So, someone recently asked me how I pick my character names.

I figured I would shed some insight on how I do that, because I've gotten questions like that in the past too.

Usually, if I'm looking for names that have a certain meaning or connotation, then I'll go on a name site to search. Occasionally, I go for names which are most common for the time period, regardless of their meaning.

If I'm working on something set in present time, sometimes I look at the most popular names in that particular area. If I'm writing something in the future, I'll either make up names, or use names that I hear occasionally today.

Sometimes, it's just a matter of picking names that fit the culture from which the character originates, and other times I just pick a name that I've always liked.

In fact, some of the characters in my newest story School of Secrets have sort of unusual names, because I stumbled across these selections and actually really liked them. One simply received a name that I found unusual, while another name is taken from a series I read.

To put it simply in shortly, there's really no right way to choose a name for a character. Whenever people ask me about character names, I usually just recommend that they pick the name that feels most right for the character they're writing about.

If the name feels right to the writer, then it will naturally feel the same to readers.