Character names from spam mail?

[GeorgieB]

How many of you find that the names spammers use are just too good to pass up as names you might use?

I can't ignore them any longer. I've found:

Norbert Gipson (perfect name for a lawyer for a WIP)
Craig Bolden
Neil Stewart
Victor Campbell
Jerri Hull
Randi Tapia
Rosellina Schroeder
Sheri Rush

These are just a few...I've started a file for future use. It's my own, personal way to return the favor they've shown me with their spam for purple pills and body-part extenders. :tongue

[johnzakour]

Nah... I rather just ignore spammers than use them in my books. I only use friends in books. :)

[Linton Robinson]

Funny post, Georgie. And as good a source as any other.

But watch out you don't end up with characters with names like Georgina Windsor but speak like Gunga Din.

[DeadlyAccurate]

Mine would all be doctors (current Gmail spam):

Doctor Wallace Jacob
Dr Nicole Perdue
Dr. Sammie Hebert
Doctor Cecile Phelps
Doctor Rosemary Mckenzie
Dr Louie Lunsford
Doctor Mari Pineda

[HeronW]

Whups, so Add Six Inches is not a good protag name?
A.S. Inches? Private Eye? damn...
back to making up names again.

[Straka]

I've actually looked at them to. How doesn't one get that job? Making up names all day :-P

[jannawrites]

Whups, so Add Six Inches is not a good protag name?
A.S. Inches? Private Eye? damn...
back to making up names again.

Heron, you naughty thing, you...

[caromora]

Linda Needham talks about using spam to name characters in The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook. I've tried but haven't found any useful ones yet. :)

[jst5150]

I keep a list of spam names on my Blackberry. Great resource, no cost. :)

[Fresie]

There's definitely something to it... I'll have to have a look next time before I delete them all.

I would warn you though against using spam-generated foreign names; in most cases they mix-and-match different nationalities, like attaching a Spanish or Japanese name to a Russian surname so make sure you don't end up with a character like Joaquin Takeshi Gorbachev... you'll spend the rest of the book explaining his family story! :)

[citymouse]

How about Ruby da Jewel or Crystal d'Canter?

[MMWyrm]

I do this!

Krystal Pardemann
Cordell Russem
Diana Sorenson
Chelton Harringer
Gareth Edminton
Jody Curran

Fresie's right though. I had a Rosaria Chen Ipswitch the other day. Made me giggle.

[KarlaErikaCal]

I don't get spam. Darn.....

[Linton Robinson]

Poor thing. Send me your email and all your friends' and I'll fix your right up. :-)


I got a spam name today I just LOVE: Corkum Reichow

What sort of book would Corkum star in?

[Kassandra]

Just today's names:

Inchul Hoon
John C.
Owen Lam
Dr. Nestor Reeder

[Nari]

Charles Dickens found many of his character names from old cemeteries. Spam is much the same thing. You walk through, look at the names, don't do any digging and walk on. I'd say, if you find a unique one and would like to use it, look up the historical origin of the actual name and go from there. This way, you won't have someone whose genealogy is strictly Norwegian with a Portuguese surname. Also, you will know if the name is simply an amalgamation of letters having no origin at all, except in the spammer's imagination.

Or something.

[Kassandra]

This just in:

Mustain Bodon
Tomi Morrish
Handy Switch
Tyson Childress

[chevbrock]

Thanks for the heads up. I WON'T be looking at spam for name inspiration. There's gonna be a whole generation of literature with all the same names throughout! Spam will echo eternally through history!

[bluntforcetrauma]

Charles Dickens found many of his character names from old cemeteries.

I found one of my minor character's names in a cemetery after I'd come up with it. Sue Strickler. What are the odds?

I tend to use names of schoolmates from when I was in elementary school. I take a first name from one and a surname from another and it works for me.