In the last twelve months, I’ve written stories in three settings: 19th Century New England, Cultural Revolution China, and Joseon-era Korea. Something that each project required was suitable character names, but each of those searches sent me to very different places.
Interestingly, my 19th Century New England cast took the longest to name. This is partly because it had the most characters and partly because I wanted to make absolutely certain the names fit the era. Trends in names are more subtle than in clothing or hairstyle, but they do exist and for various reasons. For instance, although Mildreds are rare in America today, they were common a century ago, and when Twilight became popular, boys named Edward spiked. In addition, regional differences exist.
I’ve heard some writers visit graveyards to glean names off appropriately dated headstones. Sounds like a good trick if you’re within driving distance of a cemetery near your setting. However, I’m on the West Coast, and my story takes place in Springfield, MA. So I had to resort to other resources.
Legal Documents
As part of this project I went to the National Archives in College Park, MD to dig up 150-year old depositions for a lawsuit involving my main character. This provided actual names of people involved, which I used for the majority of my cast. Unfortunately, the downside was a quarter of the men were named Charles (which apparently was a REALLY popular home then). As such, I made the decision to rename two Charleses to avoid character confusion.
Local Publications
For the replacement names, I referred to Springfield: History of Town and City 1636-1886. In addition to handy descriptions of the town’s landmarks and businesses, it includes anecdotes about prominent citizens and lists of participants of various events. I count myself fortunate that this book was scanned as a free resource on the internet. Other local publications, such as newspapers, are usually only available through historical societies and would’ve required more effort to access.
Literature
If I didn’t have Springfield: History of Town and City 1636-1886, I likely would have resorted to Louisa May Alcott’s books. They’re classics today but were contemporary at the time they were written, and they coincide with my time frame. Better yet, they’re set in New England. Although I didn’t use Little Women to search for names, I’ll probably be using it to check my vocabulary and speech patterns.
Next: Naming Characters in Historical Fiction: 1960’s China
Keeping It In Canon ...mostly 