In my current story I have two main characters. Both are POV characters. The names are Ethan and Jayden.
I know you should generally avoid characters with the same first letter, but what about the ending sound? Would it be better to change one or would this be acceptable?
Thanks ?
Posted by aspirit (Member # 7974) on :
I think I could keep them separate in my mind.
Posted by Palaytiasdreams (Member # 8154) on :
I have two characters that are close friends...Mason and Dawson. Mason sometimes is also called Mace.
I think yours are just fine.
Pal...
Posted by JamieFord (Member # 3112) on :
They don't seem all that similar. Not like Saruman and Sauron...
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
I agree that they are different enough. The beginnings "Eth" and "Jay" differ so much, it helps.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
Different enough for me.
Posted by Reagansgame (Member # 8149) on :
wait, why should you avoid characters with names that start with the same first letter? I mean, what if you have more than 25 people in and out of your book?
P.S. ?, the names aren't too close, as far as I can see.
Posted by Grant John (Member # 5993) on :
I think you will be fine. I think the 'shape' of the word is more important than how it ends. I had two characters people confused (starting with the same letter because it was important to plot):
Jarryd and Jasper.
When I changed Jasper to Juan people were no longer confused, I think because the length was different and only one had a letter that dropped below the line.
Posted by sakubun (Member # 5719) on :
They don't seem all that similar. Not like Saruman and Sauron...
That is exactly what I was going to see. I remember being so confused about who was who. ARGH.
But related to this thread, yea they are different enough. I think even just the first letter being different makes it enough.
Tangent: Saruman roughly translates in Japanese to 10,000 monkeys.
Posted by marchpane (Member # 8021) on :
Nah, they're fine. Most of the names in my novel end in the same sounds because -an is a marker used in their language to indicate a name. I have two characters called Malynn and Morgan, but the former gets abbreviated to Mal enough times for it not to be too much of an issue - for now.
I think if I ever wrote historical fiction that involves real people, I would have to change about half the names or give them credible nicknames. Two characters called John and John - now that's confusing.
Saruman and Sauron - and I thought I was the only person who was bothered by that! It's just silly. And someone with the creativity of Tolkien, too... disgraceful.
[This message has been edited by marchpane (edited September 04, 2008).]
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
They're completely fine.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
I lost my first reply somewhere in cyberspace, but what the hell, I remember what I said...
Tolkien's names had deep meaning, often to the point of dictionary definitions...in real life, the names of the people we drift up against in the tidal pool of life often have some meaning, but it'll take a little research.
"Ethan" ("solid, enduring" in Hebrew) and Jayden (variant of "Jaden," of recent origin on the sound pattern of "Braden" and "Aidan") sound and look different enough...I think they'll do...
For name research, you might try www.behindthename.com, which I'm glad I bookmarked the last time somebody mentioned it, so I can put it here.