Do all character names need to have meaning, depth and purpose?

becuase i can make up names till im blue in the face, but do you think names should mean something?

Javier Morrison

Calista Cormack

Henry Lee

Julian DuBoin



are all from the top of my head but should they mean something? will readers pick up on their meanings?Do all character names need to have meaning, depth and purpose?
Well, In my style of writing I always use names that come from the characters culture. I take time to develop a characters name because that's their label throughout the entire book.



I, and many others, find it cliche when someone names a character based off of the meaning. How do you know your child is going to grow up 'smart' or 'beautiful'? Other names that have a certain background to them can be predictable as well. Could you expect a vampire to be named Vladamir? Yes. But could you predict their name to be George? Not so much.



I think names should have some meaning to let us picture who their parents are since it's their parents who name them. As far as just slapping a name on an unknown person, I find it to be an easy way out. I'd rather take a few minutes going through a list of my favorite names and looking up cultural names. A name should have depth as you say but that's just my opinion. Readers can kind of tell when a name was thought up at the last minute.



Good luck and try to take your time with names. They're a BIG part of your character.

=)Do all character names need to have meaning, depth and purpose?
A lot of authors use that ploy, for example Richard Cypher was an inconsequential woodsman before the world realized how important he really was. However, I think if you do that for every character your manuscript can come across as silly. I personally prefer names that fit the character in whether they sound strong or timid or feminine, which goes along with their personality, rather than researching a deeper meaning. However, I think that is a style issue, not a hard and fast literary rule either way.Do all character names need to have meaning, depth and purpose?
I think that as long as they make sense to you, it's fine. You're the one writing about it. And no, readers don't usually pick up on meanings, unless they're very obvious (such as "Remus Lupin" being named after one of the twins who suckled from a wolf and founded Rome [Remus] and a name for werewolf [Lupin]... yeah, it was a huge shock when he turned out to be a werewolf.)



As long as you think the name fits the character, you should be fine. Some writers research names for ages before picking one (this would be me... though I tend more towards researching the names popularity during that birth year and focus a little less on meaning), some writers make them up off the top of their heads. Some writers like for characters to have meaningful names for their own purposes. Some don't care. Either way is fine, as long as it works for you.