Comments on: Billy Birdflu & Sally Sepulcher

Question: Billy Birdflu & Sally Sepulcher

jschu — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:10:05 -0800

I'm writing a story in which death and illness is a major theme, and I'd like to name my characters accordingly.

Specifically, I need surnames. I'm looking for something more subtle than "Mr. Mausoleum" or "Mrs. Obituary" or "The Bubonic family."

For example, so far I have "Heriot" (a fine payed to a lord after the death of a tenant during feudal days) and "Howe" which may or may not mean "burial mound," according to some random internet genealogy site.

All languages are welcome, especially if there's some run-of-the-mill word in another language that sounds like a normal last name. Thank you!

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:18:53 -0800

Anitya? Sam and Sara? Ennis Tropy? Hera and Cletus?

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:27:37 -0800

Dood (like d00d!) means dead in dutch. Charon was the boatman for the river styx (which you crossed to get to Hades) in greek mythology. Mort means death in french (I'd assume is the etymological forebearer of "mortician" and "mortuary"), and it's a common nick name in English. Tod (pronounced with the o sound english doesn't have... like "ought" and the d as a t) means dead in german.

By: bru

bru — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:27:42 -0800

Death: Mort (French), Mors (Latin), Thanatos (Greek).

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:38:36 -0800

Wurgen sounds like a german last name, means "strangle" in dutch. "Branden" is the verb "to burn" in Dutch. Kanker dutch for cancer, and a plausible last name.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:40:49 -0800

Mictecacihuatl

By: MasonDixon

MasonDixon — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:46:01 -0800

Barrow - a mound raised over a burial site

By: platinum

platinum — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:10:00 -0800

Graves is a pretty common last name and sufficiently morbid.

By: twirlypen

twirlypen — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:28:10 -0800

Albert Pierrepoint was Britain's most prolific executioner, and ended up hanging most of the Nazi's sentenced to death at Nuremburg. So, Mr Pierrepoint would certainly have a deathly ring to me.

By: furtive

furtive — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:34:26 -0800

Thane as in thanatos

By: furtive

furtive — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:35:29 -0800

Tousse (french for cough)

By: Iridic

Iridic — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 22:50:16 -0800

Lazaretto
Lancet
Catlin
Stent
Noyade
Murrain
Spavin
Cromlech
Morana
Athanasius
Mott
Valdis
Enma
Morrigan
Daena
Veles
Cyrus
Cillian (pronounced "Kill-ee-an")
Curtin
Buckett
Downey
(RIP)ley

By: brujita

brujita — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:10:09 -0800

Tod is death in German.

By: halogen

halogen — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:26:26 -0800

Mortimer.

By: pseudostrabismus

pseudostrabismus — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:42:14 -0800

There are several names that sound like killing verbs: Lance, Crash, Pierce, etc.

First names:
Angel, Angela
Alma (soul in Spanish)
Winter
Heaven
Damien
Diablo
Anything with "mal" (French for "bad") - Malcolm, Mallory
Judas
Kane

Surnames:
Mort, Morton, Mortimer
Slaughter
Grimm
Grave, Greave
Burns
Boyle (Boil)
Gunn
Pallor
Coffin
Ash

Also, the number four is unlucky in Chinese as it sounds like the word for death- so maybe a character like Mortimer Kane the Fourth? Here are some more Chinese supersitions that you might find inspirational.

Here's a Morbid Name generator, there are a bunch more on Google (search using terms like "gothic", "pessimist", "goth", "dead"), and here's a list of Spooky Names.

By: ersatz

ersatz — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 04:34:54 -0800

The other option would be choosing cheery names for contrast. Like Zoe (=life).

By: watercarrier

watercarrier — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:18:45 -0800

The assorted Messrs
s
Fogg
Underwood
Digger
Hatchet
Butcher
Curdle
Church
Darkly
Dagger

First name
Mourna
Ditch

By: jschu

jschu — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 07:26:32 -0800

Wow, thanks everyone! These are inspirational! I think I'll be able to use some of these as place names-- either that or I'll have to have my plague survivors repopulate really quickly :)

The other option would be choosing cheery names for contrast. Like Zoe (=life).

That's exactly what I'm doing. Some of my first names are Liv (Olivia), Enid, and Jonah. Probably Zoe and Alma now too, and I'm loving the idea of using the names Sam and Sara as for my characters' children (ie those born after the plague).

By: iamkimiam

iamkimiam — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:11:41 -0800

The Bucknells or the Knellsons.

By: taramosalata

taramosalata — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:50:35 -0800

'Bing' means 'sick' in Chinese. It could make an unsuspicious yet striking, retroish sort of first name -- a la Bing Crosby.