When you create a character, you spend a lot of time coming up with the perfect name. It has to hint at their character and their appearance and not remind readers of a famous character they know from another book. That last part is easier said than done.

You decide to name your character Dezirae. It’s unusual, not too trendy, and it goes with her outlaw personality. By the time you finish writing the book, the market is flooded with books where the main character’s names is Dez, Dezzi, or Dezirae. I have no idea why this happens, but it does. All the time. Talk to any group of authors and they will have a story about what their characters names were before the editor/publisher made them change it. And yes, they will still be bitter about it.

Another issue with character names is the Hermione principal. No one in the United States could believe their favorite female wizard’s name was pronounced Her-my-o-knee. It was Her-me-own in my head for years. To avoid this issue with any of my characters, or terminology from my world, I’ve decided to create a list explaining pronunciation. Here we go

Zavien:  pronounced Zay-Vee-un ( the Zay rhymes with Day)

Rhianna: pronounced Ree-on-uh

Ferrin:  Fair-in

Jaxon:  Jacks-sun

Miss Enid:  Ee-nid

Quintessence:  FYI: I didn’t make this word up. It’s a real thing. pronounced Quin-tess-ence rhyhmes with “In Essence”

These are the only words/names that I’ve heard people have problems with. Is there a character from my books or from someone elses whose names cause you to question their pronunciation?