Character names that start with the same letter

[JRTomlin]

Does this REALLY confuse readers. I just find it hard to believe that readers are that easily confused if the names are different otherwise.

Yes, my novel has three characters (real because I write biographical historical fiction) whose names start with A. There is Alexander, Angus Óg, and Aodh. Would you find this confusing?

I could reasonably change Aodh to the English for that name, Hugh. But Aodh is obviously a more interesting and unusual name, and there was a 'Hugh' in Book 1 who was killed.

Thoughts?

[TimothyEllis]

My first team all had names which started with A. Only 2 of them were known by another name.

No-one complained.

I just checked, and I have a total of 16 all starting with A, although some are secondary characters, and of them, most use their surnames instead.

But they can all be in the same book.

[Simon Haynes]

I had a main character called Spacejock and an antagonist called Shockley. Ugh. Now the bad guy is Jerling, which is nicely different.

[TimothyEllis]

I had a main character called Spacejock and an antagonist called Shockley. Ugh. Now the bad guy is Jerling, which is nicely different.

Your bad guy needs to meet Purling who is on a revenge quest, and Serling, his horse. So Purling riding Serling skewers Jerling. With a shuttle in the background. 

[VisitasKeat]

Character names starting with the same alphabet would work fine for kids as it's a very good device for making them to remember the story. Especially if the names rhyme. Otherwise, for adult readers, it would appear less creative on the part of the writer. Also, names can be fat and thin, boring and interesting, formal and jazzy, traditional and modern, just based on the personality traits of the characters. Many times, names, as such, convey a certain personality. And hence, using the personalities, the author can arrive at a suitable name. How a name sounds very much impacts action scenes. Wouldn't it be great if historical fiction characters had "heavy" first and second names, as heavy as their clothing, and pulling down page lines from both ends?

[JRTomlin]

No

[Vidya]

I would not find Alexander, Angus Óg, and Aodh confusing, since they are sufficiently different.

But Alex, Alec, Alice, Alan all in the same work, yes, they could be confusing.

[JRTomlin]

Thanks.

[Writer]

Zora, Zara, and Zilla would be confusing. Alexander, Angus, and Aodh aren't similar enough to be a problem, IMO. They have very different middles and endings.

[JRTomlin]

I will make an effort not to refer to all three of them in the same sentence. lol

Thanks for the replies.

[LilyBLily]

Many readers complain about getting confused about who is whom at the beginning of a story, and if it's a book that's too long to read in one sitting the problem arises whenever the reader picks up the book again. That said, if you don't do as many romance writers do and give all the characters very similar names--and the OP's three aren't similar--as long as you don't introduce them all on the same page, you're probably fine.