Humdinger names!

Thursday Thoughts. 

My Celtic Fervour Series is full of lovely names. All of my books have a healthy character list and since I like to choose names that have some relevance to the nature of the character, the time spent researching for perfect names is wholly rewarding, yet also time consuming. 

Lorcan-meaning fierce one

Before Beltane, the brand new Prequel to the series is no different. I've tried hard to choose names for my Iron Age tribal cast that have Scots Gaelic or Old Welsh origins, since that seems most appropriate for my characters of 2000 years ago. When Roman names appear, I've also picked something that seems to fit. Though, the only Roman names in Before Beltane are those of people who actually existed -  Gnaeus Iulius Agricola, and Petillius Cerialis, respectively when they were in the posts of Commander of the Twentieth Legion and Governor of Britannia. Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian - the Roman Emperors of the Year of the Four Emperors of 69 (AD) get a brief mention, however, I only used the most brief version of their names! Just enough for a scholar, or an interested reader, of the Roman Empire to be able to put them into a 'date' context. 

The main, and unfortunate, aspect of choosing appropriate names for a series, which now has six books, is avoiding duplication. When the same name is used in different books in a series it can lead to reader confusion, but also to author confusion as well! 

Repetition of the same initial letter is also best avoided where possible, since that can also mean it's difficult for a reader to keep track of who is who. Sometimes the process of avoiding a first letter repetition means not being able to use some really great humdingers of names! 

In retrospect, names I loved but ended up not using should have a listing of their own, but since those rejects ended up mainly in the dustbin for previous books, I don't have a long list. What I can add here are a couple that were rejected in Before Beltane, since I'd already used the 'initial Letter' already and it would have been more hassle to change the name of a stronger secondary character than a very minor one. 

Caddock- meaning eager for war - is very appropriate and would have fitted well, but in Before Beltane I already have Creik, Cuinn and Cleuch in Lorcan's story.  So instead of Caddock I used Hedrek (meaning tawny-headed). 

Beathan- bay-n meaning life

I liked the name Rhiryd- meaning a repulsive, repelling/ruler for the hearth-husband of Hydref (an abused Tarras tribeswoman) in Nara's story, but I'd already used the initial 'R' for a female name. I ended up calling Hydref's hearth-hearth husband Afagddu -meaning darkness.  

Someday in the future, I'll perhaps use the name Rhiryd- meaning a repulsive, repelling ruler, and Gwrgant- meaning an individual, determined, strong-willed person. Just because they have great meanings!

Later editions of the books in the Celtic Fervour Series have a pronunciation suggestion, since a reader/reviewer mentioned she really wanted to know how to pronounce the names as she read the book. Since I aim to please my readers where I can, I now add a 'possible' pronunciation. I say possible since there are various versions available on internet sites. 

The young man above is from the cover for Book 5, Beathan the Brigante, Beathan being the son of Lorcan and Nara! But there's a lot of reading in the Celtic Fervour Series before you get to Beathan's own story. 

What's in a name? For me it can mean a lot of  fun choosing! 

Happy Reading.

Before Beltane can be pre-ordered HERE (till April 29th) or buy the paperback version HERE. 

Slàinte!