- XXXataktoulaXXX:
- 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.
I agree with this a lot. I think that, especially with surnames, the author should search what the most common surnames for the area are. I've seen it done in print where the author has Scottish characters with names that are extraordinarily rare for the area. I mean, I know so many people with the surname Mackie / McKie that it gets confusing after a while, the same with McClelland, McLean and McDonald. I just don't understand why someone would use a name that isn't geographically correct, especially in the case of characters from countries where English isn't a first language.
I mean, if the character is
supposed to have English / Greek heritage, then I'd be okay with a surname of those origins rather than a Russian one, but most characters are written to be 100% their ethnicity and it just surprises me that people don't put more time and effort into making geographical surnames more authentic. There's nothing more off-putting in a story than a character with a geographically correct forename and a completely out-of-the-blue, unsuited surname.