I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but character naming is one of the easiest and most enjoyable parts of writing for me. And one of the fun parts of writing historical fiction is the opportunity to be old-fashioned in your naming. I love being able to use a lovely old name that might be considered quaint or outdated today, but which suits a historical character and story perfectly.
Of course an elaborate or unusual name isn’t necessary; if one of my protagonists decides their name should be Jim or Anne (they’re usually pretty good about arriving with their names attached), I’m all for it. But I think a great opportunity exists for historical-fiction authors to make their characters memorable by choosing lesser-known names that give a flavor of the time period. And besides, a lot of the older names are just plain cool. There’s so many pretty girls’ names in particular, which I wouldn’t mind using for a daughter as well as a character! There isn’t quite as much variety among traditional boys’ names, but I rather like the old trend of handing down family names by using a surname as a first name—that gives you lots of opportunity to be creative. Wouldn’t it be neat to write a fictional character with an old-fashioned name who was so well-liked by readers that they succeeded in reviving their name’s popularity?
Anyway, here’s a sampling of some old-fashioned names I’ve had stashed in my “name-database notebook” for awhile, awaiting the right character and story:
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Do you have any favorite old-fashioned or “historical” names you’d like to see revived—either as names for fictional characters, or just as popular names? Tell me about them! (I’m always looking for new names to stash in that notebook, you know…)
Suzannah says
Yay! I used to hate Hester, but it's definitely grown on me recently – such an old fashioned, Gothic-romancey spin on Esther.
My favourite name-I-love-but-could-never-give-a-real-person is Lettice. I used it in THE BELLS OF PARADISE, with great enjoyment.
I also love Latin names because of their ice-cold strength – you'd never mess with a Claudia, a Lucilla, or a Valeria, would you?
Hayden says
Well I do love the name Constance- there was a reason I gave it to my heroine in Hidden Pearls! 🙂 I also like the name Cecily a lot, and Beatrice has grown on me over the years, though I used to dislike it.
For some reason I tend to catch myself using the name Felix in my writing. Not sure why 🙂
Personally, I've always loved the names Aurora and Violet, and pretty much any name is 10x better when you combine it with Jane as a middle name for some reason.
Michelle Athy says
I have a Victoria (naturally, this is a Victorian-set story), Beatrice, and Ursula in my current WIP. Oh, and Ethel. For the guys, there's Conrad and Simon.
Linnet is a very cool name! I named a character Ignatius once–possibly the most outlandish name I gave a historical character to date.
Mary says
I love names! 🙂 A few of the older ones I've used are Lillian, Phineas, Lemuel, and two from this list, Cecily and Thaddeus. These are such good ones! I especially like Oliver and Prudence, and Lorena (mostly because of the song Sweet Lorena).
Also, the picture made me smile, because it was one I used for inspiration on a Cinderella retelling. Such pretty pinkness 🙂
Sonya says
That's great! I love old fashioned names. How about Archibald?