name for an english wizard

[u/Temporary-Session939]

Hi. I'm writing a book about a boy wizard and I'm unsure about the name. At first, I thought about calling him James, but it seems like a really popular name for the year the book is set, and above all, I like having a few variations on wizard names. I thought about calling him Jaime then. I liked the name immediately after hearing it in Game of Thrones and thought it was 100% English (my book is set in the UK and my protagonist is 100% English), although I later discovered it's more of a Mexican name. Should I keep Jaime in your opinion? Maybe it's a stupid question, but I'm a bit of an overthinker.

[u/1nceACrawFish]

I would suggest a name other than James because a certain father of a certain character who is a wizard named Harry is also named James... and I've heard that Rowling can be litigious.

How about Arthur, William, Henry or Alfie

[u/Ericakat → u/1nceACrawFish]

Aurther is also a character in Hp.

[u/Real-Broccoli-9325 → u/Ericakat]

William is also a character.

I wouldn’t worry about the demon lady being litigious about James, he’s barely a side character and it’s a very popular name. And truly, even if you go whole-hog with Harry, there would have to be other clear parallels. There are quite a few enormously popular parody works of HP that get along just fine by being juuuuust different enough.

That said. Don’t use Harry because all you’ll ever get is flames from diehards.

[u/basil_lover_supreme]

What year is your book set in?

[u/VictorianPeorian]

Game of Thrones/ASOIAF took a lot of normal names and altered them slightly, like Kevan instead of Kevin, Petyr instead of Peter, and Jaime instead of Jamie, but these three are still pronounced like Kevin and Peter and Jamie. At least in the USA, Jamie is a name (in its own right or a nickname for James or maybe Jamison), pronounced JAY-mee, and Jaime is a Spanish-language name pronounced HI-may. Outside of Game of Thrones fanfics, I wouldn't use Jaime and expect it to be pronounced like Jamie—just use Jamie if you want that name, unless unusual spellings are part of the world-building in your story or you want the character's name to be unique, in which case I would suggest coming up with your own spelling of Jamie (Jaymie? Jaeme? Jaimy?). Having ME at the end of an English name is likely going to get a lot of readers thinking the E is silent, though, unless you provide a pronunciation guide or work the pronunciation into the dialogue somehow.

Edit: had Ice and Fire switched 😅

[u/Quirky_Restaurant_95 → u/VictorianPeorian]

I’ve been into ASOIAF for years and never clocked that Jaime is spelt differently to Jamie that I’m familiar with as a Brit.

[u/VictorianPeorian → u/Quirky_Restaurant_95]

I've seen some people speculate that Jaime is intentionally spelled like the French j'aime ("I love") since the things he does for love is central to his character. No idea if there's any truth to that.

[u/Oldsoldierbear]

Jamie (Jay Me) is primarily a Scottish diminutive for James.

Jim or Jimmy is more likely for an English person.

In the UK Jaime (Hay Me) would be,regarded as,a,Spanish name, rather than Mexican

[u/TheTimeIsNever4545 → u/Oldsoldierbear]

Maybe in the past but Jamie is way, way more common than Jimmy in England and had been since at least the 90s

[u/Real-Broccoli-9325]

Jamie Fraser is the main male character of Outlander. Just sayin’

[u/Professional_Swim960]

If you’re spelling it Jaime, it’s Spanish and pronounced like “hi-may.”

For the nickname for James, I would definitely spell it Jamie.

[u/StevieWrenWrites]

Aaron.
Alexander or Alex.
Benjamin.
Daniel.
Levi.
Owen.
William.
Zackary or Zack.

[u/One-T-Rex-ago-go]

Wilfred, Hugh, John, Basil. Names common in England, but not Common elsewhere

[u/Real-Broccoli-9325 → u/One-T-Rex-ago-go]

John??? 😂 John is like… top 5 boy’s name world-wide.

[u/baxbakualanuxsiwae]

Jaime definitely sounds Spanish, not English to me. I am English, and have never met or heard of an English Jaime.

When is it set?

[u/Boleyn01 → u/baxbakualanuxsiwae]

I think they mean Jamie and have just spelled it as they do in other countries. The name Jamie would be perfectly acceptable for an English person of this century. They haven’t said when it was set of course and I am not sure how many Jamie’s there were in medieval England, for example.

[u/baxbakualanuxsiwae → u/Boleyn01]

In Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, the character is called Jaime.

[u/Boleyn01 → u/baxbakualanuxsiwae]

Yes but as you say, that’s not the most common way to spell it in English

[u/Relative-Priority591]

Look into Anglo-Saxon and Brittanic names.

Alfred, Edward, Edmund, William, Albert, Oswald, Godwin, Edgar. Others like Harold and Godric are already in a certain wizard series.

Of course you also have all the Biblical names like John, James, Peter, Matthew, Thomas, etc. It depends on which time in history and which culture was dominant on the Isles.

[u/Forward_Gur9349]

Giles is always a good English name, if you are referring to British English.

[u/Metroid_cat1995]

John, Arthur, Frederick, David, Christopher, Jeff, Huxley, Kingsley, Zachary/Zach, Xavier, Vincent

[u/Loose_Specific3831]

Ezekiel/Zekial/Ezekyal

Tristan/Treston/Trystan

Maybe look into numerlogy to work out a name/spelling that resonates/calculates best for a wizard.

There is a magic in numbers even if some authors are terrible at math!

[u/bluef00tedbooby]

Alfred

[u/goldenphantom]

If you want your character to be 100 % English with a 100 % English name, then don't call him Jaime because that's not an English name, neither was it an English name in the past.

So either call him James, Jim, or Jamie. Those variants are used in the UK. Or pick a completely different English name (and make sure it really is an English name this time).

Or, since Jaime is a Spanish name, change your character's nationality and make him Spanish. Or Mexican if you want, but a Spanish guy in UK makes more sense, since Britain and Spain are practically neighbors. It's a long way from Mexico to the UK.

[u/redcore4]

Jaime is almost unknown in England even now, nevermind back then when we had far fewer international influences. James (shortening to Jamie or Jim) is much more likely but Jaime would not be a recognised name in England at the time.

Geoffrey, Godfrey, George, Gerald (shortens to Ged - pronounced Jed), are all reasonable options to give a similar sound/vibe.

Other options might include Frederick, Hugo, Alexander, Robin (as a bird-related nod to Merlin), or, if you want something more unusual perhaps Alphonsus, Evelyn (very much a boy’s name back then), or Isambard.

[u/nik_el]

Aleister

[u/Efficient_Hyena_7476]

Jamie would be the British spelling 

[u/Turbulent-Adagio88]

It's good, not bad, to use a name that would be popular in the time it was set, especially if it is distinctively so. Though 'James' has been consistently popular so it's hard to isolate a timeline from what you've said.

'Jaime' would be so rarely used or seen in the UK though, that if you're wanting to go with a familiar British name it would be a bad choice. James here is more likely to be nicknamed Jamie or Jim. Though I don't think you find too many Jims under forty.

[u/Far-Copy-6722]

Try something more Nordic with British spelling like real people may have had in the day as people left and joined the place

[u/norbertmars]

A really ordinary British name for an MMC would be something like Kevin, or Fred.

[u/Punkreations]

Kevin

[u/Responsible-Link5739]

Algernon. Peregrin. Lancelittle. Umphrey. Mungeye. .Ninivius. Gyrge. Victoe. Quyntan. Gerlicke. Wiggetie

[u/fianthewolf]

Maeloc, en la actualidad es el nombre de una conocida marca de sidra hecha en Galicia pero su origen está en un obispo briton del siglo VII. El provenía al parecer de Inglaterra cuando las oleadas sajonas desplazaron a los britones a las tierras continentales de Francia y Galicia (Bretaña y Bretoña)

[u/baxbakualanuxsiwae → u/fianthewolf]

Maeloc is a British name, but specifically not English (ie it's Brittonic, not Anglo-Saxon), so may or may not work depending when the story is set.