Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What's in a name?, July 6, 2000
This book is not just for writers, but for researches or anyone who wants to know the history and meaning behind a name; their own name or that of a child soon to be born. Beginning with The Importance of a Name you discover ways to make people care about the person simply by choosing a name. Next is the importance of Characternyms, or what does the name impart? One of the examples is Magnum from the Hawaii based TV series starring Tom Selleck. Magnum is not only a wine bottle that holds twice as much as a normal liter, but it is also a very powerful bullet. We are presented with a hero that is "bigger than life" but who also is effervescent, strong, and brings the ring of sex appeal that champagne, laughter and a stunning force carry with them. It was a masterful name selection. There are names by genre, gender, country (including illusive Native American, Latin, Greek, Russian and more) as well as notes in how to use the names to create the right impression: for example "...the Norman invasion in 1066...English were referred to by occupation...Aiken the Miller or Aisley of York." Character Naming Source Book is filled with gems and is far more than a general account about names. For example Victoria (my name) is Latin and means triumphant. Feminine derivatives are also Viktoria (Hungarian-victorious, Swedish-victory) Vittoria (Spanish-victor), Victrix, Vincentia, Victrixa; in Scottish Vika is "from the creek" and Torra is "from the castle." It would appear that I am a triumphant female from the castle by the creek. This is only a small sample of the wealth within these pages. Without doubt this is one of most complete histories of names that I have ever read, and I have about five books just on naming. I recommend this book unequivocally.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensable!, February 12, 2000
By A Customer
If you're a novelist then you need this book. Its the best character-naming book I ever found. The name lists are conveniently organized for easy access, into categories like Anglo-Saxon, Arabic, Native American, Welsh, etc, and each chapter gives you a general idea of last names too. There is even a chapter for Arthurian legend names! This is a thick book and probably all you'll ever need for giving your characters authentic names. Hopefully, this book will make it less likely for us to see a Russian character with the Swedish spelling of the name Sonja. There are so many names that sound the same in different cultures, but a simple difference in spelling can make all the difference for an authentic character. The name Valerio sounds so Italian, does't it? There are a lot of Native Americans that might argue with you about that. You might want a "very English" character to have the name Brit . . . but you're actually giving that character a common Norse name. A lot of Americans assume its British, but you'll have a hard time finding many British people named Brit. How do you spell and pronounce Nicole? The Greek way or the French way? I could go on and on with the value of this book.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Quick-Fix Character-Naming Book, February 12, 2006
Anyone who has been writing for some time knows just how difficult it is to come up with meaningful character names. Yet having a meaningful name, one relevant to the story, is as integral a part of the plotting process as the actual outline itself. Naming a character who is a free-spirit Todd is just wrong; it reflects nothing but laziness on the part of the writer. Francis, which actually means free, is a much better alternative, and matches almost perfectly.
Another thing this book is good for is for fantasy writing. How many of you have a read a fantasy story and found the names of characters so strange that it could only have been made up? This book actually tells us to use established names and warp them or combine them to give more suitable fantasy names.
This book also has a huge selection of nationalities, from African to Welsh, and everything between, including dead languages such as Latin, as well as Asian nationalities like Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. It provides male and female names as well as their meanings, along with common family names.
Though The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook obviously isn't meant for every writer, it's definitely an important book for fiction writers. It helps to legitimize a story's plot or theme by providing meaningful names, and also shows that a writer is willing to do some research in order to succeed in his or her writing. So, if you you're a genre writer, I'd highly recommend this book, and put the phone book back where it should be: next to your phone.
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