Sara, over at Life of a Storyteller, has posted her wonderful process about how to name a character. She suggests that it is one of the most difficult things to pin down as you start a novel, and I agree. Give her article a read here; http://www.lifeofastoryteller.com/2017/04/06/how-to-name-your-character/

I would caution, however, that a lot of productive time can be wasted in (dare I say pointless) research, especially if you are like me -- one who enjoys research more than the actual writing! I recall one story I needed a name that needed a Celtic flavor to it, but still had to be pronounceable by automatic readers, so not too far from the English equivalent. I spent hours on the Net reviewing baby name lists and studying (fascinating!) Irish folklore and mythology. I began to obsess with the name's underlying meaning and origin.

Yikes!  And I totally lost the thread and passion of the story trying to get out of my head!

So, I encourage you to develop a few placeholder names -- ones you would never actually use -- that are easy to spell and quickly recognizable during an edit. One male and one female name for main characters and another for minor characters. Then, as Sara suggests, after you "live with your characters for a while" the characters will probably tell you their names. A simple search and replace on your placeholder will put the new name to work.

 By the way, this principle is for ALL RESEARCH. When you are in the flow and hit a point you are unsure of, instead of stopping to research or name right then insert a code (like XYZ) that you will notice and complete during your rewrites.

Happy writing, David

...you are buying more than a story.