#roz ary (oc)

[ditsydaydream]

Naptune’s Guide to a Good Maze Runner OC: Names

There’s so much to cover when making a good OC, so I’m going to do this in multiple posts to make it more manageable.

Names are one of, if not my biggest pet peeve when it comes to TMR OCs. Do not name your character, ‘Star’ or ‘Nya’ or ‘Aurora’. These names are unique and beautiful, but they don’t fit with the theme of the character names.

Every character in TMR, that was taken by WCKD, has been named after someone through history – usually scientists.

Thomas was named after Thomas Edison.  

Newt was named after Isaac Newton.

Gally was named after Galileo Galilei.

There are variations and exceptions to this:

Frypan is just a nickname because he works in the kitchens, his real name is Siggy, after Sigmund Freud

Chuck is a variation of Charles, after Charles Darwin

To my knowledge, Minho and Zart are the only exceptions to this rule.

Gladers from the other Maze aren’t excluded from this. Aris is named after Aristotle, Sonya renamed herself but was named Lizzie, after Queen Elizabeth I.  

If you are naming a character, name them after someone through history. It makes it much more compelling for readers, its interesting to research and it helps them fit better into the story.

For example, my OCs are Florrie, Maria and Ada

Florrie is a nickname for Florence, after Florence Nightingale. This also ties into her story, as Florrie is a Med-Jack, and therefore in the same field as Nightingale was.

Maria is a variation of Marie, after Marie Curie. This name was chosen by my friend from a list of girls names I compiled that were all figures through history.

Ada is named after Ada Lovelace, a lesser-known female scientist but important nonetheless. Again, this name was chosen by another friend out of preference from the list.

If you want to have a character rename themselves like Sonya did, go for it. However, chose a normal name, or a name that has a meaning behind it – it adds another layer of depth to your character. Also, mention their name given by WCKD, it helps to reaffirm how they were almost possessions to the organisation.

For any characters that weren’t in the Maze or property of WCKD, like Brenda, there’s not a lot that comes into picking name, except for the fact they have normal names – you don’t hear character with unique names in the series.

Here’s my list of character names I could choose from and they figures they’re from, feel free to take any. This is girls name, as I was creating female OCs. Most of these aren’t scientists, but as Teresa was named after Mother Teresa, a humanitarian, we have more options to play with.

Jane Austen – Jane/Jayni

Amelia Earhart – Amelia/Amelie/Emelia

Joan of Arc – Joan/Jo

Catherine of Aragon – Cathy/Catherine/Kat

Rosa Parks – Rosa/Rose

Margaret Thatcher – Maggie/May

Rosalind Franklin – Rosalind/Rosa/Roz

Emmeline Pankhurst – Emily/Emmy/Em

I haven’t made a list for boys names, but let me know if you guys want one and I’ll make it. 

I’ll be posting other attributes that go into a good TMR OC soon, expect a post on Clothes, Relationships and Character Details. 

Thanks for reading!