Names You Hate in Stories

  • bashful

    bashful (100)

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    i saw sparks:
    I'm also beginning to hate female characters with traditionally male names, if only because I feel deceived when I get a good way into the story thinking it's a guy and realize that it's a girl XD
    This, definitely. It's also very disconcerting when a character's sex/gender remains not mentioned throughout most of a story and then suddenly they're male or female. I'd much prefer it if it remained ambiguous or was stated/described clearly at the start since my mental image of the character gets completely messed with otherwise. tehe
    June 29th, 2013 at 01:04pm
  • nearly witches.

    nearly witches. (15250)

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    angus young:
    I've not seen it much on here, but on Quizilla I remember reading a story that featured a lot of Scottish and Irish characters. The main characters were American and had relatively normal names. Every Scot/Irish person had a hardcore Gaelic name with about two million unnecessary letters ("Kirsty" became "Choirstadh"). It happens here, but I've never met a single person with a name like that, and the closest is "Mhairi" which is quite common, and I know an Irish lass named Roisin, but WE HAVE "NORMAL" NAMES TOO. Cheese
    This irritates me to no end. I live on the west coast of Scotland and I have never heard of someone spelling Kirsty as Choirstadh. In fact, the only person I know with a vaguely Gaelic spelling of a name is one of my friends, Ceilidh (Kayleigh, essentially). Most of the people I go to university with have really normal names, like Ciaran, Amy, Karen and Stephanie. I think it's nice to have one character having an unusual name for geography's sake, but when it's every other character, it does get a little irritating. If you can't do the research on the names in the area then you should write about an area that you're more familiar with.
    It sounds a bit weird, but I don't like the names Stephanie, Danielle, Rachel and so forth on mean girls. Not because it's overdone, but because I know someone by each of the names and I wouldn't consider any of them to be nasty. I think television over-produced the idea of the mean girls having these names and people now forget about the 'real life' people with those names. I don't think I've met a nasty Stephanie yet.
    July 5th, 2013 at 11:29am
  • angus young

    angus young (355)

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    dougie poynter;:
    It sounds a bit weird, but I don't like the names Stephanie, Danielle, Rachel and so forth on mean girls. Not because it's overdone, but because I know someone by each of the names and I wouldn't consider any of them to be nasty. I think television over-produced the idea of the mean girls having these names and people now forget about the 'real life' people with those names. I don't think I've met a nasty Stephanie yet.
    I get what you mean. Names like Jessica and Brittany are always the ones given to mean bitch cheerleaders.
    July 5th, 2013 at 05:10pm
  • bona drag.

    bona drag. (935)

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    I'm getting a little turned off by the fact every leading girl is now named something really hip like Sutton, Fern, Peyton, Hayden, Avery, etc. I've never met anyone my age with those names. What's so wrong with naming a 20-something British girl Louise? That's normal. I'd just like to see one Katie or Laura as a main character. It seems like only secondary in passing characters get common names and the main girl has to be something super unique.
    July 5th, 2013 at 08:52pm
  • done in love.

    done in love. (200)

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    @ LaDeDanielle
    Not trying to start anything here, but I've heard names like that before. I've met a Cherry before, actually. And I have a friend named Margarita, who's named after her mother. You'd be surprised at some of the names that are out there.

    ----

    I may have mentioned this before, but I can't stand when last names don't make sense. I get trying to be "different" and not name your character Smith or Williams or something common like that. But some of the last names I see on this site just make me cringe really badly. Don't get me wrong, I know some people with really odd last names, but some people actually do have common names. Or at least simple names.

    My last name is Black. It's not super common, like Smith, but it's also really simple. It's so simple that sometimes people mess it up just because they think it should be more unique than it is. I've had appointments made where they put my name down as Plack. I consistently have to say, "Just like the color" because people want to spell it differently. It'd be really nice to see some last names like that on characters. Simple, but also not too common.
    July 8th, 2013 at 12:22pm
  • Lloyd Christmas

    Lloyd Christmas (100)

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    Anything that's a word.
    July 11th, 2013 at 11:38am
  • fen'harel

    fen'harel (560)

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    I really don't like when authors put in a latin@ character and they only have like one name one surname. Mexico the norm is the first name (a second name commonly following it), father's first surname, and mother's first surname; this is typical for traditional families (a mother and a father). In single parent families, it is common for the women to pass on both their surnames to their children.

    In my case, my name is not Edna Martinez. My name is Edna Aileen Martínez Soto.

    This, of course, changes if the children were born in the U.S. and parents decided to leave the one name, middle initial, and one surname, but, if your character was born in, let's say, Mexico, then the norm and the actual laws when registering a newborn requires you to have two surnames.

    I would love to see more cultural diversity in names.
    July 11th, 2013 at 07:00pm
  • oh bear

    oh bear (100)

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    I saw this in a book once, but when people give Chinese people (I haven't seen it with Japanese/Korean people, but I'm sure it's been done before) the weirdest names. Like the author obviously didn't put much research into it, or else she researched the completely wrong thing, but in China it's last name, first name. The last name is one character and the first name is usually two, but sometimes one. In the book, I think the character had a one-character name, and that was "Chen", which is usually a last name. So... the character only had a last name. Facepalm

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    I don't like seeing the names Savannah and Nova in stories. Shifty Of course it's not just these two, but they're the only examples I can think of off the top of my head. It's like there's a category for these names in my brain. It won't stop me from reading the story, but it's definitely a little bit off putting, because I see them pretty frequently (definitely the former more than the latter, but still).

    There are definitely other girl names that I don't like and I think there are more guy names I don't like (though I can't think of any right now).
    August 4th, 2013 at 03:28pm
  • archivist

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    I don't like cutesy names, sexy names, people named after famous people, names I can't pronounce, names I can't spell even staring at them, 'edgy' names, 'different' names, names that fit together too perfectly (syllable-wise) or names that no parent would willingly name their kid. That's why I'm cool with my character names, because I'd absolutely name my kid Atlas, Sirius, James, Corey, Archie, or Jeremy.
    November 26th, 2013 at 03:51am
  • CreeperEyes

    CreeperEyes (100)

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    nine.:
    I'm getting a little turned off by the fact every leading girl is now named something really hip like Sutton, Fern, Peyton, Hayden, Avery, etc. I've never met anyone my age with those names. What's so wrong with naming a 20-something British girl Louise? That's normal. I'd just like to see one Katie or Laura as a main character. It seems like only secondary in passing characters get common names and the main girl has to be something super unique.
    This bothers me as well. What's wrong with a more common name? I've got an idea for a story, and the female lead's name is going to be Kelly, not something 'hip' like Braelynn.

    Speaking of which, I dislike names with absurd spelling. It's just a sad excuse for the author to make their dull character more interesting. Why does Fred have to become 'Fehredd'? Just stick with Fred, because its full form, Frederick, is uncommon enough as it is. My name is Emilie, and I quite like it, but at least it isn't 'Ehmylee'.
    November 26th, 2013 at 04:29am
  • bellamy blake

    bellamy blake (3280)

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    This is mainly because it's something that I have an irrational issue with irl, but "Mc" or "Mac" first names that have two letters capitalized, like "MacKenzie" or "McKenna."

    I don't know why it bothers me, because my last name is "McDonald," but it was something I was discussing with a friend the other day about how so many people we know are naming their kids like that XD

    --

    I also saw the name "Taellor" instead of "Taylor" on a tv show or something, and that irked me.

    But generally, I don't care. A name's not enough to make me not read a story.
    November 26th, 2013 at 10:23pm
  • Maddi;

    Maddi; (6100)

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    Normal names spelled ridiculously:
    Stefannee
    Emmalee
    Kaytlyn
    Cyndee
    You get the idea XD
    January 2nd, 2014 at 06:11pm
  • jellyfish-spine

    jellyfish-spine (100)

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    @ sobre mi cadaver It might be because I am particularly biased towards my own name but in the mid 90's ('93-'96) Emily was a VERY popular name in America. As in, I grew up constantly around other Emily's. I couldn't escape it. So for a story set in present day with characters who would be around 18, Emily is a really appropriate name.

    (But I totally don't ever want to see my name in print.)
    January 3rd, 2014 at 08:31am
  • jellyfish-spine

    jellyfish-spine (100)

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    @ Maddi;
    Upon looking up various spellings for my name, Emily, I came across this gem: Immaleigh.
    January 3rd, 2014 at 08:31am
  • jellyfish-spine

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    @ MusicalMasochist
    I feel you on the last name thing. Sometimes I just want to drown at last names. When I have a character in mind I usually go with country of origin last names; helps me sleep at night.
    January 3rd, 2014 at 08:33am
  • archivist

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    @ jellyfish-spine
    All my characters have unusual but not entirely unlikely surnames, ince many of them exist in either alternate planes or alternate time periods. I'm writing one now with a man called Oliver Croft and one called Dr. Gray.
    January 3rd, 2014 at 08:58am
  • jellyfish-spine

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    @ herobrine
    I don't know if you've ever had a chance to read the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, by douglas adams. his characters have some great names and little back stories behind those names. it's a hoot. 10 of 10
    January 3rd, 2014 at 09:04am
  • archivist

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    @ jellyfish-spine
    I don't think you realise who you're talking to. tehe
    My username was arthur dent shortly ago, but I switched it to herobrine.
    Arthur was one of my favourite characters ever. Ever.
    I got a dressing-gown for Christmas because of that bloody book. xD
    January 3rd, 2014 at 09:06am
  • Katie Mosing

    Katie Mosing (33815)

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    Kyle.
    I have way too many exes with the name Kyle.
    February 15th, 2014 at 07:16pm
  • Lady.V.

    Lady.V. (960)

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    I don't have a problem with any name, because those name do exist. BUT I don't like it when there is a character from Russia and his last name is English or Greek.
    June 12th, 2014 at 08:54pm