Names You Hate in Stories

When people are obviously trying too hard to make their character original so they give them a name like Midnight or Raven or something complicated like Qalayauq. It's actually ironic; how uncommon the names John or Mary are becoming now o.e

Not really a specific name, but I hate when there's a story with a lot of characters, but everyone has a different name. Like, there is only one Josh or Tyler in the whole story. It just doesn't work like that. I know maybe four other Rachels. It just really kills realism for me. :/

Siriano;:

Not really a specific name, but I hate when there's a story with a lot of characters, but everyone has a different name. Like, there is only one Josh or Tyler in the whole story. It just doesn't work like that. I know maybe four other Rachels. It just really kills realism for me. :/

This annoys me too. Especially in a series of books, you could easily end up with fifty or even a hundred named characters appearing somewhere, even if it's just for one scene. To give every single one of these people different names is pretty unrealistic. It's especially annoying if the story is set maybe in a school, where all the characters are similar ages and live in the same area, because there will be popular, 'ordinary' names that all the parents liked, so there will probably be about ten people called James or Ellie in an average school.

If they're just minor characters, it's not like the readers are going to get confused, either. I have a story with two characters called George. They never meet each other and they're only in about one or two scenes each, so it's not like it will confuse readers; it just makes the story a little more realistic.

@ amaranthine.
Exactly. Having two main characters named Sarah or Chris might not be the best idea, unless it was a running gag or they were given nicknames. Having a main character and a minor character with the same common name shouldn't be confusing. :/

Siriano;:

Not really a specific name, but I hate when there's a story with a lot of characters, but everyone has a different name. Like, there is only one Josh or Tyler in the whole story. It just doesn't work like that. I know maybe four other Rachels. It just really kills realism for me. :/

I love when there are characters with the same names, but in the same family, like it's a name that gets passed down. You're right, it just adds a lot of realism.

glorious purpose.:

When people are obviously trying too hard to make their character original so they give them a name like Midnight or Raven or something complicated like Qalayauq. It's actually ironic; how uncommon the names John or Mary are becoming now o.e

How exactly would you pronounce Qalayauq? I enjoy this simply because it's super ridiculous xD

I don't like a glamorous misspelling of a name. It annoys me. Real life and stories, but especially stories.

And anything ridiculous Gothic.

@ hear dru's song.

Would the misspelling thing be things like Kayden, Nikole, or such things? I can't think of more examples other than that - if that's what you mean - so I'm not sure. If so, then I agree with you on that.

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Names like 'Storm,' or 'Winter.' It seems way too overused in stories for my liking.

Icamane the Mistress:

How exactly would you pronounce Qalayauq? I enjoy this simply because it's super ridiculous xD

xD It's funny because I know someone with that name and then I saw it in a story. I almost commented just so I could ask them if they even knew how it is pronounced or where it came from..

It's Alaskan Native and it's pronounced koll-ee-ohk.

@ glorious purpose.
That's really cool and really weird xD

capture me inside.:

Names like 'Storm,' or 'Winter.' It seems way too overused in stories for my liking.

I agree for first names. "Winter" I feel can work for a last name, or like, "Winters." Something like that.

I don't like names that "go together" too. Like, Ebony Raven or Icy Winter. Parents don't usually name their kids things like that. Although I do know a girl named Dallas Rose but, that's probably the exception.

@ capture me inside.
They're usually a lot more crazy than that. Like Danielle would be spelled Dahneyl.

It annoys me when an author makes up a name that can have lots of different pronunciations. So you end up reading the entire book pronouncing the name one way, and then you chat to a friend about the book, or hear the author talking about the book, and realise they've pronounced the name a completely different way. The first example I thought of is 'Daenerys' in Game of Thrones (although I do actually quite like that name) which, in the TV show, is pronounced 'Duh-ner-ius,' whereas, if I had read the book first, I would have pronounced it 'Day-ner-ees.'

In the same way, I don't like it if the author of a book written in English uses a very foreign name somewhere in the story, but doesn't explain how it's pronounced. For instance, if it comes from a language where 'J' is pronounced like a 'Y,' English speakers might not realise this, so you might read it with a 'J' sound, only to realise you've been saying it incorrectly.

@ chai latte

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I hate when the character is supposed to be like, Chinese or something, but the the author gives them a Japanese name. It's like, I appreciate you trying to be ethnically diverse, but you kinda just cancelled it out with the stereotyping.

OH LORD, THIS. So much. I was reading this story and the author named her Japanese character "Zheng Ling" and it was a comment swap and I pointed out to her that her name was in fact, Chinese, and not Japanese - plus, the character was half-Asian and most full Asians I know don't even have an Asian first name, let alone half Asians with Asian first names so it was a really cringe-worthy moment.

I pointed it out to her and she totally disregarded what I said.

@ amaranthine.
Oh gods this xD When my mum and I first read them, she always pronounced Hermione "Her-MOIN," like "Des Moines." And then we got to the fourth book where she's explaining how to pronounce her name and it was super awkward
What's even more annoying is two characters with the same names and same spellings, but they're apparently pronounced different I haven't seen this on Mibba specifically. Yet.

I don't like simple names in stories like, Jessica, Tyler, or Jake. I like unique odd names like, Hermione, or like Missy. Some people don't because they think it's too hard to read.

I have any variation of Nathaniel, like Nathan, Nate, etc, and Jason, or when people shorten it to Jace. Drives me insane.

Or when people try to use overly uncommon names that are unpronounceable. I really don't understand how they think people will read the story if you can't pronounce the name of the main character.

I can't stand when all of the characters in a story have similar sounding names/names with similar letters (specifically y's). Say, for example, that the main character is Aiden, and his brother's name is Jayden, his best friend's name is Skylar, and his girlfriend's name is Jamie. I understand if it's like a twin thing or something, where two characters are supposed to have similar names, but other than that, I think name variation is a wonderful thing. I'm kind of a stickler about it in my own writing.

@loveislouder
It depends how it's done - I think that sometimes, things like that can make a story more realistic. When I was younger, I used to make sure that, if I was writing about a group of friends, no two characters had names that started with the same letter, and rhyming names were definitely out of the question. And yet, I realised that similar-sounding names can make stories more like real life, because obviously groups of friends/boy and girlfriends don't plan out what their names are going to be.

in band fanfiction i absolutely despise female OCs with names relating to the band's music.
for example, in my chemical romance fic having a girl named helena.
or in all time low fic a girl named stella or jasey or maria or holly.
or in bring me the horizon fic a girl named chelsea.

also i don't know why but i have a pet peeve for girls with unisex names.

I just finished reading a book where a character's name was Whip. I cringed whenever I read it.