Thursday, February 14, 2013

HOW DO I NAME THEE?

While lunching with a friend the other day…
Who happens to hail from Long Island
As I did before I moved to Ohio
She was telling me a story…
Throwing out names like Richey, Tony, Ronnie, and Joey.
Ha!
I remember them well.
No, not those guys, the names…
They’re just so New Yorkish.
Having lived in the Midwest for many years though…
I hadn’t heard those names in a long time…
I was hearing names like John, Bob, Bill, and Dan.
Now here in Mexico I hear…
Servio, Enrique, Guillermo, and Romeo…
(gotta love Romeo)
And my favorite—Martin, pronounced Mar-TEEN.
And while I can’t speak or understand Spanish yet…
I do know great names when I hear them.
So? 
What names are regional where you live?
Or in your novels?
Or have you ever made up a name?

Always, Em-Musing


6 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Almost all the names in my books are made up, except the main character.
We have a lot of those Johns and Bobs around here.

Steven W said...

I almost never make up a name. Though I did name one of my characters "Syrian" but some of my beta-readers thought it didn't fit... usually I just go check out the IMDb website and scroll through the "CAST AND CREW" list until I find a name combination I like. Maybe I need to be more original :)

Cool blog, by the way!

Anne Gallagher said...

Yeah, hailing from the east coast, you hear a lot of that. You'se guys.

I'm always checking out baby name lists to see what's new, or old as I write Regency. Jason just wouldn't cut it in 1811.

I have only made up one name so far, but that was for a girl. And it sounds "old" so I think I'm okay.

Misha Gerrick said...

Making names up is run-of-the-mill for me.

Regional names to me: Johan, Jaco, Andre, Henk etc.


:-)

Bethany Elizabeth said...

I love those Mexican names, the way they roll off the tongue. I also love the Spanish language, so I guess it goes hand in hand. :) We've got a lot of Matt and Rachels up here. Pacific NW is boring name-wise. :)

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Lots of Kens, Johns, Joes, Hunters, Taylors - very Southern names.