Which Names Do We Avoid?

With a title like this, it would be obvious to talk about not naming your characters Hitler or Jesus or Britney Spears because of the definite emotional connection that people have with those names, especially if you are not trying to write an allegory. However, I am actually talking about the names of people in your lives.

What's your best friend's name? Now imagine writing a story whose protagonist had that name? How would your friend feel to see his or her name used in your story? Maybe honored. Maybe not. If the main character was very different from your friend, there might be more reason to not be excited.

Even worse, imagine using a character who had your name. Try getting anybody to believe that it wasn't a self-serving author avatar story.

You could try to tell your friends that a name is just a name and not based on them, but you may not be able to have them really believe you. But if you simply avoid using the names of people in your life, where do you draw the line? Family? Friends? Friends of friends? Family of friends of friends? People who send you random fan mail or hate mail?

I feel like, if you don't draw a line, you will run out of names you will be allowed to use. But since there is no good logic for where that line gets drawn, I say it is better to do the opposite and claim that all bets are off.

As a personal example, when I wrote this entry, I was really hesitant to name the guy Pete because it is my dad's name. But, aside from the fact that I don't think he reads this blog, I just couldn't let that hold me back. The character was named Pete. There is more than one Pete in the real world, so it is not unreasonable to have one in a fictional world.

Of course, I have said in the past that we need to write our stories and ignore other people's reactions. It may not be popular to write about unwholesome people, but you can't let other people's hangups from preventing story you feel you should write. And similarly, people may not be enthused to see their name appear in your work, but if you are simply choosing it because of the sound (as opposed to a symbolic meaning), then you shouldn't fear the stares and questioning looks of others for doing so.

Write your story. Name characters what they should be named. The only one I would consider avoiding is my own. But if I give somebody a different last name, I would still be fine to give them my first.