Does a rose by any other name really smell as sweet? I don't think so.

I had fun sharing how our protagonist Holly got her name, but the others came much less organically, as there are so many of them. You can imagine the vast host of characters all vying for attention in a novel about a team in the wrestling world.

 The coach was the most demanding initially, then Holly and the assistant coach demanded equal time. The team members in every weight category needed names, as did others who didn’t make the final roster. And since everyone has a story, we had to invite parents, and romantic partners into the book. Even the wrestling opponents needed monikers, even if they had little to do except win, lose or fail. (Yes fail - you will learn what that means for a wrestler). Let's not forget the head of athletics and his assistant at the university. And the nicknames that wrestlers acquire?

So here was the quandary. How do you decide on everyone’s names?

Of course, I needed to include in-jokes with friends, using their names or versions of them for different characters. The only authentic names are a nod to our dear friend Blake and a mention of the great Pat Bolger, who sadly left us in 2024.

Although this is a work of fiction, I wanted as much authenticity as possible. So I started googling popular names from Jamaica, Guyana, Iran, Korea, and the British Isles to represent the diversity on the team. Next I researched the meanings of these names and used ones that translate as strong, warrior, fierce, dangerous, brave, edge of a sword, powerful, knight, wise, bear, protector and leader.

So meet some of these warriors: Akeem, Ethan, Gus and Griff in The Cauliflower Ear Club.

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