It wasn't completely plain sailing to change it, as I had to make sure the new name sounded right, and that there were no subtle problems (such as references to his initials).

Regular expressions?

Seriously, although I know what you mean, I also think the problem of find and replace is less severe in reality than in the abstract. Moreover, name changes help you with editing as the find dialogue directs your attention at random across your entire novel and often highlights bits that don't work...

All part of the process and the fun, methinks.

G

I've changed a character's name several times in my WIP. I'm just about to do it again, as I've just worked out that having a character with a name ending in 's' is a pain in the backside when using apostrophes (Jess's smile, etc). I'm having to rewrite sentences so things don't 'belong' to her!

Sometimes a name comes to me straightaway, and sometimes I agonise and keep changing it, but I always give them a name to start with even if I'm not happy with it and know I want to find a better name.

I find search and replace fine for replacing names. If you know you've used 'Mrs Smith' then search/replace that too. Unless you change it when the MS is in final final version, you'd pick up any anomalies on a read-through anyway, but search and replace would do 99% of the job at least.

For finding names, I use baby name books, lists on the net (as someone else said) and sometimes I use phone directories for surnames. However, I find surnames easier than first names, actually.

I find facebook really useful for name planning. Say I decide I want a character called Violet but have no idea of her surname - I search for Violet on fb and it brings up whole lists of people with surnames attached. Of course, if the name is well known or sensitive (a murderer) you may have to think twice, but I've found that almost any name (first and surname) combination can be found on fb, so unless there are particular issues, it's okay to use a real combination.

Main things is... don't worry so much! Just play, and it will work out.

Deb

Violet - thank you! I was trying to think of a name beginning with V earlier!!

Veronica, Vivien, Valerie.

My Mum has a cousin called Violet. She's always been known as Pem. Don't ask me why.

Thank you - all I could think of was Victoria and I really didn't want to use that name (I wanted something a bit more unusual - which I now have in droves!)

Vanda, Vanessa, Vigilia but I think Verlene has to be the winner - something intriguing about it, not quite trailer trash, not quite exotic, not very common and yet believably everyday. She comes almost fully formed and I can almost smell the BO-ridden polyester of her hoody as she stomps off to work in a menial role, somewhere she hates.

But...

How do you see her?

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/list/0/V

Thanks Gauis

The baby names are useful for future reference. I can't believe there are so many beginning with V - although when you look at the type of name, you have to wonder. Vesta??

In this instance I was looking for a 60-year-old's name. However, I often struggle to keep character names different (I tend to go for S and J and then have to think of other names).

I know what you didn't consider calling your baby!

Sharley

I just came across this website, while trying to find a suitable surname for a character:

http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/

What makes it particularly useful is the "Random Name" button, which produces a surname at random. Interesting just to play with. Has anyone else ever heard of the surname "Diao"?

The Chinese call themselves 'the old hundred names' and they do indeed seem to have very few names considering there are so many of them.

Chinese names are single syllables, though, like Tang and Wang and Zhang, so Diao may be Japanese. 'Dao' is a name means 'the way', as in the religion, Dao-ism.

Oh, I just googled it and there's a Sengalese footballer called Diao.

Sheila



<Added>

Sorry, just to be clear, mainland Chinese surnames are single-syllabled.

My genre is speculative and fantasy fiction where there is more lee-way with names, but being able to make up names that suit the character (or place) does not make it easy. Sometimes I can agonise over a name for days and then sometimes change my choice, weeks later, to something else. To help me, I carry a small (moleskin) notebook around with me when I'm at the initial planning and turning things over stage (of story) and use it solely for listing possible names as they come to mind. Method of using my "names book":
1. I pre-list the pages alphabetically from start to finish
2. I jot down any name that I think sounds good as it occurs to me (this goes on for weeks)
3. When I select a name for use, from my notebook, I make a note that I have done so (so as to avoid using it again inadvertently).

I also try to bear in mind the difficulties a reader has to deal with when faced by possibly dozens of new characters at the start of a story. I believe it helps the reader to remember who's who if the names kind of "fit" the nature of the character (or place).

<Added>

It is worth mentioning that this process of using a note book for names helps me to avoid using completely stupid/silly names. Sometimes I write down a name that I think sounds really good (if I had done this while writing it would have been used in my draft) but when checking through my name-book at a later date, I find it to be completely rediculous and wonder how on earth I was moved to include it in the first place. In other words the "name-book" is not only an valuable resource for use when looking for a name (when writing), it also acts as a filtering system.