Surname Maps

[ysabetwordsmith]

janetmiles and my partner Doug tipped me to this cool resource showing surname maps.  So, if you're a writer and you want to name an ordinary character from one of these places, you can pick a surname from the relevant place and it will fit.  This is a very discreet and effective trick with local color.

Comments

Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

That's so neat! You can notice that traveling around New York State:

Buffalo, where my husband grew up, has a very strong Polish community (the cemetary where his family is buried is Irish/Italian/Polish in about equal numbers).

Rochester, where I grew up, has a giant Sch- section of the phone book (I used to work in the library and did research in the Local History department)

Where we live now, the Finger Lakes, is very Dutch. So's Albany.

Re: Neat!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That reminds me: if an author plans to make a lot of characters for a given city/area, as in a novel or a series of stories, then a great trick is to obtain a phonebook from there. Some places give them away free, while others charge a small fee. You can also ask friends to give you last year's phonebook. Pick both last and first names out of there, just try to use combinations that aren't already in print together.

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

That's a cool idea! (I tend to need random name generators of some sort, or I either have way-out-there names or a lot of Janes and Jacks. I like out-there names so much I made it a setting feature in my webserial!)

Re: Neat!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I like to jot down spammer names for the far-out stuff. Very good inspiration there.

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

*giggle* that's awesome.

Most of Addergoole was done via Random Baby Namer or "name meaning xx" Google searches, except the few random ones that are really obvious that I made up (whoops; another argument for consistent worldbuilding BEFORE you post your serial!)

Re: Neat!

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

Now I'm having another Homer Simpson moment.
Mmmm...
Post cereal.
:)

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

/chuckle/

...Crap! ... now I want raisin bran...!

Re: Neat!

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

At least raisin bran is better for you than donuts.

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

Yup!

Raisin Bran + Shredded wheat has been my lunch for most of the last 13 months of weight loss! :-D

Re: Neat!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Also, Raisin Bran makes awesome muffins. I think it used to come with a recipe on the box, but that was years ago.

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

We keep meaning to make bran muffins... I'll have to look it up.

Try this...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,kellogg_raisin_bran_muffins,FF.html

This one looks very similar to what I recall, except for the buttermilk. I think grandma usually used plain milk or half-and-half instead.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,194,144167-248205,00.html

Re: Try this...

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! I'll let you know how it comes out!

Re: Neat!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes, very useful trick. I also have a "backwards" name dictionary for writers, which is indispensable. *chuckle* Actually I have half a shelf of baby name books, which I've been collecting since junior high. People used to give me very disapproving looks for standing in that aisle, until I got out of college or thereabouts. I learned to say, "I'm not pregnant. I'm a writer shopping for character names." It was my version of "I'm not planning to murder anyone, I'm looking up poisons/guns/etc. for a mystery novel."

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

That's very neat!

I used to collect names when I was in high school, didn't really get into name-meanings until later.

Re: Neat!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Name etymology has been a hobby of mine as far back as I can remember. My quick-and-dirty knowledge of Greek and Latin began with hacking dinosaur names to get the meanings.

Re: Neat!

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

Etymology in general has always interested me, but name etymology came later.

I have a couple name nerds who started reading Addergoole just for the names :-D