: Re: Generic Character Name In my book, I am planning on having the main character be called "Samantha." However, she believes her name is too generic, so she goes by the nickname "Thana." My

@Ogunnowo420

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There are no wrong names unless they interrupt the story in an unintentional way. Generally, if you're writing about your name choices you're probably spending your time on details that don't matter, unless names are super relevant to whatever culture you happen to be writing about. That last scenario seems unlikely since you went for Samantha though.

Some authors intentionally choose generic names so that people can't tell what those people will do. It's a personal pet peeve of mine to be able to predict a character's arc by the name choice of the author.

But, you could also think about it this way if you need reasons. Why did her parents name her Samantha? They could have named her that because they heard the statistic that people with unusual name usually end up in jail. Or, it could be because of a relative. Or the mother just really liked that name.

Names in the end don't define people. People define their names. If you write (Saman)tha(na) well enough then her name won't matter.

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