The Character Name Game

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The name game. How do I pick the names of my characters?Well it varies. I do, however desire that my characters names have a meaning.So there are steps.
First, build your character profile. This is where youdefine your character. What they are like, their characteristics, ticks, issuesand purpose in your story.
Their motivation. What is it? And why is it?
Some rules I’ve learned. (1) Make the name easy to read andpronounce. Yeah, yeah, I know I didn’t quite get that lesson until my critiquepartners pointed that out to me. (2) Make the name mean something. (3) Don’tduplicate the beginning letters of main characters. Like if your maincharacter’s name is Sam, don’t make a support character’s name Sarah, it getsconfusing for the reader. (4) Make the name fit the story you are telling. Forexample, don’t come up with a wildly unique name in a contemporary story. Itjust doesn’t fit.
After you know your character, then go to some of the online‘baby name’ databases and find the perfect name, with meaning, for yourcharacter.
Now, as far as PurgatoryReign goes, here’s the line up of character names and how I came up withthem.
Peter Saints(Truth is, the name Peter just came to me, but I wanted him to have a quirkylast name that stuck, so in came the ‘Saints’, as you read it, you may get howit fits.)
Kyle (I lookedthis name up, and actually had another name picked for it but realized that itbroke one of my rules above, the name started with a ‘P’ so I didn’t want it tocompete with my main character’s name.)
Angel Ramirez(This name also, plays to the character’s role in the book. What this charactermeans to Peter)
Gavin Steele (Itotally made this name to play on the core of what this character is creatingand using as a weapon against our main character.)
So think of all the characters, within all the books you’veread, and how their name played a part in making them memorable to you.  That’s how you pick the right name for yourstory.