How to name the characters in the novel?

At any time, naming the characters in the novel is one of the compulsory courses for writers. So do foreign writers. Hemingway was asked how to name the characters in the novel when answering a reporter's question. His answer is simple: "Try to be a good person." Stephen King attached a revised version of one of his novels to his book Writing, including an example of modifying the protagonist's name. The reason he gave was that the names of the characters in the first draft of the novel were too long and not loud enough, so they were changed to short and powerful names. Ancient writers in China paid more attention to the names of characters, because the complexity of Chinese characters made Chinese names have more meanings. Almost everyone's name in Cao Xueqin's works contains profound meanings, such as "Jia Yucun" is a function word, "true winning streak" means "pity" and so on. According to the teacher, the name "Lu" also has a certain meaning, which symbolizes that "rude people are often smarter". I don't know whether this statement is in line with Mr. Shi Naian's original intention, but at least we can see that names in Chinese writing can have more meanings.

When it comes to good names written by contemporary writers, I think the most widely circulated and indeed remembered are martial arts masters, such as Jinlong. Ximen Chuixue, Flower House, Chu Liuxiang and Hua Wuque are all so antique. But nowadays, most online novels give names to characters in this way, and they always use compound surnames, which inevitably makes people feel tired and vulgar. In contrast, Jin Yong is good at using some seemingly ordinary words to create some memorable names: for example, Xie Xun, who looks ordinary and is attached to a figure like the Golden Lion King, will be very impressive; For another example, the words "Ling" and "Su" here are commonly used in girls' names, but their names come from Ling Shu and two medical books, so that the name has a decadent and magical power. And Jin Yong is good at using name combinations. Two common names, when put together, have another meaning, such as Guo Jing, Yang Kang, Yang Xiao and Fan Yao.

So, how do we name the characters in the novel?

I don't think we need the obvious implication that Cao Xueqin wrote a dream of red mansions. Unless your work can be as great as A Dream of Red Mansions, it is self-defeating and makes your work look artificial.

Secondly, we must have the truth of life. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects: first, it must conform to the characteristics of the times: the name "Li" can only appear in a specific era; Second, it conforms to the characteristics of the characters themselves. For example, this person has been illiterate for eight generations, and it is like a joke to give him a name like "Guanju". Third, it should conform to regional characteristics. For example, almost no one in Northeast China can call Hu Amei such a typical Cantonese name. Finally, pay attention to the surnames of the characters. Mr. Ma said that if you are surnamed Yu, you should give some water-related names, such as Yu Zhenjiang and Yu Deshui. If you are named "Yu Jinguo", it will become a dish.

Avoid the above taboos, you can name it casually, but pay attention. Don't use too common names. For example, according to the data, there are nearly 300,000 people named "Zhang Wei" in China, so you should stop naming Zhang Wei for two reasons. First, names are easy to forget. Secondly, your reader may be called Zhang Wei, which will cause a lot of inconvenience. Of course, it is not feasible to give a novel character a strange name in order not to have the same name, because the one mentioned at the beginning of this article will affect the reader's attention.