When I make up character names, I often check the Social Security site to make sure the names I'm picking reflect the age of the character. "Lisa" is going to sound like she's in her forties. "Chelsea" and "Madison" are probably in their late twenties.
Right now I'm writing a cop comedy set in Québec, so most of the characters are French Canadian. (Someone else will adapt it in French.) Québecois names, too, have changed over the years. Marcel is probably an older guy. Marie-France is probably younger. But to be much more precise, check out this fantastic collection of links sent me by my friend Martine, of Ni Vu Ni Connu:
First Names
First Names
Popularity of first names in Québec (with graphs)
Les 1,000 premiers noms de famille selon le rang
Liste des noms de famille les plus courants au Québec (probably extracted from the previous sources)
Frequency of family names by area
More statistical details on last names
How names were historically given in Québec
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