Do you ever wonder how authors name their characters–or how to pronounce them? If you have, them check out Eve Silver‘s post all about the names of her heroes and heroines in the Otherkin Trilogy, including book 1 Sins of the Heart that is in stores now!
by Eve Silver, author of the Otherkin Trilogy: Sins of the Heart (HQN Books, August 2010), Sins of the Soul (September 2010), and Sins of the Flesh (October 2010)
Sins of the Heart, the first book in the Otherkin trilogy, and the e-prequel, Sin’s Daughter, have readers emailing me to ask about the names of the characters. How to pronounce them. What they mean. So I thought that would be a great topic to chat about.
The names definitely have specific meaning and reference, and from my perspective, they suit the characters to a T.
From Sins of the Heart:
Dagan—Pronounced: DAY-gan This name is associated with the ‘lord of the sacrifices for the dead’ or the ‘lord of sacrificial victims’ (Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible, By K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst). Given that Dagan is the son of Sutekh, the Underworld lord of chaos and evil, and given that he harvests hearts and darksouls for his father, the name seemed apt. Dagan’s dark and deadly and incredibly hot.
Roxy—Pronounced: ROK-see. The meaning of Roxy’s name is: star, bright, dawn—words that embody the inner light and strength that keep her going through the worst of times and the greatest adversity. She’s one tough cookie who not only rolls with the punches, but leaps to her feet and comes up swinging.
From Sins of the Soul:
Alastor—Pronounced: uh-LAS-tawr. The name is associated with the deity/demon who avenges evil deeds. But Alastor is also the title of a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley; the poem is a warning not to abandon sweet human love. Because of who and what he is, Alastor has secretly abandoned the hope of love. He has lost those he loved, and mourned them in silent pain. He craves control in any situation. Until he meets Nafré; she blows his neatly constructed world to hell.
Naphré—Pronounced: NAH-fray. Her name means goodness. Her middle name, Misao, means loyalty and fidelity. And despite the horrific things that have happened to her, the choices she’s made, the terrible things she’s done, there is a core of goodness in her heart, and a deep well of loyalty and honor. These qualities give her a backbone of steel, and she needs that when she’s up against Alastor, toe to toe every step of the way.
From Sins of the Flesh:
Malthus—Pronounced: MAL-thuh-s. Malthus is a deity/demon who is a prince of Hell. And Mal is a prince in Sutekh’s Underworld, third son of the Lord of chaos and evil. Big change from the years he lived in squalor, beaten, starved, a boy who stole what he could just to survive, who knew that hell had special place for boys like him. Only, back then, he didn’t know that he wasn’t human, and he didn’t know just how special that place would be.
Calliope— Pronounced: kah-LY-uh-pee. Calliope means beautiful voice. Mythologically, she was a muse and mate of the god of war. And she is Mal’s muse. He is taken with her, inspired by her, consumed by his interest in her. She calls to him as no one else ever has, despite the fact that she is his enemy. For her part, Calliope’s nature is suited to her voice: serene, calm, focused. A perfect match to Mal’s bad-boy inclinations.
So there you have it. What’s in a name? In this case, quite a bit.
Do you ever wonder where fictional characters get their names?
Pingback: Tweets that mention What’s in a Name? by Eve Silver | Paranormal Romance Blog -- Topsy.com
Thank you for explaining some things. I wasn’t sure how to pronounce a few things in Sins of the Heart and this really helps! I see that I was way off on a few of them
Glad to know the pronunciation of the names. I was way off on several.
That was so kool. I know I have a read a book a time or two were I had to guess how the name was pronounced but you post was nice to see. I think it would be kool for more author’s to do posts like this.
Yes! That’s usually one of the questions I always ask authors! Thanks for posting!
Not only do I wonder sometimes where characters get their names, but I go crazy trying to figure out how to pronounce them. I finally just decide to pronounce them however I like and go on from there, LOL.
like Barbara, I pronounce the name how I like it if I don’t know the right version… but it was also very interesting to read the meanings of the names and I can’t wait to find out if the protas have those characteristics…
Amy, thanks for sharing, I got some names all wrong in my head.
Eve, I forgot to say that I’m reading Sins of the Heart, I’m impressed by it. I have to read during the day, I cannot read it before going to bed. This hasn’t happened to me in a long time. You did an awesome job with that book.
I usually have trouble pronouncing names and its great to know about how the names are pronounced and their meanings. It must be difficult to search for a name that fits the hero or heroine. Thanks for the post!
It really helps when I can see the actual pronunciation of names…Normally I am off on the majority. I also love that you gave the meaning/association of the names. I do wonder where names come from (certainly in the Paranormal genre). It always help understand the character better if we are allowed the meaning/origin and see how it applies/fits the character!
Thanks for this closer look into the names of your characters. I’ve always enjoyed learning about name origins. In fact, I remember looking up my own name and wondered why the heck my dad picked it!
The story flows so much better for me, when I don’t stumble over a pronunciation. I’ve come across authors that list the names and pronunciations at the back of the book, and I love that idea.
The more I read about this series, Eve, the more I look forward to starting it. Really enjoying the excerpts I seen posted.
caity_mack at yahoo dot com
Thanks for the pronunciation guide. Since I normally do not read out loud, the pronunciation of names in a book doesn’t matter too much to me. However, if I were to discuss the book or characters with other people, then I definitely would like to know how to pronounce the names.