Reader Mailbag: Best & Worst Character Names
In the August 2024 OOB newsletter, we asked readers the best and worst character names in books. Here are the responses:
Sandra: Best name and worst name….For me a best name is one I can easily pronounce and there lots of them from early days of reading such as Tom Sawyer, Heidi, Nancy Drew etc to present day as mentioned in the question like Jack Reacher and Mitch Rapp. Worst names are those I can’t pronounce and a big part of that is from authors of different countries where I’m not familiar with the language such as Norway, Finland, France etc. What is common to someone who lives there or is familiar with the language is foreign to me.
Christine: I really like the name of Maisie Dobbs for one of the characters in a series I enjoy reading. My original favorite character name had been Nancy Drew when I was a kid.
My least favorite character name is Snape – from Harry Potter – only because it reminds me of Snake (which I don’t like snakes).
Sue: Hi, not sure if this is in my worst or memorable name category but…Atlee Pine from the David Baldacci series. Loved the books but thought it was a man’s name and while looking for a woman led novel, passed on these books for quite awhile. Maybe this should have gone in last months question. Odd reason to read a book or in this case to not read a book
Susan M: Regarding best and worst names, that’s easy. The best name is Harry Bosch. It’s short, succinct (unless you’re trying Harry’s whole first name, Hieronymous), and rolls off the tongue. The worst name is Rick Dockery in John Grisham’s Playing for Pizza. What kind of name is Dockery? Was Grisham trying to think up a name, and thought “Hickery, Dickery, Dock?” It’s hard to take a character with that name seriously.
Stuart: I can’t decide if these are best or worst names:
Eeyore
Milo Minderbinder
Holly Golightly
Humbert Humbert
Draco Malfoy
Atticus Finch (Boo Radley for that matter!)
Hal
Linda: How about X? Good name. Good names, Armand Gamache and Atticus Finch. Now I don’t really like Dewey Andreas as a name. And I don’t really like Win. I also do not like Bosch. Never really sure if I am pronouncing it right
Toni: I’m not sure who I think has the best name but I do like J. R. Ward’s Blackdagger Brotherhood names-Vishous, Rhage, Phury, Torhment, Xcor. But I do think the worst character name is Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole. I believe they pronounce Hole different in the author’s language. He’s Norwegian and in audiobooks they pronounce it rhyming with ole’, but it’s still a bad name.
Sharon: The best name is from John Sanford. Virgil Flowers is quite the character. He is often referred to from other characters as “that f**king Flowers”. Quite the guy.
Worst name is by J A Jance. The head of the department that Beaumont works for is Horace Ignatius Ball. For short, its Harry I. Ball. Kind of hard to take seriously when giving orders!
Phillip: Hi. My answers to your Q. The best character name is Elvis Cole (by Robert Crais). The worst is Nameless (by Bill Pronzini), although I do like his books.
Mark: Best character name is really, really easy: Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud in Ray Bradbury’s “The Halloween Tree”. Runners-up would all be Dickens titles: David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist. Honorable mention for Miles Vorkosigan in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga.
Worst? Well, plenty of books (especially from the1950s) have a bunch of guys named Bill and Tom and Fred, but that’s probably not what you’re looking for. In a well-known book, a lot of “bad” names are just dull. For lack of euphoniousness, I’d have to nominate Roen Tan (protagonist of Wesley Chu’s “Tao” series); also Johann Sebastian Bach Smith (protagonist of Robert Heinlein’s “I Will Fear No Evil”), which is just plain dumb. Heinlein had a lot of trouble with names; in “Podkayne of Mars” the protagonist’s name is usually shortened to “Poddy” (unsolicited comment: it’s also the worst of all of Heinlein’s novels). On the other hand, there are probably a lot of people who would nominate his characters Lazarus Long and Jubal Harshaw for best names!
Bruce: From the Harry Bosch series:
Best Name: Honey Chandler
Worst Name: “Hieronymus” Bosch
Chris: I think I like character’s names to be different but not odd. And they should be fairly easy to pronounce. Those reasons are why I like the names Kinsey Millhone (Sue Grafton’s books) and China Bayles (Susan Wittig Albert’s books). The names are a little out of the ordinary but not too far out and they fit the characters. Some names I didn’t care for were Lily Bloom (she’s a florist which makes it kind of corny) and Ryle (sounds made up on the spot) Kincaid from books by Colleen Hoover. However, one of the most awkward names, to me, was the baby’s name Renesmee in the last Twilight book by Stephenie Meyer. It just seemed forced and unwieldy.
Ellen: I love the Miss Fortune series of books by Jana DeLeon, but I hate the main character’s name. Fortune Redding? A secret agent has a memorable first name like Fortune? Other than that, the books are perfect and I read each one as soon as it is released because they are funny and suspenseful and a wonderful escape.
Gay: :I also thought Dewey Andreas was a very odd choice. If I can’t get into a book within a few pages, I’m done with it. I have a LOT of bks and not enough time to waste on bad books. And there are bad books. I think part of the problem is a lack of good editors. I see SO many errors and they stick out like sore thumbs. Bad ideas and follow throughs as well, books that in earlier times never would have been published at all. Quality and not quantity once mattered and then there’s self publishing that does work for many who would otherwise not even try. So that works both ways, allowing a new author to try—but that new author still needs a very good editor
rtg: Hannibal Lecter and James Bond.
Irene: My favorite character names, I have several, are Hieronymous Bosch, Harry Hole, Virgil Flowers and Win Lockwood. Who wouldn’t like a name like “Win”? But my very favorite is Eve Dallas. If I come back in another life, I’d like to be Eve Dallas!!!
My least favorites are Stephanie Plum and VI Warshawski. Really?? Plum and VI??? I don’t think so but that’s just me.
Ivi: Best name, flat out, Scout (Fitch) with Atticus a very close second. Worst name, why, He Who Shall Not Be Named, of course.
Jessica: My two picks for best characters’ names are Cotton Malone and Cassiopeia Vitt. I love the Cotton Malone series anyway. I had a hard time coming up with worst names. I think the worst character name is Peeta.
Louis: Good morning, Graeme – Lucas Davenport is the best character name; Clete Purcell is the worst and I actually like them both! i.e., not counting story line or the authors creativity (John Sandford and James Lee Burke).
Jenny: I’m sure I will be thinking about this for months to come, with an ever increasing list of names in my head, but let me give you what first jumped into my mind.
I like the character The Artful Dodger (from Oliver Twist) because I like his name. It’s just so fun!
The name Nurse Ratched (from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) is used in our family for anyone who is being a tyrant. The name comes right to my mind as perfectly nasty.
I really don’t have much to contribute to your site. I guess you could say I am a lurker but I am really appreciative of your efforts and information. Thank you so much for your insights, recommendations and humor.
Hi Sandy – just want to say thanks so much for taking the time to write that. I truly appreciate it 🙂