Favourite Character Names

Five of our favourite character names.

There have been many characters with great names over the years. Who would not have a soft spot for a bad boy named Rupert Campbell Black? Or want to look after a boy called Pip? Here are five of our favourites. Which ones would you add? 

Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind, MGM (1939.)

Scarlett O’ Hara (Gone with the Wind.) 

What can we say about the heroine of Gone With The Wind? It’s such a rich sounding name and it’s very recognisable with any book fan. Her name had to be on our list.

Julie Dawn Cole, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Warner Bros. 1971

Veruca Salt/Charlie Bucket (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) 

We really couldn’t decide between these two names. The characters themselves are complete opposite to each other. Veruca is such a horrible sounding name and yet so brilliant and suitable to the character and as for Charlie, well, he’s Charlie. He’s the hero.

Carey Mulligan, BBC. 2014

 Bathsheba Everdene.

 She was an Everdene long before Katniss. It’s a wonderful name to say and so unusual. It rolls off the tongue. I say it and it sounds like a strong, female character.

Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 1961.

Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany’s.) 

How could Holly not make our list? When I think of the name, Holly Golightly, the beginning of Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Audrey Hepburn walking alone comes into the mind. It’s a lovely sounding, wonderful name. Very memorable.

Nicholas Lyndhurst, BBC. 1999.

Uriah Heep (David Copperfield.) 

Not a very nice character at all. He’s sneaky, sweaty and manipulative. For me, this name conjures up someone who is not very trustworthy. He’s one of literature’s greatest villains (in our opinion anyway,) and just his name is a little creepy. That’s why he’s in our list.

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.