Note / Naming my Society of the Hourglass character

How do you name a character?

This is one of my favorite questions but my answers are only intuitive and vague. It's like asking my 3-year-old, "How do you go down a slide?" It's so fun all he can really say is, "Watch!" (Or more accurately, "Wook a` me!")

The first thing I did was Google "ancient Japanese nobility." I want to get some good first names going, but I don't want to just look up baby names. The best thing to do when looking for original names is to stay away from baby-naming websites. My recommendations are Wikipedia and iMDB.

This is a very intuitive process. It can go quite fast or quite slow.

Let's see what I pull from Wikipedia. I started on the Japanese nobility index page. "Aristocracy of ancient Japan" jumped out at me, so I clicked over.

Then, I clicked over to read about Mononobe no Okoshi, who I learned was an early opponent to the introduction of Buddhism to Japan (ca. ~550 CE). Since my personal opinion leans more toward whoever would've supported Buddhism, I dig a bit deeper.

Here's an interesting passage:

  • "When King Seong of Baekje sent gifts of Buddhist sutras and statues to Emperor Kinmei in 552, the emperor was faced with a political dilemma. To avoid either offending King Seong or officially sanctioning Buddhism, he gave these gifts into the keeping of Soga no Iname, head of the Soga clan and a proponent of the new religion. "Mononobe was a political opponent of Soga no Iname, and successfully petitioned the emperor to impose a ruling against the Buddhist faith; he then had the Soga clan's temple burned and the Buddhist statuary destroyed."

That bastard!

So I check out the Soga clan and its patriarch at the time, Soga no Iname, where I learn this about the rivalry between the Mononobe Clan and the Soga Clan.

Digging into the Isshi Incident, I find a lot of fascinating stories about regicide in the royal court and all kinds of cool intrigue, but nothing that especially jumps out at me for a name. Why? I don't know exactly, but my intuition is that, when reading about the Isshi Incident, I don't feel like I can take anyone's side.

In the saga of the Soga versus the Mononobe, I really find myself drawn to learn more about Soga no Iname. So, I settle on [BLANK] no Iname for now.

Having picked a name on the right side of history with Buddhism, I feel like I should take a page from Marilyn Manson's naming book and go cross-grain. I glance at my boy's boots and immediately go to Wikipedia's List of Old West Gunfighters.

Structurally, Iname's first name goes last and surname (clan name) goes first. So, I comb through the list for a gunfighting last name while avoiding the obvious stops, like Earp or Hickok.

Now, I'm just going to do a little light reading about western gun fighters...

5 hours later...

Hold the phone! There was a gang of robbers in the Sierra Nevada known as The Five Joaquins!? And they were "were reported to have been responsible for most of the horse theft, robberies, and murders committed in the Mother Lode area of the Sierra Nevada?"

And "[t]hey are credited with stealing more than $100,000 in gold and over 100 horses!?"

And "killing at least 19 people, and having outrun three posses and killed three lawmen???"

But, but, but, "[t]he gang is believed to have killed up to 28 Chinese and 13 Whites!!!"

Perfect.

Joaquin Murrieta was the leader of The Five Joaquins.

So allow me to introduce you to...

Murrieta no Iname AKA, Murray

It's likely this name will change over time as I continue tinkering, but I thought this would be a good chance to let readers in on the process.

I'd love to hear about how you name fictional characters and places. Hit me up on Twitter!

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Appears in

  • Essay/Society of the Hourglass