There are those who call me... Tim?

[rj_anderson]

It has been suggested to me that I change the name of my young hero from book two of FAERY REBELS (a.k.a. REBEL in the UK). I am told that for most British people, especially of the younger generation, the name "Timothy" is considered fairly radically uncool.

I don't mind Timothy's name being unpopular, because he was born to missionary parents and raised in Uganda, and him not fitting in with the cool kids in England is kind of the point. However, if it's going to make all my young readers in the UK gag and put the book down hastily the moment they see it (as I'd be tempted to do if the hero's name was, say, "Leslie") then I suppose I would be foolish not to take that into account.

So I'm doing a poll. The first question is specifically for UK readers, but for the second I'd be glad to hear from anybody.

[Poll #1398565]

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Comments

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Names generally won't make or break a book for me. If I like the book, I don't care about the names :-D

Yes, that's how I feel, too. I absolutely loathe the name "Harry", but it didn't keep me from enjoying the Potter books. Usually I spend about a chapter wishing that the author had chosen some other name I like better, and then I get over it.

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

The only names I really take an issue with is if the author chooses a name I typically associate with a female for a male character or vice versa - and it's not that I dislike it as such, it just throws me for a loop every time I'm reminded that the character is not the gender I thought he/she was.

So if you decide to call the main character Abraham and it's a girl... I might wonder what on earth you were doing ;)