Names and naming

I am fascinated by names. It's one of my favorite things about writing-- when you create a character, you get to choose their name. I get a real charge when I write a larp or a play and then everybody involved goes around referring to each other by the names I chose. I have to do it very early in the process, or else I don't feel I get a good handle on who the characters are. Picking the exact right one, with the right sound and the right implications, is very important to my process of characterization.

( The naming-gymnastics I went through for "Adonis". )

I wrote about how I chose the names in the Mrs. Hawking stories here.

Whenever I meet someone who chose their own name, I am always curious how they came to it. Do they just like the sound of it? Is the meaning of the name significant? Or do they have some emotional attachment to it that is personal to them? I guess I should ask parents how they chose their children's names too for that reason.