How do you pick names for your characters?

[LarsEighner]

Back in the day, when we had telephone directories in the US, I would just close my eyes and jab a finger into the book as I flipped the pages to get a surname, and I would get given names as you do, but before the internet I had to rely on memory rather than published frequency lists for various years.

Nowadays, since I have done genealogical research, I often choose surnames from passenger manifests. For example, if I want an English-sounding name, I use ships bound for Plymouth colony. As things go in the US, these are often posh-sounding in the US. Northern Ireland censuses are rich in Scots and Irish names and so forth.

The worst way: ask on YA for suggestions. Generally this for people who will be planning on writing something someday for the rest of their lives. Use a dummy name to get started. Use search-and-replace to change the dummy name when you come up with something better.

There are a few guidelines I would suggest:

Names of major characters should not be near names of other characters. You should not have Tim and Tom or Rob and Bob in the same book. Avoid giving major characters names that begin with the same initial; avoid rhyming. You want to make it easy for readers to distinguish the characters.

Generally stick to referring to characters by one version of their names: not Robert here, Bob there, Bobby in the third place. One of the (many) things that make Russian novels insufferable is that everyone has three names, and each of those names has a familiar form or two, and it is almost a rule that characters never be called by the same name twice. Naturally mothers and bosses may use a different form, but most of the time use one name for the character.

I used to worry about inadvertently libeling someone when I named a character. Now that I have tried looking up friends with a search engine or on social media sites I realize that even odd-sounding names are likely to be borne by many people. Still it is worthwhile checking with a search engine to see whether you have accidentally come up with a name that is famous in reality or literature. The threat of accidental libel still exists if you try to create a unique name. Mr. Featherstone-Wobblygate may think you have named your character for him.