Anything for a writer....

Outside of Israel, Jews rarely have Hebrew last names, except for Cohen, Levy, Segal and a few others. Ashkenazi Jews (originating in Central, Western or Eastern Europe) took last names about 250 years ago, and most are of German origin, relating to place, profession or physical characteristics. Sephardic Jews (roughly speaking, Jews from Arab countries) often have Spanish or Arabic family names - but Hebrew surnames are also not unusual.

In Israel, many people took new Hebrew surnames in the 40's, 50's and 60's. PM Ben-Gurion (Green, originally) insisted on this for people in government positions, and the ethos of the time dictated creating a new Hebrew identity, a break with the exile past. Today, many are reclaiming their original family names, often hyphenating them with their original surnames.

Hope - Tikva

Protector - Magen

Life - Haim, Chaim (both spellings are acceptable)

Note that Tikva can also be a feminine first name - the last two would only be surnames. "Tikva' as a surname would probably indicate Sephardic origins. Actually Haim is an ok first name for a man, but its feminine form, Hayya, is not so popular for girls these days, since it also means "animal" or "beast".

Good luck with the writing!

I have an aunt named Hayya, who was named for her great grandmother. But except for Hareidi circles, it's not very popular today in Israel. You can only imagine what the kids in school would do with a name like that. They would tell the poor child that she belongs in  a zoo - or worse!

You have to be careful with last names, as they get corrupted over time.  We have a lot of Jews here with the name Cowan, which is a local Scottish name, but is actually a corruption of Cohen and it goes back to WW1.  My grandmothers' family name was McCubbin but a couple of hundred years ago, it was Maccabby.  We also have Owen in our family but again, that's a corruption of Cohen.