Naming drives some authors crazy, while others pay little attention to what they name their characters. I feel the names of the main characters are important. Family names help give a character a bit of background. For instance, an Anderson would indicate a Scandinavian background, while Abreu is a common Spanish name. Interestingly Anderson does not tell us much about the country of origin, but Abreu indicates a Sephardic Jewish descent and/or Portuguese descent. The Internet is a great way to research family names. If nothing else, it will give you, as the author, more background to your character.
I had a female character whose first name in the story was Gear. I had to explain that it came about because her younger brother couldn’t pronounce her very Scandinavian name. The family thought it was cute, so she continued to use Gear. That name drove me crazy when it came to spellchecking. It often told me I shouldn’t have capitalized “Gear.”
Whatever you choose to name your characters, you will find they seem like old friends when the story is over.
