Tuesday, February 03, 2009

As you know, I'm fond of using census info to find first names that are unique to a generation. Subliminally, naming a character "Lisa" tells the reader that she is probably in her 40s. Ashley is probably in her 20s, and Edna is old as the hills.

Dynastree breaks down last names geographically. You won't be surprised to learn that Epsteins tend to congregate in New York, LA and Florida. There are apparently no Epsteins in Alabama (and I doubt there will be more any time soon.)

You can use the site to come up with a common name for a character in Montana, say, or, alternately, to come up with an intentionally uncommon name.

Names are important because they repeat throughout the script. Even if the characters don't say them often, they affect the read.

Labels: writing resources

1:37 PM

5 Comments:

I think you meant that a character called Lisa would probably be in her early 30's, or possibly even late 20's. And probably a perfect body size.

Please, Alex. How long exactly have you been marrried?

By  Tim W., at 9:33 PM  

Why, no, Tim. Lisa herself is in her thirties, of course, but most women Lisa's age are in their forties. It was the most popular name her year.

By  Alex Epstein, at 10:12 PM  

I wanted a pair of character names to suggest that the characters were in their early 30s. I named them Jason and Amy. I doubt that most people in the audience would notice, but the point is to avoid having anyone notice that it's wrong. It's very good advice to give age-clue names.

But I had no idea there was a way to give geography-clue names too. That's really nice. Thanks.

By  Unknown, at 5:02 AM  

Just trying to watch your back, there Alex.

By  Tim W., at 12:26 AM  

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By  Anonymous, at 3:23 PM  

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