Naming help

[H.L. Dyer]

So, in one of the books I'm writing, the Devil walks the earth, attempting to start the Apocalypse. Angels have been sent down to earth to stop him.

Samantha Heights went to work as usual one day. Just a normal, rainy day at the library. However, little did she know that her fate would be turned around. The Devil killed her boss, a profit secretly posing as your average librarian. And now, she is mixed up in the war with the Divine against the father of evil himself.

What I need to know is, how do I name the angels to appear? Do I make up my own names for them, or go the more controversial route and use the actual names of actual angels?

 

[Moderator]

I've moved this into the Self Promotion area since you're including your own work.

 

[H.L. Dyer]

I've moved this into the Self Promotion area since you're including your own work.

Thanks, wasn't sure where to put this.

 

[VultureLvr45]

So, in one of the books I'm writing, the Devil walks the earth, attempting to start the Apocalypse. Angels have been sent down to earth to stop him.

Samantha Heights went to work as usual one day. Just a normal, rainy day at the library. However, little did she know that her fate would be turned around. The Devil killed her boss, a profit secretly posing as your average librarian. And now, she is mixed up in the war with the Divine against the father of evil himself.

What I need to know is, how do I name the angels to appear? Do I make up my own names for them, or go the more controversial route and use the actual names of actual angels?

Why not both? Welcome to SKMB.

 

[fushingfeef]

The Devil killed her boss, a profit secretly posing as your average librarian.

Not to be rude, but

 

[prufrock21]

Not to be rude, but

Profit is as prophet does.

 

[prufrock21]

An atlas is a great source for many strange yet wonderful names.

 

[blunthead]

So, in one of the books I'm writing, the Devil walks the earth, attempting to start the Apocalypse. Angels have been sent down to earth to stop him.

Samantha Heights went to work as usual one day. Just a normal, rainy day at the library. However, little did she know that her fate would be turned around. The Devil killed her boss, a profit secretly posing as your average librarian. And now, she is mixed up in the war with the Divine against the father of evil himself.

What I need to know is, how do I name the angels to appear? Do I make up my own names for them, or go the more controversial route and use the actual names of actual angels?

How many angels are named in the Bible after all? I think not very many. You could use whomever they are, and then, depending on your need, imagine individual names which sound uniquely appropriate for your individual angel characters.

 

[AnnaMarie]

If you are using names if real angels, you better know your facts inside out and upside down. Because your readers will. And they will gladly tell you every fact minor or major that you get anything other than 100% accurately.

Just ask Uncle Steve.

 

[GNTLGNT]

....Tom, Dick, Harry, Larry, Curly, Moe and Shemp....

 

[50's Kid]

I have used angels in a few of my stories and they are either generically nameless ("The Angel"), or spirits of the departed, who still have the names they had while alive, as in the angel Gabriel (not sure of my biblical references on that one, no gold star on the forehead for me). One main character in one story never has an actual name. She is simply known as "The Other Woman", throughout the story, even while she was alive (only shown through dreams and flashbacks). I did that to protect the memory of the innocent real-life person she was based upon, and to allow others (such as Li-Lo) to possibly more easily identify with her, and hopefully get their own lives straight.
When I'm first writing a story, I may assign random names to the characters, just to keep the flow going, then change them later, e.g., Angel 1, Angel 2, Female Angel, Male Angel, First Drug Dealer, etc. Eventually, an actual name will come to me, but I have spent a lot of time making sure the final name fits the character. It is just a fun thing to do, and I think it makes the story work better.
I would use a good word processing program, with spelcheking and grandma correction, to help you prevent errors, but only careful and diligent proofreading can catch a lot of the little mistakes that we all make.
For your story, which (I think, since it involves the entire planet, if not the universe) needs a lot of characters, I would try using actual human names for the angels, who are, after all, supposed to be departed members of the human race. This would also help them to infiltrate the world of the still living, because they are only recently departed, as opposed to angels who were "transformed" back in the times of the new testament. Not that I have much of a chance at becoming a member of any group of angels...
Hope that helps, or at least doesn't confuse things further.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Name them yourself. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[Lepplady]

If you use existing names, make sure you nail every single fact about them, or your readers will have plenty to say about it.

If you name your own, you could look up old Greek words meaning different things, from love to patience and anything else you can think of, and make up names based on those words. For example, an ancient Greek word for enduring love is pragma. An angel could be named Pragmius.
Note: Before you slap a name on an angel, google the name you come up with, to make sure you're not infringing upon some company name, or a real person's name.
You're welcome.