Just Call Me …What?

Okay. So I decided I needed a vampire name. Nope, I don’t write paranormal. I don’t read a lot of paranormal. But, like many people, I’ve always found vampires irresistible. Why not have a vampire name?

Character names usually just come to me. I rarely have to think hard on them. They either click or they don't. But since my characters are contemporary and –horrors! – mortal, their names might be regarded as mundane. Vampires have exotic names or at least interesting ones. Lestat de Lioncourt, Dracula, Barnabas, Zyra, Jonathan, Tamara….and other equally glorious names that roll off the tongue. I needed a name like one of those!

Nest stop: the online vampire name generator. Tell it your gender and it pops out a first and last name for you like a slot machine or a Pez despenser. Some are inventive; others are just plain idiotic. Of the handful of names it generated, here were the only decent offers:

· Mordia Wormwood
· Dawn Blackraven
· Calpurnia Darkblade
· Rosalie Locke (I think I went to college with a Rosalie Locke, come to think of it.)
· Selene Morelock

Ehhh? Not so hot. I turned to the lists in hopes of better. Who comes up with this stuff? The choices ranged from the ridiculous to the absurb all the way to the “no way would I ever name a character that” category, much less adopt the name for myself. There were a few…make that a very feeeeyyyyyuuuuuuuggghhhh…..that I thought were decent, but they were the guy names:

· Archer
· Nicholai
· Drachen
· Valentine (Val-en-teen, I hope)

Okay. They aren't much better. I guess I’ll keep Delora and continue to suck the blood out of my husband’s wallet like he says I do. Hopefully, if I ever decide to write vampire erotica, I’ll be able to invent suitable names for my characters rather than silly or sterile computer-generated monikers. For the time being, I’m happy to read about and enjoy the imaginative names of my Naughty Little Vamp friends.