Whatever Happened to Tom, Dick and Harry?

Somehow naming fictional characters with normal monikers became boring or blasé, especially in chick lit and romance novels. I’m the first to admit that I’m guilty of it. I do believe my characters Ian, Simon, Logan, Jasper, or Geoff conjure up hunkier, sexier heroes (or villains) than a Burt or a Murray. Even one of famous mystery/adventure novelist Clive Cussler’s heroes is named Dirk Pitt, who sounds rakish to me, and his audience is mostly men.

And most of the apostles will always be with us – Simon, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas and Matthew. Can’t go wrong there, sort of like an insurance policy on your kid to name him after an apostle.

Was it always so? Names change generationally and seem to cycle back. Barney, Conrad, Milton, Stanley and Walter are names I remember from my childhood. Then there are the ethnic and nationality connections. My French-Canadian father and his brothers are proof; Norman, Omer, Albert and Edward, all are good strong names for our greatest generation and I wouldn’t be surprised if a resurrection of some of those names happened soon.

Historical literature and biblical names come and go – the Isaiahs and Virgils and Solomons are once again popular, and not in just Midwestern and bible belt towns. And most of the apostles will always be with us – Simon, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas and Matthew. Can’t go wrong there, sort of like an insurance policy on your kid to name him after an apostle.

But have we gotten out of control on the crazy, sexy, hunky fictional character names? I dunno, Jasper Collins sounds a bit more appealing than Lenny Smith, no offense to Lenny if there is one of you out there. And why am I pondering this now? Well, one reason is that I’m always looking to come up with alluring but not too over the top names for characters in my books. The other is that I’ve been invited to participate in a Pinterest board called, “Romance Novels for Smart Women – Stories about Smart Women, for Smart Women,” and I’ve run into some really interesting men’s names in novels old and new that I’d completely forgotten about, like Kester Woodseaves and Gabriel Oak, to name a couple.

The Pinterest board’s description is, “Two authors – DP McHenry, and Octavia Randolph – one who writes romances, one who does not – look at favorite romances (and near romances, i.e. “women’s stories”), old and new.” It has been great fun pinning books that I love, and a tremendous pain in the derriere trying to remember the names (or authors) of all the books I’ve read. So I’d love to hear from you with suggestions of books to add, and I’d love for you to comment on the pins we’ve already put up. You can follow the board here:

So what do I consider a name that is over the top? For me it’s Dirk Diggler, the name the newcomer (no pun intended) porn star in the movie Boogie Nights dubs himself. It is my all time favorite cheesy character name. I wonder if he reads Clive Cussler.