Fun and games with character names

A year or two ago I posted a Character-name Generator (scroll down -- it's at the bottom of the page) on my website just for laughs. Here's how I introduced it:

And now, for some lighthearted fun:

Still struggling to find the perfect names for your story people? Don't despair -- help is here!

Brenda's Character-name Generator

A Must-have Tool for the "Serious" Romance Novelist

You choose "male" or "female", then click the button, and up pops a name suggestion for the hero or heroine of your romance novel. When I first discovered (and modified) the javascript, I thought it was cute. But a lot of people don't catch that tongue-in-cheek introdution and are taking my "must-have tool" quite seriously. I can't believe how many websites are linking to that page, and how many writers have thanked me for providing it.

I've always been faintly embarassed about the whole thing. But okay, fine. If you find a name you love, go ahead and put it in your novel. Although in the spirit of full disclosure, I must tell you there are only about 40 last names in the hat and an equal number of first names for men and women. So click that little button enough times and you'll see the same names pop up over and over again. So will everybody else.

If you're looking for some real originality, I recommend that you open your phone book.

For more fun and games with character names, check out this baby-name website. It uses some exceedingly cool graphics to give you a popularity rating for baby names during the past hundred years. Among other things, I learned that nobody is naming little girls "Brenda" anymore.

Now I feel so uncool, stuck with this bummer name nobody likes. Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad.