names for manly men

October 31, 2009 in books, character names, characterization, characters, fiction, names

Remember me? From that cheesy 70s TV show?

Next step as I stumble through this storyline is the love interest. If you’ve read any of my books, you know he is bound to be a manly man with a manly name.

Manly men have monosyllabic names. It’s a Rule. Deal with it:

Sam. Will. Mike. Rourke. Rand. Greg. Tom. Steve. Ross. Rob.

Here are some manly names you will never see in a Wiggs book, because I’m related to them so I can’t write about them as fictional characters (shudder): Nick, Jay, Jon, Dave…all good names, but too close to home to use.

The initial and final sounds of a male monosyllabic name are like muscular biceps framing a massive chest. I’m not kidding here. Pay attention, you might learn something.

Okay, they can have ONE MORE syllable if you promise to give them really cool surnames:

Ryan Calhoun. Jesse Morgan. Dylan Kennedy. Justin McCord.

If they’re really special and have a following even though their book is not yet written, they might get to have a totally special name:

Julian Gastineaux, anybody? Logan O’Donnell?

FYI – here are some move names you will NEVER find attached to the hero of a Wiggs book: Winston. Percy (even though it worked fine for the Scarlet Pimpernel). Vivian, Uriah, Seymour, Poindexter. To name a few.

Oh, and another thing. The name has to sound good next to their girlfriend’s. The female love interest in this one is Tess (short for Theresa) Lindberg. So I wouldn’t want Jess or Jesse. That’s just too cute.

His surname has to work with the girl’s name too, since she has to live with it the rest of her happily-ever-after life. So, Farraday. Someone mentioned that earlier. I’m thinking Quinn. Quinn Farraday. But maybe not, because Quinn + Tess looks a little suspicious, like someone just made them up out of think air. Lemme think on this.

What are your thoughts? What are some of your fave fictional manly names?

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20 comments

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June 1, 2013 at 4:25 pm

Janet

My kids are Ryan Elliott, Shaun Robert and Christopher Laurence. My oldest granddaughter is named Taylor after her grandfather. My grandson is named Ely Winston. One of the nurses I used to work with told me that I should use my maiden name as a first name for one of the boys…..and that is Breton. I think the boys names fit them well.

October 12, 2012 at 8:30 am

TerreLynn

I like Jack. Being a hard core Southern woman, I love a woman’s maiden name as a first name. So. Smith. Hawkins. Moore. Hamilton (call him Ham, of course), Simpson, Dixon, Jones as a first name. My favorite name is Jerome (my father’s middle name, which he hates), and had I ever had children, someone would have been Jerome.

November 10, 2009 at 7:25 am

Tracy

Finn Krull-love the name Finn but Finn Farrady is just too much. Krull is Dutch but still nordic in nature.

November 3, 2009 at 1:53 pm

Guess who?

Greg…of course…Hattori is pretty cool, too for a last name…in case you ever write a Japanese character…remember the “Hattori” swordmaker in “Kill Bill?” Hee-hee

November 3, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Katherine Coble

Please not Quinn. Firstly it’s my dog’s name. I can’t take romance seriously when I think of kissing my dog. And the four of the last nine books I’ve read have had a hero (or heroine!) named Quinn.

And please not Fin.

Both Quinn and Tess and Fin and Tess make me think of other, longer words.

And even though it’s a one-syllable name not Tim. Even though I’m married to a Tim it may be the least masculine most milquetoast name I can think of short of Eustace. (I call my husband by a nickname to resolve that quandry.)

November 3, 2009 at 11:33 am

janie