Doubts about Oren....

[crissy76]

I've working on my Modern Apocalypse story again today....been working on it alot lately, and I've written a few chapters featuring one of my main male characters. He's a tough bird to nail down because there are so many layers to him. Since I first begun this story, his name has been Oren Kodiak. I came up with Oren because I love the meaning. And, Kodiak fit well with Oren. It had a nice flow to it. Now, I'm starting to have doubts. Oren is a very uncommon first name, Kodiak is a very uncommon last name.....to have them together might be abit much.

At this stage I'm not entirely sure I want to change Oren. I'm thinking maybe it would work better with a more common surname. I'd love some thoughts and suggestions on changing his last name.

I'll tell you abit about this character so you all can get a better feeling if I go with a complete name chage.

He is 30 years old, very tall with a slim build. He is what I would call a gentle giant, but he's not well-kept. He has long hair and a full beard. He often wears toques or hooded sweatshirts with the hood up. He smokes too much, drinks often. He's quiet and very protective of those he cares about and that is a very short list. His daughter Cassidy is his life now that his wife, Penny is dead. At the beginning of the story he is on the edge of a bridge totally with the intention of jumping. A few weeks before the story begins, his wife was in a car accident and she was injured bad. And after taking her off life support he's not sure he wants to go on even though he has Cassidy to think about. He's doubting his ability to be a father without Penny.

Other name I'm feeling for this character is Christopher (nn. Chris).
Chris Peale
Chris Keats
Chris Neil

Which do you prefer?

And, if anyone has any suggestions away from Oren and Christopher, I'd love to hear them. And, if you want to toss a last name in the mix, I'd love to hear them also.

One more thing. These names are already in use for this story....just so nobody suggests them.
James "Jimmy"
Luke
Raymond "Ray"
Seth
Authur
Mason
Michael

[renrose]

My first thought was Owen Kodiak instead of Oren.

[crissy76]

It's funny you should suggest Owen, renrose....I was tossing that around too. It's a little more common.

I'm tossing around Gareth, Lee, and Shawn as well. I really like Myles too, but with a Mason and a Michael already that is too many M names.

[crissy76]

Another name I'm considering for this character is Ainsley. I'm in my 30's and between public school and high school I knew of 4 boys named Ainsley. It is a softer name for this character so I would have to pair it up with a strong last name.

[bluesparrow5684]

I wouldn't even start reading a book with a main character named Oran... So i would change it

[blade]

Oren is fine-- esp if your character is Jewish-- but Kodiak is not. It's very implausible, as it's a place name, and island off the coast of Alaska, named for a word in the local Tlinglit language. No anglophone character would have the surname Kodiak.

Owen or Chris are both great. Chris Neil works; Peale is too soft and Keats way way too literary.

Owen Haines (if you want something Alaskan)
Owen Roguski
Owen Kent
Owen Franconi
Owen Rivas
Owen Dietrich
Owen Reilly
Owen MacAlpin
Owen Kostik
Owen Bernier

Pick an ethnicity!

[stripedsocks]

To me, as implausible as Oren Kodiak is, is how plausible Oren Fox is.

Fox being a dead common Ashkenazi Jewish last name, which certainly helps. And still giving you the nature feel you're looking for, if that was the draw of Oren ("pine tree") and Kodiak (a kind of bear). Fox, Katz, Green, etc. all flow pretty well with Oren.

Neil or Keats aren't bad but don't feel terribly organic following Oren and feel to me like maybe it happened at Ellis Island, and great-granddad was really much more "ethnic" N or K name and they were just pleasantly Anglo place-holder replacements - which definitely DID happen, historically, and are therefore plausible in that sense..

Christopher is a very different feel from Oren to me. Christopher doesn't feel as nature-y but it does feel soft and easy-going and less of a "statement" name iykwim.

If you like the plant-quality of Oren but not the cultural loading, maybe a name like Heath?

[crissy76]

I wouldn't even start reading a book with a main character named Oran... So i would change it

I read 150 to 200 books a year, and if I didn't read a book because I didn't like the a characters name, I'd miss out on a lot of really good books. I'm just saying...........

[crissy76]

Thanks, blade and stripedsocks for the advice/pointers and the suggestions.

I really like Owen Haines and Chris Neil. I don't think I should use Haines though. I have two other characters with H last names, Hawkins and Harbor. Maybe too many H's.

I'll toss another in the mix....

Chris Graham
Will Gordon

[crissy76]

So, so far I have....
Owen Haines
Chris Neil
Chris Graham


What about Spencer for a last name?

Chris Spencer
Owen Spencer

What about Ables or Able as a last name?

Chris Ables
Owen Ables