: What kind of effect can the name of a place or character have on a reader? My question is rather simple. In fact, it's in the title and requires almost no explanation. We can see throughout

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Remember, names can also throw a reader out of the story if it is difficult to read or pronounce. You want the story to flow, and if you have a name that makes the reader slow down too much you may lose them. You can also end up with varying pronunciations by readers depending on the spelling. Which can cause arguments. Even so, name the characters, places what you like. But keep in mind that not everyone will share you opinion of a good name.

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Okay, this is a really good question, and I may or may not have some information. I generally would take the directed audience's age group and apply something to the character that would appeal to the readers. It's effective when writing a fiction. When Rick Riordan wrote the Lightning Thief, his audience was to teens and pre-teens. What he did to get so popular though, was he appealed to the readers by making the MC very relatable by making him have all of these problems wherever he goes. Like today's youth, they're all ways running from anxiety and other problems.

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The short answer is—any kind of effect.

You can to some point predict the reaction, based on the more or less common pop-culture references, but your choice can easily prove to be a miss, if you put a lot of thought into naming your character, but play it of a more obscure area of reader's expertise—it can be lost in comprehension, and the whole strata of your deep subtext will woosh over the heads of less competent consumers of your craft.

Even shorter answer—if in doubt, don't.

If you have a strong story, it might benefit from adding some whimsical subtext, conveyed through the naming convention you choose to employ, but if the expected understanding of your story depends on the correct interpretation of the said convention, rest assured that there will be many lost souls who will not get it simply because they did not watch Thelma and Louise or have not gotten sick after eating too much of Ben & Jerry's.

What can you achieve by naming your character in a way that implies a deeper meaning?

A deeper meaning. Just be prepared that not everyone will get it. If it is all right with you—no one can tell you what to do.

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It is not a simple question. Names can have implications on the character but even more so on the namer. Depending on the actions of named and the depth and intuition of the character some implications can be wild. Take for example Arthur Daley'a wife known only as '"Her indoors". The facts are: she never makes an appearance, he fears her wrath, and she knows everything . . . sounds like God to me.

It can be a hook device. Katlyn's younger sister, Charlie, is nicknamed "Tiddler" even though she's 5'10" and attends college on a basketball scholarship. Katlyn (the narrator) continually promises to tell you (the reader) how Charlie got the name "Tiddler" . . . she never does but the twist is she already did in the first chapter.

There are subconscious echoes of the writer's real life. (I recently discovered that more than 50% of the names female main characters that I have named begin with a hard C.

And of course tbere's the infamous Hannibal Lector. Fun fact: many writers only read things they don't hear them. Just for them: Hannibal Rhymes with Cannibal.

On that note (many don't hear the audio version) of written text. I had a seriously badass, violent female character named "Charlene Temple".

Charlene Temple is a slide-by.

One of the most interesting (probably coincidental) namings is Star Trek's "The Borg". Logically, Borg is derived from "cyborg" half-man/ half machine. But consider their behaviour: they'll ignore others unless they consider them a threat, and are responsible for the expression "Resistance is futile".

Star Trek is a US series. In 70's world tennis was dominated by the US. But from nowhere came a character named Bjorn BORG. He defeated all that came before him. (Resistance was futile). He retired suddenly. In an interview he said, "I started playing tennis for the competition, when there was none - I stopped." (No perceived threats).

Captain James T Kirk and Captain T Hook - really? We know Gene Roddenbury read Peter Pan.

Don't get me started on Peter Parker (Spiderman). What if he was an Italian? . . . maybe we call the superhero Peter Petrelli (Heroes).

My absolute favourite naming coincidence comes from the film "Top Gun" (1986). A film about US military might. It launched the career of US actor TOM CRUISE. Five years later the Gulf war broke out. The US bombarded Iraq with TOMahawk CRUISE missiles = what's up with that?

Tom Cruise is his real name and the missile was created before his rise to fame but - curiouser and curioser.

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