I don’t know how other people choose names for their novels, and I actually didn’t do this for Goodbye, Magnolia, but when I was writing The Truth About Drew, I really wanted the names to have meaning. I wanted the main characters personalities to fit with the name they held, because I felt like the book itself had so much meaning. So, here is a list of the characters’ names that I chose purposefully:
DREW • Wise. Brave. Courageous.
CLAIRE • Clear. Bright.
BRODY • Brother … duh! 🙂
AMY • Dearly loved. Beloved.
DAMON (Amy’s last name) • Constant. Loyal.
ZACH • Remembered by God.
GILBERT (Zach’s last name) • Trusted.
LIAM • Determined Guardian.
I didn’t really choose the names of the other characters based on their meanings, but I thought it would be fun to look them up anyway. Here is what I found:
NATE • Gift of God. – OK, this is a lovely meaning for Nate, but maybe in relation to my book, it could be flipped around to “God’s gift”. If you’ve read it, that might make more sense. 😉
MANDY • Lovable. Worthy of love. – This goes well with all that Mandy went through. She is definitely worthy of love, even after everything that happened, God brought her through it and gave her something new.
SAM • Bright sun. God hears. Heard by God. – I like this. I don’t really go into Sam’s story very much, but I do reveal his faith in God, and God definitely heard all the prayers that went up for him after a big event happened in his life.
TRUMAN (Claire + Brody’s grandparents’ last name) • Loyal. Faithful man. – This goes well with Grandpa and Grandma, faithful followers of Christ their whole lives.
LARA • Famous. – Well, she’s not famous, but she’s a popular cheerleader, so I’ll just interpret it that way.
KELLER (The football coach’s last name) • Little champion. – LOL! They do win those football games. 🙂
DONNA (The coach’s wife) • Lady. – Yep, she’s a lady. 😉
That was fun. I’m amazed to find that the meanings of the names really feel like the characters to me. Even some of the ones whose names I didn’t choose for their meaning. This book was such a labor of love for me. Even when I was choosing those names, I felt such a leading from God. Claire and Drew and Brody and Amy and Zach … they all feel like kids I would be friends with if I was their age again.
Those who have already read The Truth About Drew may notice that I left out a name. If you know what name I’m referring to, look it up and you will understand why I didn’t include it in this list. 😉
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR NAME MEANS? Leave it in the comments below. My first name means “Follower of Christ”. I’d say that describes me to a T.