What's In a Name?

Call me crazy, but I think getting the right name is so important, whether it is for a book, a business, or your child. People form impressions just based on the name. Now the same name can bring out a wide variety of reactions in people, but some names will bring out a pretty common negative reaction. (If we'd named J "Josephine" instead, you can imagine there would have been some serious fallout from that. The poor boy would have been miserable!)

Naming my books has always been difficult for me, for that exact reason. A book title can turn someone off, draw them in, or convince them that you have written a completely different kind of book than you really have. I've never been very good at it. Almost all of my stories go for ages with a working title that just consists of the name of the main character. For years Legend was known just as "Andie," while Corizen started off as "Tiran." When it became obvious that Corizen was going to focus on more than one character, I knew I would have to come up with a better title, but I had the hardest time ever. When my original draft of the book was finished I called it The Blood Feud of the Oman. But this name never felt right. As a title, it is descriptive of the story, but it's just not the RIGHT description. At least I felt that way. When I hit on Corizen Rising, I was much better satisfied with it, but my husband was horribly disappointed! He liked the first title better. Still, I think the first title would turn off readers who would otherwise like the book very much. So Terence got overruled. Sorry, hon.

Recently, I came across two business names that just made me shudder, probably the opposite reaction you want someone to associate with your business (unless you run a haunted house or something). One was "Diaper Cakes by Becca." Now I understand that she is a niche baker focusing on baby shower cakes, but the image "diaper cakes" conjures for me is not an appetizing one. (Perhaps because I frequently visit Cake Wrecks.) The second was "House of Pain Tattoo Parlor." Seriously?? I guess there are people out there who are into causing themselves pain. But if I were ever to get a tattoo (highly unlikely), I would not choose a place that advertises discomfort as part of the process!

At home right now we are in the midst of an incredibly important naming process. We are trying to pick out names for the baby. All of our kids have had their names picked out well in advance of the due date-- it sometimes takes Terence and I months to agree on a name, and I don't want to leave that until the last minute. This time, our girl name was pretty easy. Terence had a first name he wanted, I had a middle name I wanted, and we could both live with each other's names. Done deal. Now, a boy name is giving us much more trouble. We just have such different opinions! Terence is still rooting for what he's wanted with the last two boys, but I still loathe the thought of having a "Junior." That hasn't changed over the last ten years. Only with J and K we came to a compromise on other names (obviously) without too much trouble. Not so much luck this time.

We've even asked the opinion of the other kids-- that was fun! Terence keeps trying to get them to side with him, but the only one who will is K (since he has no idea what Daddy's talking about, but it's fun to raise his hand anyway!) M and J voted for "Blake" and B voted for "Derek." Well, still no consensus here, but we'll keep plugging away at it! Got to get that name just right-- one Terence can live with, one I can live with, and hopefully one the baby can live with!