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HelpRe: Names and stereotypical characters
in reply to a message by Nix
Of course authors will make use of name stereotypes when creating characters.
The stereotype of Bertha being fat and overbearing, which began with the nickname for a cannon in World War I, has been continuously reinforced over the years by authors and screenwriters naming large and loud women Bertha.
About 30 years ago I would read the covers of paperback romance novels to see what characters were being named. At that point it seemed to me that most of the heroes has short "surname transfer" names starting with B -- Brent, Brett, Beau, Blaine, Blade, Birch, Blake, Brady, Brody, Bryce, Brock, etc.
And in the USA people who write TV ads seem stuck on a few names whose peak has long passed. I still see ads where a young girl is named Susie, and way more men in TV ads seem to be named Frank than the percentage of Franks there are in real life. I wonder if ad writers think the lexical meaning of the word "frank" will unconsciously lead people to believe an ad with a Frank in it more?
The stereotype of Bertha being fat and overbearing, which began with the nickname for a cannon in World War I, has been continuously reinforced over the years by authors and screenwriters naming large and loud women Bertha.
About 30 years ago I would read the covers of paperback romance novels to see what characters were being named. At that point it seemed to me that most of the heroes has short "surname transfer" names starting with B -- Brent, Brett, Beau, Blaine, Blade, Birch, Blake, Brady, Brody, Bryce, Brock, etc.
And in the USA people who write TV ads seem stuck on a few names whose peak has long passed. I still see ads where a young girl is named Susie, and way more men in TV ads seem to be named Frank than the percentage of Franks there are in real life. I wonder if ad writers think the lexical meaning of the word "frank" will unconsciously lead people to believe an ad with a Frank in it more?
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