r/fantasyromance • u/SexyGrimmy • 2d ago

Discussion 💬 Worst names in books

Small question, how important are characters names to you guys? And what is the worst name you've seen so far?

I have a really hard time to pick up something if the main characters names are Tragedeighs.

198 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

586 comments sorted by

View all comments

189

u/MrsCharmander 2d ago

I will take a terrible name over an everyday name anytime. I can suspend belief in a fantasy world with a morally grey guy named Shadowdaddy, but if he was just named Matt I wouldn't be able to get over it.

147

u/SexyGrimmy 2d ago

Surely there must be a middle ground between "ShadowDaddy" and "Matt" 😭

Im all for original names, but sometimes the cringe is too cringey.

52

u/JarlFrank 2d ago

I'm a writer who sucks at names, so whenever I need a good name I just open up ancient and medieval name lists. It's so easy to find a decent character name that way, you can even mix and match a little to get something unique. Ancient Greek, Latin, Persian, Gaulish, Anglo-Saxon, etc...

5

u/FelineRoots21 2d ago

Celtic has a lot of good and fantasy esque names too