Prince Nácil Blog Tour! Day Three | What’s in a Name?

Names have power. They can evoke different emotions, or conjure up certain imagery, or even revive long-buried memories.

Names have meaning. Every name of every person on this planet is derived from words in some language or another. According to a book of baby names I once owned (doesn’t every author consult one of those for character names?), my own name, Rebekah, means “faithful” in Hebrew.

I tend to gravitate towards unusual names for my characters, as it seems more in keeping with the fantasy theme. Not always, but most of the time, especially for my non-Human characters.

I touched on how I came up with the name for my main protagonist, Nácil Vítuódhrán, in yesterday’s post, so today I’ll be explaining how I named the rest of the main cast.

[All pictures via Pinterest]

~Mrs. Mary Whitaker~

Mrs. Whitaker is named for my great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Pickles-Goodwill, who immigrated from Yorkshire, England with my great-grandfather sometime in the Nineteen-teens. That’s as far as it goes, however, since I never knew “GrandMary,” so I don’t know if Mrs. Whitaker’s personality is anything like hers.

On that same note, her sister and brother-in-law, Alice and George Daley, are named for my great-aunt, Alice Phillips, and my grandfather, George Burcham (affectionately known as PaGeorge among his descendants). And while he’s only mentioned in the books, Mrs. Whitaker’s late husband Robert is named for my great-great-grandfather, Robert Goodwill, who lived in England.

So yeah, a lot of family names preserved in this book.

I wanted a good, solid, easy-to-pronounce-and-remember first name for the practical-yet-loving grandmother in this story, and Mary is as easy a name as you can get.

Anton Árgentos:

*Sings off-key*

For there was something there
That sounds so square;
It’s a grand old name!

Thank you, Anton. May I get back to my post now?

’Bye!
Exuant Anton*

*Indulgent eyeroll*

Her surname may or may not be inspired by the owner of Whit’s End in the old Adventures in Odyssey radio drama and animated movies (anyone remember those?) … but it’s also one I like.
(Incidentally, it’s often harder for me to find good surnames for my characters than first names. Anyone else have that problem?)

~Miss Lillian Prescott~

Her hair is mousy-brown and bobbed in the book,
but this was the closest I could find

This character sort of popped into my head—the no-nonsense, practical one of the group; the (somewhat) stereotypical spinster-turned-librarian with a thinking head coupled with a love of learning. Complete with over-sized spectacles. :-P Somehow, “Lillian Prescott” seemed an appropriate name for such a character. Don’t ask me why.

~Jane Foster~

Jane’s name, like many of her elderly relatives, is also a nod to one of mine—specifically, my other great-grandmother, Bettie Jane Hartman-Phillips. I have very few memories of “GG,” as she died when I was only five years old, so once again, Jane’s homage to her ends with her name.

The name Jane is the feminine form of John, which in turn is derived from the Greek Iohanos, meaning, “God is gracious.” It seemed appropriate for a little girl whose backstory might have been decidedly sadder, if not for her grandmother’s loving intervention. Jane’s surname is something of a pun, since her grandmother took her in and “fostered” her after her (Jane’s) parents’ died.

~Lady Müriel~

At first, she was simply “the Blue Fairy” in my Peter Pan story. Then she was the White Fairy, head of the Council of Twelve—Faerie Guardians who created a magic barrier around their realm to keep out the Foul Folk (and who each represented a color of the rainbow, plus neutrals). Somewhere along the line, she became Lady Azúra, since the name means, “sky blue” in Persian. After I combined her with the Youngest Sorceress in the original Tale of Prince Nácil, I looked for a different name to set her apart as a new character. Not sure how I lit on Muriel, save that it’s one of my favorites, and a beautiful name, at that. According to my research, it means, “shining sea” … which is partly why I had her make her new home by the Southern Shore of Arboria.

I tend to associate Müriel with imagery of water—waves on the shore, rippling brooks, rainstorms—and with the color blue. Specifically light- or pale-blue, often paired with white or silver. I also associate her with stars—namely, the Evening Star—shining brightest amid the darkness.
And boy, does Müriel have to deal with a lot of darkness …

Incidentally, while I borrow names from several different cultures for my Elven characters, a lot of them ended up with Hebrew names (some with spelling variations):

Othniel.

Jael.

Gaméliel.

Probably because a lot of Hebrew names en with “el”—another thing I picked up from Tolkien. ;-)

~Lady Krystála, AKA Iceheart~

For the main villain (or rather, villainess), I wanted a name that reflected her cold-heartedness. I had already decided on her alternate name, Iceheart (inspired by a character in a Star Wars book Peter mentioned years ago), and eventually came upon the Greek word krystalos (“ice”). The ancient Greeks, upon first discovering rock quartz, thought is was ice that had frozen permanently—a perfect metaphor for our antagonist (or antagonista, if I’m going to continue with my gender-specific terminology).

On a side note, I’m not especially happy with her mother’s name, Lucrísha, but it was all I could think of, and we’re kind of stuck with it now, LOL. But it seemed a good name for a villainess, being derived from that of the infamous Lucretia Borgia.

~Harold Spencer~

Lady Müriel’s ten-year-old Human ward has always been named Harold. It was just a matter of finding a proper surname for him. Way back when I first thought up the Peter Pan retelling with him as the protagonist, his name was Harold Hill … which was supposed to be a reference to the fact that he and the Blue Fairy lived on a hilltop at the time … but in reality sounded too much like the character from The Music Man, which inspired it. I changed it to Harold Hale, but it sounded too corny for him to have an alliterative name, and eventually gave him the surname of Spencer (another of my favorites).

The name Harold means, “man of the woods,” which fits a lad who spent all but the first year of his life in the heart of a redwood forest. Spencer, according to my research, means, “dispenser of wealth,” so there’s something to file away for future character development, wot?

~Lady Cambria, AKA Cambria of the Fae~

I once met a girl named Cambria and filed the name away for future use. My research tells me this name is derived from the Welsh Cymru (the name for the country of Wales) and cymry (“the people”) … which I didn’t know when I named the character, LOL. I thought it a beautiful name, and fitting for a lady of Elven descent.

Now I think on it, the whole “the people”/“countrymen” theme could tie into some of her character development in Book Two … which I sha’n’t mention here because Spoilers, Sweetie. *Evil grin*

~Pyros Sootflank~

(Beard should be longer; eyes should be black,
but this was the closest I could find to how I imagine his face.
Have you any idea how hard it is to find decent pix of Centaurs???)

I don’t remember exactly where Pyros came from, as he wasn’t in the original Peter Pan story. I did make brief mention of a "great black Centaur" in the Faerie-tale, so I guess his character grew from there.
But he’s here now, and here to stay.

His first name is derived from the Greek word pyro, meaning, “fire.” While I wouldn’t describe my Centaur warrior as particularly fiery, per se, he does tend to get a bit carried away when on the warpath, and harbor a distain akin to hatred for evildoers, so …*shrug*

His surname is simply a reference to the fact that his horse-half is black as soot. Simple as that. :-P

You’ll find this pattern in pretty much all my half-beast Races in Ýdära (Centaurs, Fauns, Satyrs)—roughly Greek-sounding first name, surname derived from a physical trait.

Thanks for dropping by!

Pop on over to the other blogs involved in this here Party:

July 2nd

Rambling Rose: What's in a Name

Live. Love. Read.: Interview - R.R. Goodwill

Until next time, Gentle Readers,
God bless,

~ℛ~