I have three:
Sarah is named after me and is the mayor
Jody is named after my favorite pokemon from one of my pokemon games (a Jirachi nicknamed "Jody")
Klondike is named after my first dog and is the only male
I knew I wanted at least two characters (so I had more rooms to decorate!) and I decided I wanted a boy character because villagers interact differently with both genders.
I don't have enough room in my recently finished town for another house! So I will stick with 3