Renaming Characters

So, I was thinking of renaming a few of my characters in Invisible Angels. I like their names, but I think it's not really what I want them to be named, if that makes any sense. Whether it does or not, I was looking up something on how to rename characters and what to rename them to and tips like that. I didn't find anything helpful. At all. It's the worldwide web here! You'd think something helpful we be there... Anywho, I didn't look for very long, because I was supposed to be writing, but I thought I should post about it.

Why do you want to rename the character? The reason is important because you want to know what you need to fix. I'll make up a character for this.

Lulu Knox-- Lulu is 17, she's a real tomboy, loves sports, has short hair, is short, wears baggy clothes, likes to play checkers, constantly cracks her knuckles. 

Well, poor Lulu seems like her name doesn't have much going for her. Of course, if I was writing this I might bring out that she hates her name because it's so frilly, but say I wasn't going to do that.

Do you want to rename your character because the name doesn't fit? This seems to be Lulu's case.


Do you want to rename your character because you don't like the name? 

Is it because the character turned out differently then you thought it would?
 
Did you name the character knowing what they're personality was, but then they outgrew the name? 

Well, whatever it is, I'll go through some antidotes for them...

1. The name doesn't fit. 
Is your character really girly and she has a name like Chase? Well, you should think of some names that aren't really girly, but not masculine. I use Lulu's example.

Lulu isn't a girly girl, but her name suggests otherwise, so I should think of some other names for her. Make a list:

Carly
Jamie
Lauren
Riley
Amber
Wanda

So there are some, they all see more like tom-boy names to me then Lulu. I think Lulu would like any of these names better, but they don't all fit. This is where number 2 comes in.

2. You don't like the name. 
Say I was going to rename Lulu to any one of these names, well I don't really like all of them. (No offense to anyone who has these names). You should definitely rename the character if you don't like the name, but go back to number 1 and make sure you aren't renaming the character something that doesn't suit them. I'll get rid of some of these names. Here's my list again:

Carly
Jamie
Lauren
Riley
Amber
Wanda

Those are the ones that I'm not too fond of, see this step is helpful even when your narrowing down names,

3. Your character changed character. 
Okay, so you renamed your character and your writing along happily. (I'll say that I picked Riley for Lulu's name). Then all of the sudden, your character doesn't want to do what you thought he/she would do. Riley is now more of a glamor girl, but her name can't go back to being Lulu. I don't like the name Lulu anyway, so what do you do? Make another list:

Violet
Tabitha
Apple
Angelina
Eva
Antoinette

Okay, there's my glamorous list. Then you do the same thing in step 2 again, get rid of the ones that you don't like.

Violet
Tabitha
Apple
Angelina
Eva
Antoinette


There we go. Making a list and crossing things out is a very effective way of renaming someone!


4. They Outgrew their name
Well, this is kind of what happened to my characters. This step involves some more work, you have to analyze they're new character and figure out who they are now. Did they mature too much for their name? Did they start acting less mature? etc. etc. After you do that you can make the list and go from there.

I hope I answered all your questions! If you need to know anything else, please don't hesitate to comment or email.