I came up with the idea for this post after noticing a curious pattern in a lot of the books that I have read during the last few months: The same character names keep appearing, almost from book to book.
So I have mainly been reading domestic or psychological thrillers, which means that most characters would be given fairly standard, reasonably common names. But in the last year, it feels like I haven’t read many books without a character called Anna, Emma, or Kate!
Maybe this is just a coincidence. After all, as I say these are common names. But it is funny how often they appear. For example, I estimate that about 50% of the books I have read this year have contained a character called Kate. And the chances are they have a friend called Louise. There are so many names to choose from, but these just keep coming up!
Of course, the best and most unconventional names come in the fantasy genre, and to a lesser extent, YA. I certainly plan to get on to reading more of those, and if I am looking to come across more naming variety, then that should be a sure way of achieving it :)
The book I am currently reading has a main character called Lenora, so that is a step in a more positive direction. I have loved reading almost all of the books I have read so far in 2018, but it seems that in thrillers at least, the same names are used a little too much.
Stephen Reads Books 