Main Character name change

[Astro Pen]

Editor has suggested changing the name of my female lead. (For technical reasons it can't begin with J )
Character as follows
Female, British, divorced, middle class country girl born 1980's rebellious, impulsive, independent. Went hippie but is now a journalist writing nature /ecology columns.
I think I have it now but, as a bit of fun, what would you have chosen?

 

[HareBrain]

Tarquinia

 

[Montero]

Felicity

 

[Mouse]

Laura.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Purely based on people I know (I was an early Charlotte in the 70s) and popular names in School. What I will say it depends where in the UK. These are names from North of England - those from Scotland would be different. (Morag, Isobel, Evelyn, Hazel and Mary were way more popular)

Earlier in the 80s: Susan, Rachel, Louise, Katy, Ruth, Anne, Nicole, Emma, Heather, Samantha, Zoe, Lisa, Lindsey, Fay, Charmaine, Julie, Kirsty, Wendy, Elizabeth, Cheryl, Laura, Gemma, Clare, Alison, Hannah.
Later in the 80s: Charlotte, Melissa, Danielle/Dani, Shannon, Courtney, Alice, Amy, Emily, Christine, Kathryn, Chloe, Grace, Tess, Bethany, Billie, Lucy/Lucia.

If she was born earlier in the 80s I'd have gone with Clare Louise. Later in the 80s Amy.

If she was from North Scotland probably Hazel or Alison.

 

[Flaviosky]

Victoria

 

[Harpo]

Name her after a one-hit wonder 80s pop singer.

 

[Montero]

Name her after a one-hit wonder 80s pop singer.

mmm. Not sure that would be seen as upper class.

 

[Harpo]

Middle

 

[Pyan]

Niamh? Mhairi? Siobhan? Aine? Roisin? Soirse?
Then she can correct people’s incorrect pronunciation…

 

[Swank]

Euphrosyne.

 

[sknox]

Speaking from over here in the U.S., I'm astonished at the specificity--time, place, and class all mattering. I know there are rises and falls in name popularity, but I don't think there's the variation by locale (with a few exceptions). And while not by class, but certainly by national background, race, and religion.

Which now makes me wonder what are the variation lines one might find in France or Germany or Poland.

 

[Mouse]

Speaking from over here in the U.S., I'm astonished at the specificity--time, place, and class all mattering. I know there are rises and falls in name popularity, but I don't think there's the variation by locale (with a few exceptions). And while not by class, but certainly by national background, race, and religion.

Which now makes me wonder what are the variation lines one might find in France or Germany or Poland.

Really? I thought (and really, I'm getting this only from The Simpsons and the film 'To Wong Foo' so pinch of salt and all that) that there are variations in names in the US due to class, such as 'Billy-Bob', 'Cleetus', 'Billy-Ray' etc. etc. being sort of lower class southern US names.

I worked with Americans for ten years in my last job and they had the best names. Randy Hamburger and Doug Eaglebear probably being my faves.

 

[Astro Pen]

For info I had gone with Laura which @Mouse guessed correctly.
Alternatives, (in case a horror movie with that title comes out in the intervening), were Helen and Erika
I also liked @Flaviosky suggestion of Veronica

@sknox The book is already written, that is her character outline.

 

[Montero]

I had a lovely time explaining the UK meaning of randy to some US visitors all of whom swore they were all going to tell their friend Randy when they got home.

 

[Mouse]

I had a lovely time explaining the UK meaning of randy to some US visitors all of whom swore they were all going to tell their friend Randy when they got home.

We also had a Nigerian client called Prince Wa.... (You can finish the rest yourself!). I was always amused by the name of the composer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer too (I've just googled him and apparently he's Austrian and also goes by 'Thomas Wander'.).

 

[Swank]

Really? I thought (and really, I'm getting this only from The Simpsons and the film 'To Wong Foo' so pinch of salt and all that) that there are variations in names in the US due to class, such as 'Billy-Bob', 'Cleetus', 'Billy-Ray' etc. etc. being sort of lower class southern US names.

Not really. These are more like regional nicknames that seem funny in other regions, just as Buffy or Chas would in the South. Yet Billy Ray Cyrus and Billy Bob Thornton are broadly loved celebrities.

While slow talking Southerners might be broadly looked down on, their twits aren't special. And anyone can come from anywhere and do things without their background being an impediment.

 

[Phyrebrat]

The thought of giving Chrons (or anyone other than me ) the power to name my character is odd. What do we offer objectively about a story we have no knowledge of?

Or was this more a case of spitballing ideas?

ETA: I should say that I’m quite a keen follower of nominative determinism in my writing

 

[Swank]

The thought of giving Chrons (or anyone other than me ) the power to name my character is odd. What do we offer objectively about a story we have no knowledge of?

Or was this more a case of spitballing ideas?

ETA: I should say that I’m quite a keen follower of nominative determinism in my writing

Consider how arbitrary actual naming is. In the real world a bad ass might be Randy ******.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

mmm. Not sure that would be seen as upper class.

Tiffany would work.