Finding Names by the Side of the Road

 

Roland and I went to Raleigh, North Carolina, over the holidays to celebrate Christmas with our children. On the way there and back, we drove by Mount Airy and Pilot Mountain. That’s Pilot Mountain in the photo.

For those of you who don’t know, Mount Airy, North Carolina, was Andy Griffith’s childhood home and the inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show. Mt. Pilot was the fictional county seat on that same show. It’s obvious where the name of the county seat came from, and apparently the name of the town came from Mayberry, Virginia, just across the state line.

Not all names are that easy to come up with when writing a story. Still, I have noticed that road trips provide me with a great resource. When Roland is driving, I read the exit signs and write the town names in a notebook for later use. Sometimes they are common names like Monroe, but at other times they are more unusual, such as Gallipolis or Litchfield.

Since I write historical fiction, I often use real locations. It would be hard to write about the Great Chicago Fire or the siege of Vicksburg without setting those stories in Chicago or Vicksburg, respectively. But when I’m writing about something that happened throughout the U.S., or at least in a relatively large area, I may create a fictional town to give me more flexibility in the layout, shops, and general characteristics of the setting. In that case, I look at the names on my list and consider using one, but I do a Google search to ensure that the state I am locating it in doesn’t have a town by that name. Since I collect names from all over the country, I can usually find something that works.

That’s a secondary use of my list, though. I primarily use it for surnames. Most of my characters have last names that I pulled from my list of towns, such as Girard or Morton or Waldon.

But whether I use the names for characters or locations, interstate exit signs can be a great resource.

A Rose by Any Other Name

While it is true that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, names do matter. The wrong one can create all sorts of problems for a writer.

I am currently working on a story about the Civil War siege of Vicksburg, and I named my protagonist “Charlotte Warren.” I loved that last name. Unfortunately, she is now Charlotte Gibson. Why the change? Charlotte’s father is like mine, a man who rose from humble beginnings to become a professional man well-respected among his colleagues and within his geographical area but not generally known outside those circles, and one who is content to live a modest life. Unfortunately, as I was doing some research, I discovered that Vicksburg is in Warren County. That means anyone from that area might associate Charlotte’s father with whatever more influential, rich family the county is named after.

Actually, Shakespeare knew it, too, and Juliet’s famous speech from the balcony scene was wishful thinking. Here is her entire speech. [The following lines are spoken by Juliet in the balcony scene, Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene I.

‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;—

Thou art thyself though, not a Montague.

What is a Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What’s in a name! that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,

Retain that dear perfection which he owes

Without that title:—Romeo, doff thy name;

And for that name, which is no part of thee,

Take all myself.

Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene I

Names had consequences for Romeo and Juliet, and they have consequences for writers, too.

And sometimes we get pricked by the thorns.