: Re: Are connotations with certain names inevitable? In my book (fantasy novel), there's a character named Brad. Unfortunately, Brad has become synonymous with "douchebag". Now, when I first introduced

@Shakeerah107

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Yes, character development will thwart any preexisting opinions on "Brad", but why not transcend regular names altogether? Humans have evolved to pretty much accept any name (in fear of looking ignorant and therefore being the opposite of P.C.) from a stranger who is called by it.

Go with a hunky sounding, Scandinavian influenced (also completely made up by me) version of Brad such as "Bradde" Having a unique and foreign name will:

instantly stick out, assuming every other character uses conventional names
give readers something to talk and therefore argue about (pronunciation)
He will I think be instantly likeable and hot sounding to women (blue eyed well hung blonde, most genetically resistant to an array of diseases) and badass to men (vikings....)

He wouldn't even have to be strictly foreign by the way, its quite viable that he's of 2nd or I say at most 3rd generation Finnish, Norwegian/ Swede. After the 2nd and 3rd its likely his family would've adopted more common names. "Brad the Butcher" could still be used seeing as how the natives of the book would likely familiarize his name assuming it's going to be in some kind of publication (Brad the Butcher strikes again etc).

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