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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44073
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44073
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

If you look at any group of people, some will have very common names, others well known but less common names, and a few will have unusual names. If your own characters also have a mix, you're fine. You don't want all unusual names or your reader will have trouble remember them. If they're all top names, that isn't realistic (the top names aren't the majority of names).

Most of my modern-day characters have well-known names because the rest of my characters are from ancient times, in other parts of the world, and their names are unusual. So I needed a balance.

If you're careful that the common names you choose are actually popular in the real life setting you're taking them from and not stereotypes elsewhere, you're reasonably okay. This is hard to suss out but one example could be Juan in the United States, even though it's a real name here and in countries that are majority Spanish-speaking. (Note: If you're American and old enough to remember certain coffee commercials (though that's not the only source of the the stereotype), you probably see my point.) Just like you'd want to avoid making the only Jewish characters in a story Abraham and Sarah (unless of course it's a Bible retelling).

I would also avoid making all the names from a region super common ones, even if they're not stereotypes. Why make readers from those countries or with that ancestry wonder why the other characters are so much more interesting?

Original score: 3