Fallon Friday: Naming the characters

Jennifer Fallon writes on how she found the names for her characters.

I am often asked where I find names for all may various characters. Usually, they’re just lying about the house, waiting for someone to pick them up. In some cases, though, they have a definite origin…

Amyrantha	Tide Lords	From the word “amaranthine” meaning unfading or everlasting.
Arkady	Tide Lords	First saw the name years ago in an article about the artist Brett Whiteley. It’s Russian, and the name of his daughter. Saved it up until I found a character it fitted
Belagren	Second Sons	Named after someone I really, really disliked. Actually, it only rhymes with their name, now. It was suggested I change it from the actual name because HC didn’t want to get sued:)
Cayal	Tide Lords	Named after a male model friend who, last I heard, was working for the Discovery Channel in London. I loved his name and told him I was planning to steal it. He didn’t mind:)
Dacendaran	Demon Child	My eldest daughter, when she was about 14, told me if she ever had a son, she was going to call him Dace. I liked the name so much I stole it off her and added another couple of syllables to make it meet the Harshini naming convention. The real live Dace was born 8 months before Medalon was first published.
Declan Hawkes	Tide Lords	His real name is Mr Perky. The name Declan came from a baby book and was picked by Stephanie Smith.
Harshini	Demon Child	Name of one of my closest friends. It’s Hindu for “always smiling”
Kentravyon	Tide Lords	Kid by the name of Kentravion went to pre-school with my grandson.
Maralyce	Tide Lords	Named after someone I signed a book for at a signing in Sale, Vic. Her mother emailed me and told me off after the book came out, because I spelt the name wrong because her daughter’s name was Maralice. Once again… nothing amazing… I just liked the name.
Marqel	Second Sons	Named after a paramedic I met once, although her name was spelt “Marcel” although it was pronounced the same. I just liked the name.
Medalon	Demon Child	I was sitting in my dining room trying to come up with a name for the country where R’shiel lived. I found myself staring at the trophy cabinet full of all the kids’ medals. Medal… Medal…on… Medalon.
Stellan	Tide Lords	Because they wouldn’t let me call him Peter.
Syrolee	Tide Lords	I think this one was a racehorse.
Wrayan	Hythrun Chronicles	There is someone named Wray in the credits of the Stargate SG1 DVDs. I stole the name and modified it because it looked better with two syllables.

My favorite story about names, though, comes from when I was writing Harshini, and found myself faced with having to name the other 7 warlords of Hythria. In keeping with the whole predator/weapon theme, I ask my son (who was about 15 at the time) and his friends to come up with some names for me. The result after several intense hours of discussion?

Lord Snapping-Turtle-Kitchen-Knife, and Lord Guinea-Pig-Baretta-32. Seriously

Not surprisingly, those names didn’t make it into the book

Jennifer Fallon