download (2)In Shakespeare’s most famous play (though not its most-quoted — that honor actually goes to Hamlet), Juliet takes a moment to philosophize on the subject of names.

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
[…]
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes

While a pretty bit of dialog and rather romantic in context, Juliet’s words are a poor example for authors to follow. Characters which change their names halfway through the story tend to be a bit confusing!

Names have been a recent subject of conversation, both in a discussion group I belong to as well as in a private conversation with a publisher as he reviewed a book I’d suggested as a possibility for publication. I thought I’d fire off a quick blog post on the topic.  Continue reading →