Character Names + Help - Comments

1. Because pretty much all my stories are now centered around Japanese people, I use names that I know of, or if I want a name to match a personality, I look up the different meanings of names and the different variations of names.

2. With some characters. It works better with Japanese names because you can't really match the name Erika to a personality, but with names like Takumi (artisan), it's easy to match it with certain personality traits.

3. Yes, and I picture names based on physical appearances.

4. When people have super unrealistic names, or names that are really hard to pronounce. Or when the names are way too common. Urgh.

I don't see the problem with reusing the name. If you want to, go ahead. Maybe if you used a different spelling? Like, instead of Amber, it could be Ambre? I don't really know. I don't usually use Western names, so... ^^''

1. I think of names I know off the top of my head and start typing them into the story until the character finds one that they like. I also like to go by names that were popular when the character was born.
2. Not really, because not ever Hannah is exactly the same.
3. Yes.
4. When characters have super strange names. I understand that there are people out there who have names like Adele and Oceania, but it's pretty rare, especially today.

If you want to go ahead. Each character is different, so it doesn't really matter that their names are the same.

Character names matter to me more now than they used to. :3

1. I think of their personality first, then their ethnic background.
I look up the etymology of possible character names afterward.
2. Sometimes, yes.
3. Yes.
4. It's petty, but I don't like it when a character has first and middle
names that don't mesh well. Of course, that's my perspective
of it, I'm sure people will think my character has a strange
combination of first and middle names.

If I were you, I wouldn't reuse the name because of your initial
confusion and the previous story, despite it being a different
plot and whatnot. I don't think I could do it. Ultimately though,
it's what you're comfortable doing.