How Unique if at all should my Characters name be?

[RodimusGT]

Should I try and come up with a name that is rare?

I picked one name and searched it on google and got like 4 million links back haha!

[Lanodantheon]

I myself am terrible with names, but here are some common sense guidelines:
How distinctive is the name? Can it be easily confused with a similar fictional character or a character in the opposite direction?

If the name is similar to a known character or historical person, it could be beneficial or hindering. Look at how many characters have Shakespearean names for goodness sakes.

Rare names will make the character distinctive, certainly. But also remember where a name comes from. In the  world of your story, someone has given the character that name for some reason. No matter how rare a name is, you have to answer, "Who would name their kid Slartybartfast?".

Common given names help the reader identify with the character, especially in a modern piece. "At least his name is normal."

But it is a good idea to google a name before putting it to print. THe name could be common or it could be the name of a Fortune 500 CEO who likes to sue people.

[Nickeris86]

i also am terrible with names.

bust bet is to go to a baby name site, they have common names and some really odd ones as well from multiple nationality's. 

[jeno]

behindthename.com

It depends on the setting. Is it contemporary? Then use contemporary/modern names. Is it set or based on a certain culture?

[RodimusGT]

Well the setting is going to be a modern day supernatural tale, and the hero is raised by normal folk but he's going to find out he was part of a magical race that died out thousands of years ago.

I wanted to go with the last name Moriarty. I know I know. Sherlock Holmes arch nemesis, but the name has power IMO.

I just don't know at what point is using a popular name not a good idea. I haven't come across that many fictional characters with the name, my character isn't a brilliant professor or evil in anyway.

You could look at JB and JK Rowling and say hey they both have wizard characters named Harry WTF? But each series and character is vastly different in terms of abilities and personality, so is it okay to go with a name that's been used?

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

You could look at JB and JK Rowling and say hey they both have wizard characters named Harry WTF? But each series and character is vastly different in terms of abilities and personality, so is it okay to go with a name that's been used?

Use a name that's plausible in real life. That's perfectly fine.  JK Rowling is not the only person ever to call a character Harry Potter; Felicity Savage's Ever series had one some years earlier.

One thing that really really irritates me is large novels with Casts of Thousands where nobody ever has names that are the same or similar in the ways names get common or rare in real life, because it's perfectly workable to have Big Fred, Young Fred and Black Fred in the same class, and if Fred's a very common name in your setting, you will end up with people who spend their whole lives being known as Not-Fred because they were the only one of six people picked out of their school by a visiting dignitary whose name wasn't Fred.

[Snowleopard]

Neuro, I also dislike cast of thousands books where a number of people have names that are very, very
similar and the characters are close in looks and behavior so I have to spend time figuring out which is which.

As for names.  I seem, in my writing, to have three kinds of names.  The everyday kind of name for some characters.
Just thought about it for a bit and the name sounded right.  Made up names - jumbling letters and the like to create something that I like the sound of.  Names that I've researched and the names - either singular or first and last mean something if you look it up.
(Baby name books are great)  Didn't have baby name sites when I started up.

Examples from one batch of writing.
Jason Kai - relatively normal name for a mostly normal young man
Xikk - made up name for an insectoid alien
Deva Ki - modification of a Hindu Goddesses name.  (Destruction I believe)  (Bad guy)

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

As for names.  I seem, in my writing, to have three kinds of names.  The everyday kind of name for some characters.
Just thought about it for a bit and the name sounded right.  Made up names - jumbling letters and the like to create something that I like the sound of. 

I'm kind of middle-on-the-road on made-up names, but there are people who will hate them unless they are clued in well as to fit the character's background.

Fortunately my current project's aliens are primarily scent-oriented, so any spoken/written name used for one of them is a "nickname for dumb human use" anyway.