What’s in a name?

One would think naming characters would be easy, but folks, it’s not. At least, a lot of the times it’s not. Like naming your babies, there are so many things to consider. The character’s family history, the author’s personal taste, the cheesiness level, and name meanings are just a few of those things.

When I started writing the story that would eventually become Prophecy, my heroine’s name was Alexis. This was completely understandable because at that time I was a teenager and I loved the name Alexis. There was no reason to question my choice as she was my baby and I could name her whatever I darn well pleased. Right?

Welllll, not so much.

About thirty years later, Alexis and her hero resurfaced in my mind. It was time for their story to be told, but with certain changes. Alexis had grown, matured. She wasn’t the effervescent (and often annoying) nineteen-year-old she’d been before, and her name needed to reflect that change. 

Fortunately, for this story, I didn’t need to change it much. I bought a mega-sized book of baby names and perused it in search of the perfect name. It turns out that Alexis means “defender of mankind”. This is essentially what her character does—defends mankind on Earth. She becomes the voice and face of her people to the new intergalactic community Earthlings are suddenly exposed to. But since Alexis was forever stuck in my head as a teenage girl, the name couldn’t stay.

But, whaddya know, Alexandra also means defender of mankind and sounded more mature—like twenty-two-year-old mature. Hey! I had a first name!

There is a quiet and tender scene in Prophecy where Alexandra (aka: Alex) and her hero have a moment alone to regroup and actually get to know each other a little better. (I love this scene, btw.) Alex tells him her middle name, which is…oh, crap. I had no middle name! And not just any name would do. It needed to tie her to her people, past, present, and future. It had to be something really meaningful. One thing I knew about her family and past was that her father had been the head of the history department at the local university and had taught ancient history. He particularly loved ancient Greek history. How could I use this to choose the right middle name for her? 

Quick, back to the baby name book. Weirdly, I opened the book to the girl “G” names, and a short way down the page I found the name Gaia. Do you have any idea what that name means? Earth. It means, earth.

Bingo!

Defender of mankind of Earth. Done.

Now, what about her hero? He was an alien, so an argument could be made that I could just make up a name and attach my own meaning to it, but that didn’t feel right. (Although, in a moment of frustration I did do exactly this for a minor character in Salvation, but that’s another story).

The hero’s ancestors had been the basis of the legends of Atlantis. For the sake of my sanity, I decided the aliens interacted first and foremost with the ancient Greeks, but their subtle influence spread throughout Europe including languages, names, and mythologies. One name that caught my attention was Griffin, meaning fierce and warrior, like the mythological griffon. Researching this, I discovered there are griffons throughout many cultures’ histories in Europe and the Middle East.

But, Griffin seemed a little too trendy for my hero. Shortening it to Griff might work, but he was an alien and that spelling was too, well, normal. If I changed the “i” to a “y” and dropped an “f”…yeah. Gryf. That worked.

Of course, he would also need a middle name for that quiet, tender scene. Once again I madly flipped through that baby name book searching for male names of Greek origin. I finally found Dimitri. You'll never believe what that name means. It means: Loves the earth.

Oh. My. Gawd. Is that freaking perfect, or what?

The fierce warrior who loves the earth. Dayum, I’m good. But, once again the spelling needed to be “alien-nized”, and the final result was Dimytro. 

Close enough!

And that’s how Alexandra Gaia Bock and Gryf Dimytro Helyg got their names.

I told you it isn’t simple.

Btw, if you haven't read Prophecy yet, now would be the perfect time to get started. If you have read it, you might want to reread it now to refresh your memory. The release date for the third and final book in the series arc—Collision—will be announced very soon!

A nightmare of galactic proportions…
One normal day turns into horror when Earth is attacked. Now ER nurse Alexandra Bock is imprisoned aboard an alien slave ship with no way out. She deems all aliens untrustworthy, including the handsome blue-skinned Matiran captain who shares her cell.

A betrayal from within…
One night of treachery leaves Senior Captain Gryf Helyg a prisoner of his enemies. Because of him, Earth’s inhabitants face extinction and his home world is threatened. But his plans for escape are complicated by his inexplicable draw to the Earth woman imprisoned with him.
​
A chance to save both their peoples…
One ancient prophecy holds the key to free Alexandra and Gryf’s war-ravaged worlds. Can two wounded souls who have lost everything learn to trust and forgive in order to fulfill the prophecy, and find a love that will last for eternity?

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USA Today Bestselling Author Lea Kirk loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her science fiction romance Prophecy series (Prophecy, All of Me, and Salvation). She’s made one foray into paranormal with her Kindle World vampire novella, Made for Her. Currently she is working on book three of the series, Collision, which will be released later this year

When she not busy writing, she’s hanging out with her wonderful hubby of twenty-eight years, their five kids (aka, the nerd herd), and a spoiled Dobie mix pup.