Naming Characters

Think coming up with names is as easy as flipping through a phonebook?

Ha!

A character's name tells a lot about the person.  What connections do you want to draw?  What character traits do you want to emphasize?  What do you want your readers to know about your character simply by looking up the meaning of his or her name?  These are all things that go into naming a character.  For example, Dana of En Tequila Es Verdad says:

What's in a name? A hell of a lot. Deciding to use the link to Shakespearean names shows me that his parents are cultured and a little loopy. This guy's either going to be super-confident or a bundle of complexes from a childhood of dealing with schoolyard taunts.

Dana has just gone through the exciting and exhausting process of naming a new character.  Not only did she post this awesome link to naming resources for writers, but by sharing how she arrived at the name, she's given writers everywhere just a little insight into what's involved.

Read her post.  Learn from it.  Then go forth and name your characters with the same care you name your children.  Or pets.  Or spider plant.