My main character is Red Marcelin, she's my baby—well, all of my characters are, but—and her name, in particular, is one of my favourites.
Her first name is Red which is a colour, obviously. This was done as a reference to Orange is the New Black which I was binging at the time. Galina Reznikov is nicknamed 'Red' in the prison due to the hair dye that she has shipped into the prison.
I took this and was originally going to have this as my character's nickname when I came upon a little show called Euphoria by way of YouTube video edits, in one of the edits, the main character Rue says 'I misread... the whole situation'. As I wasn't listening properly, however, I thought she said 'I miss Red... The whole situation,' and that is how Red received her name.
So, a name doesn't just have to mean something in a language. It can also be an inside joke or a reference to something.
Her last name actually does mean something. Her last name, Marcelin, means 'of Mars, the Roman God of War' and, when used as a first name, means 'little warrior'. Strangely, when I translated Red's name into kanji it meant 'pill, celery, negative'. Take that as you will.
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My other character who I love to bits is Lolita 'Lo' Carmelle Celestine Morales.
Her name in full is a big, phat parody of celebrity names. I was wondering what was the most outrageously rich, stuck-up name I could possibly think of could be without sounding a bit overboard and my mind settled on this gem.
Her first name is Lolita, in reference to Vladmir Nabokov's novel by the same name and the Lolita aesthetic which involves ruffles and parasols and Victorian-esque dresses. I was watching the 1997 movie whilst simultaneously watching both Clueless, Heathers and Girl, Interrupted and all four films had a part in creating the character—although the last three held more of a part in creating the character's personality and not the character's name.
A lot of people decry the book and movie versions of Lolita as glorifying and enabling paedophilia and, whilst you're free to hold your opinion, I have watched the 1997 movie in full and seen glimpses the 1962 Stanley Kubrick film and book and I can say that they are not. They're a satirization of paedophilia, painting the paedophile, Humbert Humbert, as a deeply twisted man who saw the innocent playing of a child as an attempt at flirtation. The book and movies are supposed to be disturbing and off-putting, it's about a paedophile for fuck's sake.
I'm only clarifying this, by the way, because when I shared this character's name on my private Discord server—I was accused of being a paedophile and paedophile apologist. Yes, I was accused of two life-ruining things due to a half-sarcastic, half-satirical name for a character that, at the time, I wasn't even considering adding into the story. That, I suppose, makes Lo my most controversial character.
Her middle name is a little less controversial. Carmelle is both Hebrew and Latin for 'orchard' or 'garden' in reference to the Garden of Eden and, more specifically, the underlying Biblical theme in this character's arc. The name is also quite popular in France, where this character is originally from.
