What's in a name?

I have a very old Webster’s Encyclopedia of Dictionaries and it contains sections for female and male names. It lists hundreds of entries, along with their origin, meaning, and variations. When I’m working on a new story that’s the first place I begin. If I can’t find anything there I’ll look at baby name lists online. If I’m really stumped, I’ll just use a placeholder until I settle on a final contender.

For surnames, I’ll often write down names I see on movie credits. As I write this I’m watching the end of The Last of the Mohicans and here’s a tiny sample of last names from the crew: Hightower, Bickerton, Hensley, Macchia, Trimble, Downing, Pugh, Bosley, McCraw, Katanich, Figgis, Fiore, Huppeler, Dione, Campbell, Huntsman, Whitney, Zingale, Klee, Sluder, Wahrman, Kimoto, Schusterman, Bender, Kelley, Voightlander, Pi, Graf, Olson, Gibson, Lybrand, Katanich, Nazarian, Callaway, Ulland, Garretsen, Valentine…