Female character names in fiction - unrealistic

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

I just finished a book that was quite enjoyable chick lit, I don't read lots of these but my friend passes a few on and I pick out what I think look the best among them and mix in with other reads.

My gripe is about character names. They are invariably cutesy pie names. For example the female characters (all early 30s) were called Roxy, Poppy, Clemmie, Ruby and Daisy. These, however, were the most popular names for baby girls at the time the characters would have been born:

SARAH
LAURA
GEMMA
EMMA
REBECCA
CLAIRE
VICTORIA
SAMANTHA
RACHEL
AMY

(to be fair there was a Rachel in the book, but she was a side character).

By contrast the older females (ranging from 48 to 60) were Sylvia, Joan and Gloria. These are my grandma's generation, not born between 1959 and 1971.

So, AIBU about this?

I would class Roxy as someone born late 70s onwards and named after Roxanne by the Police (though why you'd name your daughter after a song about a sex worker/prostitute....) In the same way I've never heard of anyone called Kayleigh born before about 1985 when Marillion released their song.

Agreed. The other thing that is prevalent is the portrayal of anyone in their early 60s and over as technophobes, talking about "that Bookface thing" or "that interweb oojah'".

They are all trying to create memorable characters. Not just for us, but for them as well. Also they won't want to name characters after people they know in real life in case they end up offending them

I actually have a cat named Joan!

I agree OP. I like the Agatha Raisin books but found it odd that there were characters who were meant to be early 20s called Doris and Phyllis; names I’d associate with people in their 70s.

I did like that in one of the Adrian Mole books there were three sisters who were named Poppy, Daisy and Marigold and their surname was Flowers!

I think there are probably lots of different things at play here.

1. Genre. That kind of book isn't meant to be gritty realism and there's an aspirational element to it. It's meant to be fun so they give the characters 'fun', quirky names. There's also an element of comedy/caricature in most chicklit, so things are always a bit exaggerated and the names are part of that.
2. Future-proofing. I would suspect that the writer wants the book to still feel current in ten or fifteen years time, so they've kept the names modern.
3. If the characters are intended to be posh or bohemian, they are unlikely to have names that were in the top 10 baby names the year they were born.
4. Editors/agents will sometimes push for characters to have 'memorable' names to help them stand out. I'm always unconvinced by this myself, but there it is.
5. Not sure when your book is set, but the names you've listed are the ones that were popular when I was born, and I'm 47, not early 30s. Women 15 years younger than me are more likely to be Hannah, Sophie, Jess, Lauren, Katy, Emily, Charlotte, Bethany etc. Still lots of Rebeccas and Amys though. And yes, no Clemmies and Roxys!

But I do understand why this grated on you, as it does sort of constantly remind you that this is all made-up, if you see what I mean. For me it would make the book less immersive, although maybe immersion isn't really the goal of (so-called) chicklit and it's more about escapism? I reckon in, say, a gritty police procedural crime page-turner, you'd have a few more Rachels and Claires.

This is now making me want to audit the names in every book I read to test my theory!

Just because a list of names is most common, doesn't mean that's the ONLY names

You're BU

I'm 34 and I have one of those names.

@Spidey66 I did an Ancestry search for baby girls called Kayleigh. There were 13 born before 1984, 4 in 1984 and kazillions born after April 1985. I wonder if the Marillion song was on a 1984 album (not sure, I was only a toddler myself and am not a fan).

Yup, Marillion were a big driver in the growth of popularity of Kayleigh. I was 9 when the song came out, and a lot of local younger sisters were Kayleigh! Then there were the Kylies, after neighbours became popular.

Now there are no Sharons, Carolines, Traceys, Jennifers, Alisons, Fionas, Leannes. All of these were my friendship group - and there were a number of us. I was one of 5 with the same name (one of the listed) in my year at High School!

Oh, and we're mid 40s!

No, it was released in June 1985 and recorded March-May 1985.

What, the 10 most popular or the chick-lit names?

Kayleigh was actually Kay Lee, a pharmasist from Aylesbury
( I actually know a few band members, although this isn't uncommon knowledge re the name) Wouldn't have had the same ring, to call the song Kay Lee!
(too much like.. remember the girl trying to sing 'Ken Lee' !)

Well, this IS how the younger generation see us. When asked for my mobile number, I always say I haven't the faintest idea what it is & I mostly leave my phone turned off anyway. I've always said this, (for 20-30 years) but whereas in the past people would either laugh & say, "Me too," or look at me like I was from another planet, these days they smile patronisingly & tell me it's alright, & I can see them thinking, "OK, Grandma. Poor old dear hasn't caught up with the modern world."😂No, sonny, I just HATE mobile phobes.

I first used a computer in the 1970s. Later, I worked in the industry. I've always had computers, laptops, tablets etc at home. But because my hair is turning grey, all of a sudden I'm someone who's never heard of The In-ter-net.

It's odd, now I think about it: the number of things which are now taken to be a sign of old age when I do them, yet I've been doing them forever. Like getting my glasses out of my bag, to read something put in front of me. Perfectly normal behaviour for a woman of any age, but now it's confirmation of my oldbagdom. Don't get me started. Oh, you did. Well, thanks for listening.😂

Back to anachronistic names... Another thing that gets me is women's hairstyles in old films & TV period drama. You can generally tell when the drama was made by the hairstyle, even though it's set in WW2 or Victorian times or the Regency.

I’ve noticed with reading books my kids have brought home from primary school (first chapter books level) all written in the past decade or at least this century, many have little boys with names like Mike, Stu, Dave… Do the authors not know any kids nowadays?

If you wanted realism you wouldn't be reading chick lit.

Characters must be around my age - early 40s as me & my friends are all called the names you said. I know no-one my age with the names in that book - it is annoying and I agree with you.

They were all born around 1987 according to the story which came out in 2019, they were 32.

Currently holding my four month old Sylvia. Went for an old fashioned classic name on purpose.

Completely agree with you on anachronistic names in books though - so annoying. Especially in aspirational literary fiction where everyone is called Lorenzo Guggenheim and Hadley Silverstone and Frieda Kingsmith

The writer might be avoiding common names because it might be the reader's name or maybe their close friend and then it throws off the whole escapism on the book.
I'm seeing this in TV shows now. The characters might be called by their last name or some nickname. It would be jarring if I'm reading a book and the character has my name.

I bet she IS cute in the right sense of the word. Congratulations!

the only individuals I know called Roxy, Clemmie and Daisy are actually dogs or cats.

They sound like cat names to me too.

What book was it?

I'm an author and in every genre you need to hit certain beats and tropes to be successful.

I have a Christmas cozy mystery series, can you guess my female characters name?