Name Hunting

I've never done it, but I have heard that graveyards are a great place to find character names. It makes a lot of sense, if you think about it. I just don't spend time in graveyards. (Maybe I should.)I do however spend A LOT of time on baby-naming websites or name-meaning websites as I come up with names for my characters. Even if I've already decided to use a name for a character, I will still look up the meaning just because I'm curious.I've always been fascinated by names and their meanings, so I choose certain character names because of their meanings.Most sites say that Clara, for instance, is the feminine form of the Latin name Clarus meaning  "clear or bright." I chose it because I was writing about a character who feels like life is dark, depressing, and confusing when we first meet her, so I liked the idea of having a name that was pretty much the opposite.Henry means "home ruler." I just looked that up for this post. If I remember correctly, I used Henry because I've always liked the name, but I have two cousins who named their kids Henry, which means I would never actually use it for any kids I may have in the future.I also never knew what the name Eleanor means. (Just looked it up, it means "bright, shining one.") I actually picked her name based on my love of Eleanor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Similarly, Kenzie's name comes from Special Agent Kensi Blye on NCIS: Los Angeles. Obviously, I spelled it different, but I've always loved the name on the show. Much like the name Henry, I didn't think I would ever use these for any potential future kids, so they ended up in my novel.Any time I hear a name I like, I make note of it. I have a list in my phone of names I love that I want to use for a character someday. I also have a much longer list of names, which includes last names, on my computer to help me generate names for side characters that matter enough to get a name, but not enough for it to be a name I love.I also keep a link to the Social Security website, where you can see the Top 200 boy and girl names by decade; which I mostly use when naming a character that was born well before me to make sure the name matches the character's age.One other note about naming characters: I try not to use names that sound or look similar because that can confuse the reader. (I'm looking at you, Tolkien! Sauron and Sarumon? I still don't know which one was the bad guy?)Although I always like to know the meaning of the name, for the most part, I simply have to like the name.