Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Rose, By Any Other Name, Might Be Rasia

Of course, then you have to figure out how to pronounce it! Is it RAH-sha, Rah-SEE-ah, RAY-sha, Ray-SEE-ah, or none of the above? It's a cool name. I found it in a baby name dictionary as a variation of Rose. It's one I'm keeping for a certain character in a certain story I've had in mind for years, based on a classic novel that is now in the public domain. "Rose", either the name or the flower but I'm not saying which, is very important to the original story. (If you can guess the original classic novel from that, I'll give you a cookie! :)

I've seen a trend among authors to give their characters unique names. I'm all for that! I've done it myself a few times. I have characters named J'Qhir (he's an alien), Invictus, Durak, Vincenz, Riviera, Jingle (a Christmas elf name, his given name is Alexander), Myghal, Quade, and Nicodemus. And that's just from the list of my heroes and heroines. Secondary characters include Jancy, Leviticus, and Seneslav.

Unique names make your characters...well, unique. You're safe in that there aren't a gazillion other heroes or heroines out there with the same names. On the other hand, do we distance our characters from the readers with odd and unusual names that sometimes are barely pronounceable?

One example: Myghal from my novella, "Must Be Magic". The hero is the Prince of Pixies. First, he had to have a masculine-sounding name. LOL After doing a little research on Pixies, I found one theory is that they originated in Cornwall, England. Other theories include that the word Pixies might originally refer to the Picts of Scotland, Pictish = Pixie. I finally decided to forget the research and make up my own Pixie folklore. LOL But while looking over a list of Cornish names, I chose Myghal, the Cornish equivalent of Michael. I thought it would be familiar enough. According to sources on the internet, it is pronounced Ma-HAIL, silent "g". It might be tough on the reader, but I really liked the unusual spelling.

So, Readers, do you find unusual names unsettling? Or do you like them? Do they cause you to remember the story—and the author—more? Or not?

And, Writers, what is the most unusual name you've given one of your heroes or heroines?

Posted by Lani Aames :: Link :: 8:14 PM :: 7 Comments

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