking to the tune of the "Seven Deadly Sins" as listed in Christian literature, since the seven actually listed in the Bible are completely different, although the Bible does condemn all of these as sin. Let's see if I remember all of them: Gluttony Lust Greed Envy Pride Wrath Sloth

This isn't Se7ev.  It's Gilligan's Island!

Gluttony -- Skipper
Lust -- Ginger
Greed -- Mr. Howell
Envy -- Mayanne (always jealous of Ginger)
Pride -- the Professor
Anger -- Skipper (don't know why he gets two)
Sloth --Mrs. Howell.

And Gilligan represents the devil and the island represents Hell.  He keeps everyone on the island.

Need further prrof?  You can sing Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan's Island.  Try it!  I'll wait.


Phil

Funny how this thread went out of hand after the first few posts.

I have a question though:

What if it isn't an important person?

Like you say, "a MAN walks up to the window and looks through."

Do you need to say what his name is if he walks up to the window, looks through, and walks away? I'm sure you don't, but just in case...

Sean

Is that all the guy does, or is he supposed to be some lurking figure who will eventually reappear?

Will his name ever be spoken throughout the film?

If you have another instance of a MAN popping up, try top differentiate it, like MAN IN HAT or something along those lines.


And, the butler did it.

Quoted from Zombie Sean Funny how this thread went out of hand after the first few posts.

Yeah, it was partly my fault. I removed all the nonsense so we're back on topic...well, except for Phil's because it made me smile. On to the topic at hand...

If this man walks to the window and then walks away never to be seen again, why did it happen? Why did the studio hire this actor to walk up to a window and walk away? Where did he come from? Where is he going? What was he doing at the window? How does this 5 seconds factor into the larger plot? Do you even need this MAN to tell the story?

Characters deserve a name most of the time. There are instances where it would grow tedious (naming every Overseer in my Armor of Belial script would be ridiculous, just as naming ever Storm/Clone-trooper would as well), but in most cases if we are looking at someone, his momma gave him a name.

Quoted from Shelton And, the butler did it.

Only in one of the three possible randomly selected endings.

Quoted Text If this man walks to the window and then walks away never to be seen again, why did it happen? Why did the studio hire this actor to walk up to a window and walk away? Where did he come from? Where is he going? What was he doing at the window? How does this 5 seconds factor into the larger plot? Do you even need this MAN to tell the story?

Okay so say like the man walked up to the window and looked in and saw a lot of people doing weird things and he found it weird so he says one line (maybe even one word) and walks away and we never see him again. Probably for like a comedy script or something.

Sorry if I make myself unclear.

Sean

With something like that, you're better of going with MAN, MAN IN HAT, MAN IN HAWAIIAN SHIRT, whatever.  I don't think an actual name is necessary.

Of course, the next question would be "why not give him a name?" Is there a reason this MAN WITH ONE LINE should not have a name? The script is yours and you can give every single character a randomly assigned bit of nonsense you think is a name (i.e. THX 113 or just call everyone MAN 1 thru MAN 26. As long as it fits the storyline, then it's good. However, giving a character a name in the script gives him a point of reference, which is also good.

i just pick one at random and trust me i know how u feel i have the same problems sometime. but i learned what ever pops in your head and/or whatever name you wanted besides your name just write that nam down. it always works for me.

I always take a lot of time choosing my names, and I get very picky at times. Sometimes I need a name that for me, just totally epitomizes that character. I try and think of the kind of person they are, and then think of characters in other films or people in real life who are similar, and see what their names are. If nothing about the name jumps out at me, then I don't use it. And I never use names I don't like, because it puts me off my characters!

I was thinking about this when I was watching a "LOST" extra, where they were talking about the characters. They had little descriptions to sum them up, and I write those and then try and name my characters based on them. I was thinking HURLY just so sounds like a fat guy name lol. It just fits. And the summary of SHANNON was something along the lines of "Prissy, Paris Hilton type", and again I felt they nailed it. The name Shannon has always made me think a blonde Prom Queen type of girl. Funnily enough, I think the name of the actress who plays her is a perfect example of a name just not feeling right. Why in the world is that hot young thing called MAGGIE?! Makes me think of an old Granny.

It's hard to advise people because names often have different connotations for different people. But here are some of the more extreme examples of names I've used and why:

*Tomboyish tough girl - FRANKIE - It's a uni-sex name that sounds quite masculine. If I wanted her to be a sweet girly girl I'd call her HEATHER or ASHLEY, something like that. Talking of which, the joke is that the character insists on being called Frankie for short, since she hates her real name, FRANCESCA, because it's too girly and she doesn't think it suits her.
*Standard, typical guy. Very average - JOE - Bit of a joke there lol.
*All American cheerleader type - KANSAS - Another joke really, but I also think it's a pretty name, and the character is pretty.

Like I said, those examples are a little more extreme; I just used them to get the point across. They can obviously be more subtle than that. I would definitely say that names are important, and I don't like it when people use the first names that pop into their heads, because it tends to be quite obvious. It's especially bad if they're used on wafer thin characters, like in a weak slasher script or something. At least if the names are interesting rather than extremely common, you can tell the characters apart despite their lack of, well, character.

I firmly believe that names matter. You can say something about a character simply by giving them a fitting name, and using more interesting names for some doesn't hurt. Sure, you don't wanna go so off the rails that you end up with some bizarre set of really creative and uncommon names, because that’s unrealistic. There are people with common names and people with less common ones, so a nice balance of the two works well. They work in relation to each other in a way. But an abundance of one type doesn’t work to establish characters well.

My methods of name picking are various.  I sometimes come up with a name based on the character's personality.  For instance...

I have a crooked cop named Val Bente -- Bente = derivative of "bent" = "crooked", and I took the name Val because I heard it in the Mel Gibson flick Payback.

I have a little girl in one script named "Hailey Marlman" -- the name of my girlfriend's daughter.  

I have a country boy character named Roy DuBoise -- Roy's a typical country name but DuBoise gives it some flavor, which is fitting because he's a country boy who's anything but typical.  

I have a cop character named Strick, who's a by-the-book cop.  "Strick" = derivative of "strict" = "by-the-book."  

I have a character who doesn't know he's doomed and named him Timothy Vick...which comes into play later when his name is shown on his mailbox..."VICK, TIM" ("victim"...heh).  

You get the idea..  I don't particularly think it matters WHERE you get a character name from, but I do believe names are important.  I'll never have a character named John Smith or Jane Smith (though it worked for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie lol), but likewise I'll never have a character named Julius Vandermooth Ambercrombie III, either.