Well, the title is pretty self-explanatory, right?. 

I started writing my novel a couple of weeks ago and still haven't decided on my protagonist's name. Of course, I'm not in a hurry since the story is narrated in the first person, but still, it would be cool to at least have something in mind. 
The issue I'm facing and the reason why I started this thread is simple. I suck at naming people, mainly because of my lack of knowledge about American names that would work out (MC is American). 



(The other reason for this weird tendency I have of naming everything JUAN on sight.)


Of course, I could just search a name randomizer, but that would make things pretty boring wouldn't it?

So I would really appreciate it if any of you could give me any spicy suggestions. 

MC is male, with blackish hair and pale green eyes. If you need any more inspiration to feel free to read the first few chapters or reach out to me. :3  
Feel free to recommend more than just one name, this is going to be fun.

Thanks for reading. 
 

What does your MC like to do?
What is he good at?
What does he believe in, or rather, what personal beliefs guide his life?
Answers to questions like these might help you choose a name. 
If not, just name him "Spot."

My MC is Indian, so I chose a very common Inidan name: Arjun Singh. Do something basic like Bob Smith.

Think about the background he grew up in.  If he's from a Christian home, look at all the Bible names we Americans have, anything from Daniel, Noah, John, Matthew, etc.

If his family is more modern / progressive or just like to do things differently, think of the unique names people give their kids - Sky, Blue, Apple, or the weird spellings for common names Chrys (Chris).   

In this country just about anything goes, so don't get hung up on the name.

Honestly with naming in America you can push it really far on the absurdity scale and still have it be believable, so I wouldn't worry too much about ending up with a "weird" name. Since I don't know the MC, I can't directly give him a name, but I can tell you how I found the names for my main characters. 
For the first one, John Chen, I first thought about what kind of name his parents would want to give him. Because the dad is a Chinese immigrant, I thought he would want his son to have a very "American" sounding name to sort of show the hope he had for him to lead an ideal American life. I then looked up popular baby names, and ended up on John because its generic and popular among Americans, exactly what the dad wanted. And then Chen is just a common Chinese last name.
For the second, Alice McFarland, she inherited her first name from her mother, who died giving birth to her. The dad has never gotten over his late wife, and thus named his daughter the same. McFarland denotes her Irish heritage, and also has some ties to the themes of her character.
For the third one, Seth Freeman, I made up that mom is a armchair anthropologist, who wanted to give her child the name of an African deity. She ended up going with Seth, not know that he was basically the villain of the Egyptian pantheon because she chose it after doing very little research. Freeman is a common African-American last name, and also denotes his status as a bit of a revolutionary.
In general though, I think names are going to come from a combination of your character's cultural background and the proclivities of their parents. They can be a pretty big opportunity to develop the people that named the character, or at least give your character an interesting bit of trivia on the origin of their name. If you want to give the name a foreshadow-y or insightful meaning though, I do recommend going to one of those sites where you can pick baby names based on the meaning you want them to have.

Mike Carter

Shagbark Wrote: In this country just about anything goes, so don't get hung up on the name.

Seconded.  With the large number of cultures that have come in over time and trend for people looking for "unique" names for their kids, just about anything would work out.

If you want the name to be more generic, you can think about your character's age or year or decade they were born and do a search for most popular names during that time period.  So many websites willing to provide "most popular names of [random years]" for the country.

You could use a random name generator lol..

Since MC has pale green eyes, you could name him Jaden.

Good luck with your story.

Steve Raj Mathewson.

Christian undertones. Indian heritage. Potential nickname later on. Easily digestible name.

ShadowRat Wrote: Steve Raj Mathewson.

 Indian heritage.

It would be something more like Steve Mathewson Mishra, as Mathewson isn't a common Indian surname.

SigmaWriter Wrote: (The other reason for this weird tendency I have of naming everything JUAN on sight.)

You could name your MC Juan.

when i suffer from naming issue, i look up for the name of actors and pick the one which suits the best, works almost every time.
becuase these names could be pretty famous and would set in the memory of readers quite easily

Blueberries.

Single name. Problem solved. 

I do believe that names are important. 

If you want the name to have some hidden meaning, there are websites you can visit that have the meaning of various names. 

The origin of the MC's family is essential in determining the source of the name. 

Sometimes the nature of their birth influenced their name.

No one is going to give you grief about the name. But as the author, it is like naming a child. It needs to be chosen with care.

I look to old mythology when naming stuff. It works.

I read a few chapters. You're MC sounds like a loner who had it rough, died, and came back. A man of danger and melancholy. A man of power untapped. Mostly, a man of sorrow. With that in mind, I offer these names:

Christopher Mourn
Owen Dirge
Eric Hollow
Marvin Vastly
Kyle Ragnarok
Ben Mancer
Ray Wight
Tim Riser
Malcom Chance

Mix and match as you see fit. Hope this helps, and may fortune favor you on the Cusp of The Crunch.