I have this problem when I write: I can't think of good names for my characters. Sometimes I'll ponder for months just for a name for a major character, whilst minor characters tend to inherit names from friends, family, and other stories I've read. I believe that a name is like a horoscope: it influences the way your personality and character develops. A lot of my characters change after they get a name: they become more attuned to the meaning of their names, and slowly evolve until they typify their names. In real life, too, I see many people who share the same name sharing the same characteristics and personality traits. Which is why I make such a big fuss about naming things.
Take me for example. My full name is Soh Lili, Soh being my family name or surname, and Lili is my given name. Originally, my name was supposed to be something like my little brother's name: Soh Guozhong, in that it was supposed to be Soh Guo-something. It's tradition in most traditional chinese families to "inherit" the middle character in their names, and this middle character would differ from generation to generation. My generation's character is "Guo", which means "country or nation". I have cousins called Guolong, Guodong, Guowei, Guobing, Guorong, etc. The reason as to why I didn't end up with a Guo-name lies in my late paternal grandfather. He, in a stroke of wisdom, had told my father not to give his two daughters (me and my older sister) names that were too "strong and important-sounding", which meant that my father was not to follow the "Guo-name" tradition for the two of us. My grandfather told him to give us simple names, so that we, as weaker females, may not be burdened by an over-powering name, and be free of the troubles such a name would incite. In a nutshell, he was saying such an elaborate name would set a very high standard for us, and thus we would always be stressed, trying to reach that standard. So my dad gave us simple names, Peipei and Lili. Strangely enough, out of the entire clan, I think us two sisters might be two of the most successful kids. Does this mean that we would excel no matter what name we get, or does it really imply that, free of our elaborate names, we have actually fared better than our cousins? That's really up to you to decide, but I like to think it's the latter.
The meaning of chinese names is derived from the two chinese characters that make up the given names, in my case, it is the repeated character "Li". In ordinary usage, this particular character "Li" is only used in conjunction with two other characters to make up "Jasmine". That, as far as I know, is the only reported usage of that character. In a sense, the name "Lili" thus means something along the lines of serene and feminine. *grin* Although I'm not exactly the most "serene and feminine" person around, I believe I'm slowly moving towards that side of the personality scale.
When online, I tend to go by the name chiiyo (almost always in the lowercase, to differentiate from the character Kannazuki Chiiyo). chiiyo is supposed to be my japanese name, and is written in kanji as "small world". Although technically I came up with the pronunciation "chiiyo" before I found the corresponding kanji to go with it, I find that the kanji is rather fitting. A "small world", one that is complete but compact, one that is at once large but small, from which you can see with just one glance but never finish exploring. That is what people see in me, someone who seems simple at first glance, but more and more complicated the more they try to look at me. I hope that means I'm an interesting person, though, not that I'm too complex or anything like that... *smile*
Names, I think, remind us of what we should aim for. As I grew older, I understood my name more and more, and perhaps involuntarily became more and more what my name entails. When writing, I habitually change dialogues or actions because when I type the name of a character down, I get reminded of the qualities he or she is supposed to embody, and related situations would pop up in my mind, letting me fine-tune the story and plot until it is attuned to what I really want to write. Even the name of a website, like Ricepaper, serves to remind me of what I had initially wanted to create. The "paper" in the name constantly reminds me that the main purpose of the site is of a writing nature, and makes sure I don't go overboard trying to cram the site with newfangled content, whilst the word "ricepaper" reminds me to be simple in my approach, just like how even a plain piece of ricepaper is far more interesting than one that is chock full of scribbles.
In the end, a name is only a label, a tag to identify an object. Perhaps I'm the only silly one to attach so much significance to a mere label. Perhaps.