If you're a published fiction author, how did you pick the names of your characters?

[If you’re not an author, then please don’t answer, because it would be speculation and assumption – like AI. I’m interested in hearing from real authors.]

Question: How did you choose your characters’ names? Did you go out of your way to pick ‘average’ names? Or did you choose names that somehow described the character? (Snidely Whiplash, for example, would never be mistaken for a nice guy)

Do you use the names (first or last) of your friends or acquaintances as some sort of homage to them?

Do you ever want to change the names of your characters after publication? (Jeffrey Archer, the British author, had one of his characters names change between the British edition of a title and the American publication of the title. See this