- Choosing Victorian Character Names - morguefile-grafixar
When naming Victorian characters,a fiction writer should look for a first and last name that sounds authentic and was actually in use during that time era.
Where to Find Good Victorian Names for Characters
The best character names are often ones that are come across by chance. Bring a notebook to a museum or library and search old records. Museums and libraries have various archives that contain a wealth of old names. Census records, ship passenger records, and genealogy reports, to name a few, are good places to look for unique names for characters that not everyone has come across.
Family photograph albums and genealogy records are also a good place to look for old-fashioned names. Consider honoring a relative by naming a character a similar name. Many baby books also tell the date and origin of names.
Victorian First Names for Women
Victorian names were often fairly plain names such as John and Mary. Avoid using popular names such as Brittney, Heather, or Jada, which are too modern for the time era.
The ten most popular girl's names of 1885, according to data complied by the Social Security Administration were: Mary, Anna, Emma, Elizabeth, Margaret, Minne, Clara, Bertha, Ida and Annie.
Floral names such as Daisy were also popular, as were the names of gems, such as Ruby or Pearl. Biblical names such as Esther, Rebecca and Ruth were also popular. As can be seen in the top ten list, women were also named for queens or royalty, such Anne, Catherine, or Elizabeth.
More unique women's names might include Ameila, Constance, Edwina, Eudora, Letitia. Orpha, Phoebe, Selina, or Zylphia. For a more comprehensive list, check the source Victorian Era Names: A Writer's Guide at the end of the article.
Victorian Names for Men
Men also had fairly common first names such as John, George and Henry. The ten most popular boy's names according to the 1885 Social Security Administration data were John, William, James, George, Charles, Frank, Joseph, Henry, Robert and Thomas.
Biblical names for men popular during the Victorian era include Adam, Eli, Elijah, Joshua, Zachariah, Andrew, James, Simon, Philip, and Nathaniel. Men, too, were often named for kings and royalty, such as such as Henry, James, Charles, and Albert.
Some unique male Victorian name suggestions are Asa, August, Bennet ,Bertram, Byron, Horatio, Jasper, Reuben, Simeon, and Thaddeus. More male names can be found at Victorian Era Names: A Writer's Guide.
Victorian Surnames
Surnames do not go in and out of fashion like given names. While given names are chosen, surnames are passed along from generation to generation, so the surnames of today are not much different from the ones used in Victorian times.
Changes in surnames are rare and usually occur for legal reasons, or when there are too many people, often immigrants, with the same name. Then the surname may be changed or altered. But most of them are going to remain consistent.
Even though surnames haven't changed much, it is a good practice to pick a last name for a fictional character that sounds old and that blends in with the time era. Even though in theory certain surnames might have been around at the time, some surnames, like first names, just sound too modern.
The surname will depend not only upon the time era, but the ethnicity of the character. Most typical Victorian characters will have their roots in Great Britain and will have British-sounding surnames such as James, Jones, or Smith. Many people had names that reflected their trade, such as Carpenter, Blacksmith or Shoemaker.
Here are twenty suggestions for surnames that sound Victorian and were in use at the time according to various old land survey records: Chattoway, Kidd, Kenward, Dosett, Godwin, Gunn, Hawk, Hayward, Whittock, Seymour, Strong, Hopkin, Weston, Whitlock, Whiston, Whipple, Highmore, Ashmore, Baldwin, Halbard.
Unique Places to Find Victorian Names
- museums (bring a notebook--look at old photos)
- libraries (check old records and archives)
- genealogy records
- ship passenger records
- cemetery and burial records
- tombstones
Sources:
Danforth, Charlotte. American Heirlooms Baby Names; Classic Names to Choose with Pride.New York: NAL; 2006 ISBN 0451216555
Names for different eras can be looked up by date at
Social Security Administration Online
Victorian Era Names: A Writer's Guide
Read more at Suite 101: Naming Fictional Characters, Generating Story Ideas, Turning Your Ideas into Stories
