Blog Layout

What's In A Name?

Marguerite Mooers • Oct 02, 2019
My name is Marguerite and I write as Marguerite, but my friends and family call me Peggy. Marguerite is a family heirloom, a name passed down through three generations of women. Here is a picture of my maternal grandmother, the first Marguerite, whom people called Greta. Marguerite was a strong woman. Her mother died when she was a small and her father remarried, producing at least six more children, whom Marguerite (Greta) helped to raise.
This is the second Marguerite, my mother, who always used her middle name, Enid.

When I decided to write professionally, I wanted to use a name which was my own but which I didn’t use in private practice. This might be similar to taking a bowl that has been in the family for generations out of the cupboard and serving food in it.

My point is that names have histories, as mine does. Names reflect our ethnicities, the regions we grew up in, the particular interests of our parents (my brother is named for a book my mother loved,) even our age, (how many modern boys are named Horace or Randolph (I think Micah is making a comeback, though.) Few women like my mother are called Enid.  Names carry power, so when we are naming our characters, we should consider that.

I was once at a writing workshop where Elizabeth George and Mary Higgins Clark were invited to speak. Early in the discussion, Elizabeth George was talking about naming characters, and how much time and effort she puts into that part of the writing process.

“I had this character named Peggy,” she said. “And nothing seemed to be working with her, so I called my editor to talk with him, and the editor expressed the feeling that someone named Peggy wasn’t always honest.”

Wow. Really?

At the end of the talk, the host asked “Is there anyone named Peggy in the audience?”

I stood up. I had got to the workshop early to get a seat in front because I am a passionate fan of both women. “Did Elizabeth George’s remarks about the name Peggy make you feel differently about the author?” the host asked.

I had to admit, it did. She had made an assumption about me based on my name and she didn’t even know me.

The next time you read or write a book, consider the names of the characters. Has the writer made an effort to make this masculine character super male? Short names like Jack or Nick have a punch that Conrad or Thomas don’t. And  Kat (for Katherine) is a more muscular  name than Serafina  which is very feminine and one of the prettiest names I have ever heard. (The name Serafina actually belonged to a cow.) So, when you’re creating a character or just reading a book, think about the name, because names tell something about a person that no descriptive phrase can match. And happy writing.

Marguerite Mooers is the author of five murder mysteries, Take My Hand, The Shelter of Darkness, A Casualty of Hope, The Girl in the Woods, The Life That He Lived and The Lies That He Told. Follow her on her Facebook page or at margueritemooers.com.
Share by: