when it comes time to create characters, i’ll use BehindTheName.com. i want my characters’ names to mean something, whether the reader is aware of it or not. it will often lead me to a last name as well. i may change John to Johnson, Robert to Roberts, etc. and of course many first names double for family names — Douglas, Arthur, Randall.
but for last names, if i will often check two other places. Behind the Name has a Surnames site, which is not as extensive as its first name counterpart, but still offers some good choices and allows search by meaning. another is simply to use a Last Name Generator. there are many, i often use this one. i just keep clicking through until i find some i like, then i’ll copy them over to my list of characters is Scrivener.
so my name “paul” means “small” or “humble” and “andrew” means “manly/masculine”.
my last name “skidmore” is a little more difficult. while it appears on the Surnames site, it appears to be a user submission (maybe i did it?) and there’s not really any information.
i know from Colonel Frank Skidmore’s genealogical work that our name was originally Scudemer, from our earliest ancestor Ralph de Scudemer. he built “castles”, which at that time were little more than large hills with a building atop them.
photograph by Philip Halling
at that time “syddes” (Warren Skidmore’s PDF, page 9) were a hut or shed-like dwellings on the outskirts of a castle property. it’s possible Ralph got his surname from his vocation, building syddes on moors — Ralph of syddemoor fame, Ralph de Scudemer.
shortly after, it was almost exclusively Skydmore (pronounced the same as Skidmore) for some time, then followed by variants like Scudamore or Skitmore.
and so once i have a root i like for a last name, i’ll create some variants for surnames until i get something i love. maybe William becomes Wyllam, or Braden becomes Brandefer.
i only do this for major characters, mind you. minor characters get last names, but usually from the random generator, or, in the case of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, i will borrow/adapt from my friends whom i have mentally cast as that character. helps me remember who the character is, how they speak, react, etc.
in Scripture, names are so crucial. they tell you a lot about the story right out of the gate.
Adam is simply the Hebrew word for “human”. Eve means “to breathe” or “to live”... life! Cain means “acquire” and Abel means “breath” or “vapor”. Abel’s life was very much like a vapor, gone too quickly, taken (acquired) by his brother Cain.
Moses’ name is Egyptian for “born” or “son” (the Pharaoh of the Exodus was most likely Thutmoses III), but also sounds like a Hebrew word for “drawn out”, to which Scripture makes reference.
the names Joshua, Elisha, and Jesus all mean “God (or The Lord) is my Salvation”. Judah means “praise”, Jacob means “heel grabber”, and Israel means “God contends” (for the leg-pulling Jacob wrestled with God).
there are power in names. when someone says your name, it commands your attention. it makes what they’re saying personally about you. it can invoke joy, anger, love, trust.
names are important.
when Juliet says “what’s in a name?” she betrays her own argument; by suggesting a change of name would end her family’s animosity toward Romeo, she confirms the power a name holds.
names are important.
when someone hears your name, they think of all of you. how you made them laugh, or angry. your passions and interests. your relationships with other people. your motivations and associations.
names are important.
whose name have you invoked this week?