Congratulations, you’ve decided to write a Regency novel! Whether you’re writing romance, fantasy, mystery, or something else, the Regency is a fun time period for a story. But what if you’re having trouble naming all your characters? One of the challenges of naming characters in historical fiction is that names that we like today often differ from names popular in the past. How can you find names that sound authentic to the Regency? There are some good examples in Austen’s novels, but not every character can be named Lizzie or Jane.
One resource is the Regency Name Generator at the Regency Reader blog. There is a generator for male names and one for female names. Many of the generated names are laughable, but every now and then you’ll stumble upon a good one. When I use a name from this generator, I often end up taking either a first name or surname but not the whole name combination.
If you’re looking specifically for period-appropriate given names/Christian names, Bryn Donovan has an excellent list. I’ve referred to this many times when trying to come up with a good first name that I haven’t already used.
But what abour surnames? For me, this is often the biggest challenge. Sometimes in the past I have raided my own family tree for surnames.That’s how Christina’s “Grandfather Rownd” (in Secrets and Visions) got his last name. My great-grandmother was a Rownd, and I liked the sound of it as a surname. For that matter, my “Rollins” pen name is also from my family tree. Another of my great-grandmothers was a Rollins by birth, and that’s the family line I researched most when I dabbled in genealogy. (Ask me about my bigamous great-great-great uncle sometime!)
But the family tree trick only works if you or someone you know maintains an extensive family tree AND if a significant number of your ancestors are of British descent. (Shout-out to my aunt for the decades of work she’s put into family genealogy!) Obviously, there are many writers for whom this will not work. So what are some other sources for Regency-appropriate surnames?
If you know what county your character is from, you can simply search “common surnames in [county].” If you want to narrow it down a little more, add “in the nineteenth century.” Searching “common surnames in Yorkshire in the nineteenth century” led me to a list of surnames from the 1881 census, and I ended up finding a few names that I used in drafting My Lady Sorceress. What I like about this method is that you may discover surnames like “Thackrey” or “Goforth” that are uncommon in fiction but authentic to the region.
What other methods do you use when trying to develop Regency-sounding names? Any tips to share?
annerollins.com 