Thank you @multi-lefaiye for the tag uwu sorry this took so long, also much like yourself I adore behindthename
Also also, I apologise in advance for how bad I am at naming things hahah
Aight so I have far far to many OC's but for simplicity I'll do my paranormal gang from my story "Into the Woods" which was actually named that way way before that movie came out and time will tell if I change the title. For brevity's sake I will also just be including the main lads and the villains, I might do a separate post for Liu's family uwu
Liu Willows - So Liu’s first name can mean “Willow Tree” which is good because willow trees are an important motif to his character. Willow trees have strong associations with hope, belonging and letting go of pain and suffering, all themes I'm keen to explore in the story, mostly through him. part of his character arc is learning to let go of his past so yeah, willow trees. His last name funnily enough means “One who lives by willow trees” so I guess you could interpret his name as willow tree in the willow grove. Since togetherness and friendship are also key themes for him I kind of like it, Liu is part of a grove, there's something almost poetic about that...I think.
Miles Whitby - Miles can mean soldier! Which is super unfitting for this English lad, he’s anything but a soldier. Miles is somewhat cowardly, flighty and not particularly disciplined. This actually kind of works since, despite being his parents ‘golden boy’ he deals with a lot of insecurity about not living up to their expectations. I like the idea that his name doesn't quite fit, suits his arc. It can also mean gracious which he absolutely is, Miles is a lovely person and he likes to take care of others. His last name is names after the port town Whitby so his name can literally be Soldier of Whitby. makes him sound kind of badass, which he most definitely is not lol
'Swift' - Not going to use his actual name because its a spoiler but Swift names himself after the animal, and Swifts have some interesting symbolism. They can be associated with nomadic lifestyles due to the fact they live life on the wing. Their also sometimes called “Devil Birds” and seen as bad omens. In the UK their synonymous with Summer, and as a result bring associations of better weather to come. As a name Swift means, quick and windblown. Mixed bag here, Swift is sent to keep an protect Miles and Liu and he has to travel to get to them, which is why he took the name. I suppose the argument could be made their lives get better after he shows up, much like how the birds he names himself after herald Summertime over here. I like how it turned out!
Martin Kingsley - So Martin means Of Mars, warlike or Warrior. Super not accurate, Martin is a sweet, wonderful blorbo who would much rather have a peaceful outcome to confrontations. Honestly Swift would be more suited to this name lmao. Kingsley means “kings clearing” which I like because it ties another characters name to tree themed goodness. The fact it means clearing is great cuz Martin is actually an entity using the body of a boy who let them take it after they killed themselves. As an entity Martin represented loneliness and isolation so the idea that their last name means clearing, as in a space in the woods with no trees, no friends or ties to others, is just perfect to me.
Calvin Learmont - Calvin, the absolute bastard man that I named myself after. (PS I absolutely do not condone anything this man does in his cannon.) Calvin means bald. Which he isn’t. However, one of my favourite tropes is “Bald of Evil” where the bad guy is bald, like Lex Luthor. SO I do like how that happened. I also just happen to think its funny the big bad man’s name means bald. He deserves to be bullied. John Calvin was a humanitarian lawyer (my boi is also a lawyer) who broke away from the catholic church. My Calvin is a Cult leader so...Read into that how you like. His Last name Learmont is based on the Scottish Surname Learmonth, a noble family from Fife. Which just means, “of Learmonth”. I’m Scottish so I like sneaking in references to my country lol. Calvin comes from a family of old money though so having his last name be derived from the name of a noble family is very befitting.
Jacob Learmont - Jacob means supplanter and given the fact Jacob is the host for an eldritch being and is more or less just pretending to be human? I like this. A lot. The name is also pretty biblical and Jacob has some rough history with religion. Jacob also is the one Calvin has decreed will be the next high priest of the cult the family runs, meaning Calvin's sisters are unable to lead the cult they by all rights should have some birth right claim to. Interesting. Jacob took Calvin's last name when he was adopted and refuses to acknowledge his old name, so “Supplanter from Learmonth” which makes him sound very scheming. Which he is so I guess it works!
'Ash' - Ash is named after the tree, but as a given name, Ash is short for Ashley which means “Ash tree clearing”. Ash trees have lots of supernatural associations, some people believe the smoke from ash wood wards off evil spirits, sometimes ailing children were given ash sap as a medicine and Yggdrasil, the world tree is apparently an ash tree! Ash as a character is incredibly linked to the supernatural, without getting into spoiler territory the fact his namesake is so closely linked please me. This one I actually did do on purpose. Ash is also, what's left after a fire, and the idea of being what's left, is incredibly important to his story arc, again I don’t want to like, spoil to much but yea read into that how you like haha
This was super fun! I might do this for some of my other characters just for fun lmao! Again thanks for the tag Xavier! Just gonna leave this as an open tag for whoever would like to do this! PS- I hope i did this right lmaooo
