Naming characters: how do you do it without being cringe worthy?

Try 'Owen'

Other people reading your book won't care much about what you name your character, as long as it isn't something really crazy and distracting. Giving a normal Irish name to a person of Irish descent isn't cringe-worthy, it's perfectly fine. Unless you intend for your character's name to have some literary meaning, then naming him something simple sounds like a good idea. You want his personality to be the thing that draws your reader in, the name doesn't really matter.

Use a pet's name for the first name and the street you grew up on as the last name.

>>7332948
>Snowball 7th Avenue

>>7332948
Spike Laraway

>>7332948
>Cerberus Halford

Sounds like something from a YA fantasy novel

>>7333012
Finally I know how Animal Farm was written.

>>7332922
Stephen

What's wrong with "Brian"?

>>7333017
See? That's pretty cool.

>>7332948
>Charles Clemmons III Galano
There was no I or II--we just skipped straight to good ol' III.

>>7332922
Copy a name from history that has similarities to your character. The best names have meaning.

File: ip_448332.jpg (622KB, 1000x922px) Image search: [Google]

622KB, 1000x922px

>>7332948
>Nut-Nut Jericho
or
>Peanut Nancy

File: hobbit-hole.jpg (300KB, 900x845px) Image search: [Google]

300KB, 900x845px

>>7333865
Why have I never made this connection?

>>7332922
Try opening a phone book on a random page and seeing if a name is acceptable.

>>7332922
Look at baby naming websites and find names the relate to your character.

just google it man
http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/most-popular-irish-baby-names-in-america-101287949-237711871.html

>>7333874
Fuck man. That's amazing.

Is Tellytubbies the most patrician preschool show?

>>7333931
It's like Ulysses. If you don't get it, you're just not appreciating the finer subtleties of literature.