Names have always been interesting to me, since they can describe many characteristics about a person or an animal. Names can have different meanings, and can be very simple or very complex. For my characters, especially the ones for Arcadian Divinity, I decided to use religious names, or unique words from different languages. This is because of the angels as well as the mortals (the people or the animals) that are in the story. For example, the word Caelum is Latin. It is also a constellation in the sky, with the symbolism being a chisel. The Latin meaning though, is heaven. I chose this word because of the definition. I wanted a unique name for the main character, one that sounded interesting and meant something that signified who the character was. I also wanted to show what the angel did. The way to say the angel’s name the Latin way, is that the word Caelum, the first portion, Cae, rhymes with high.
There are other angels in the story as well as mortals. Even the minor characters have religious names, but I purposely gave the angels the unique ones that were not used as often. Adiel was a name that I chose for Caelum’s friend. His name is Hebrew and means ‘ornament of God’ or ‘God passes by.’ Either meaning was significant enough to draw me to the name. So, I used that one for the main character’s friend. I chose the pronunciation to be the way the name is said in Hebrew. It is said like Add-de-el.
When I was coming up with the novel to begin with, I needed to plan out the character’s names. I do this for every novel that I write. Planning out the names for me is my favorite part, because the names show the uniqueness of the character, as well as who they are. In order to find the names, I usually use either Pinterest or Google. For most of my stories, I like using the eclectic names that are out of the ordinary. Some of them are familiar, but mostly I enjoy ones that are a twist on what most individuals already know. I love coming up with character names because it shows the potential traits about them. It also introduces the readers to new or interesting words. The readers either haven’t heard the names before or didn’t really know about.
I hope everyone enjoys the cover art and the description for Arcadian Divinity! The latest the novel will be out is August 2023, so stay tuned for updates!
I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I will be writing again very soon!