# Naming your kid after a fictional character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049 "2010-07-17T18:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/41 "2010-07-18T06:23:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, and how rediculously cliche is that? > > “Madison” is a last name, not a first name anyway. See President #4. There were parents back in the eighties who were named their son Rambo. If you’re going to name your kid after a movie character, try to at least pay attention to the movie. The character’s name was John. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/42 "2010-07-18T06:31:44Z")
Josey Wales Dumbguy ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/43 "2010-07-18T06:58:18Z")
Thorin, Fili, Kili, Ori, Nori, Bori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Gimli, Durin, Dain, Thror and Thrain. I have to marry a very fertile women 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/44 "2010-07-18T07:19:00Z")
> [@Dumbguy](#): > > I’ve suggested […] Quinn (modification of Quint from _Jaws_ for ease of pronunciation). My cat’s named Quinne, which I adapted from the same source material. Everyone but me and my ex-girlfriend pronounces it “Queenie,” which I’m imagining won’t work too well for you. No one seems to know what I mean when I say “Quinn[e]… like the Eskimo.” My ex-wife liked “Tristan” for a boy’s name, and we both liked “Sheridan” from the author of Carmilla. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/45 "2010-07-18T08:32:49Z")
My husbands first name is Arwin, the male version of LOTR’s Arwen. He likes it. He occasionally looks up how many Arwins and Arwens there are on facebook, and there are enough to make the name normal and few enough to make the name distinctive. We named our two-year old son Esper. It is a legitimate Norse name, but we also liked the link with Esperer (French for “to hope”) the Dutch tree name Esp (I’m a nature geek) and, of course, the Espers from the computer game Final Fantasy. So far, the name gets good reactions. Still, to be sure I gave him two more middle names that are either very normal and family-traditiony (William) and just one more name that I liked very much, Livine. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/46 "2010-07-18T13:18:00Z")
Voldemort - Mort, or Morty for short. Although it sounds like the name of a talent scout, 1949, who books dog acts. I personally know a Thorin, he was raised in a yurt for a few years by his treehugger dad. Thorin is in college now and seems completely normal. Answers to ‘Thor’ or ‘Thorin’. NBD. Eowyn and Inara: Eowyn could be “Winnie” for short. Inara…“Innie”?? (NO. Sorry, Inara.) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/47 "2010-07-18T13:50:03Z")
The thing I really hate about the name Madison is that I’ve yet to hear a girl named Madison who goes by it. While I’m sure there are, every girl I’ve known named Madison used “Maddie” so what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![pinkyvee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/48 "2010-07-18T14:18:39Z")
Friends recently named their son Indy ( Indiana Jones ). I don’t know if they gave him a middle name. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/49 "2010-07-18T14:29:14Z")
i still like scout even if in TKaMK it’s a girl. better than boo. other suggestions from Nickalodeon: katara, sokka, zuko, spongebob, beavis (mtv), ren… ---
**Author:** ![Shawn\_K\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Shawn\_K\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn_K_1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/50 "2010-07-18T14:50:47Z")
> [@pinkyvee](#): > > Friends recently named their son Indy ( Indiana Jones ). > I don’t know if they gave him a middle name. They did it wrong, they’re supposed to name the dog Indiana. Personally if I was going to name a kid after a pop culture icon I’d either middle name it or be a bit sneaky. Wolverine from X-men: Go with Logan for a first name, or Wolverine for the middle, or Cacajou. Stone Cold Steven Austin: Austin for a first name. Dani California: Dani Cali or just Dani first or middle and so on. Or use a name from something semi-obscure that I like. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/51 "2010-07-18T14:57:29Z")
There is only one thing to do - Name the child whatever your wife likes. She’s doing all the hard work. If you really want to get out of this with a geek name, let her do the first name something normal and non-geeky that won’t age, and fire up the middle name with Captain Jack, or Frodo or whatever. Seriously. She’s doing the hard part. She has dibs. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/52 "2010-07-18T15:00:21Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Seven A kid in **Attacklad’s** class is named **Seven**. Poor guy. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/53 "2010-07-18T15:06:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Really? Because I think of Quinn primarily as a girl’s name. Last year, Quinn was 258th-most common boy’s name in the US, with 1320 baby boy Quinns, and the 486th-most common girl’s name, with 625 baby girl Quinns. If you’re American, perhaps your expectations are influenced by the only semi-famous Quinn I know of, which is Jonathan Edwards and Rielle Hunter’s daughter Frances Quinn. I think the ‘Quinn’ was supposed to be a reference on Hunter’s part to the fact that she’s Edwards’ fifth child. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/54 "2010-07-18T15:11:16Z")
What names does your wife like? If we can get a sense of her naming style, maybe we can suggest literary character names that are similar. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/55 "2010-07-18T15:13:14Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > A kid in **Attacklad’s** class is named **Seven**. Poor guy. I do feel sorry for the kid, but that is _awesome!_ At least he wasn’t named Soda. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/56 "2010-07-18T15:15:32Z")
Snoopy. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/57 "2010-07-18T15:17:38Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > If you’re American, perhaps your expectations are influenced by the only semi-famous Quinn I know of, which is Jonathan Edwards and Rielle Hunter’s daughter Frances Quinn. There is “Quinn the Eskimo” too. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/58 "2010-07-18T15:55:56Z")
Where is that internet chart of names in the US. It’s been linked in the SDMB before, and now I can’t find it. Help me help the OP 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19adc/32.png) [@I\_Am\_The\_Lorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Am_The_Lorax)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/59 "2010-07-18T16:00:25Z")
I wanted to use Arthur; Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker’s Guide, legendary King Arthur, and most importantly, my great-grandfather. My husband didn’t go for it. But it is a good, classic boy’s name. I wanted to name our first son Aiden, after the actor Aiden Quinn, but when I realized how trendy it was getting, I nixed it. Boy 1 is Jonah Quinn, boy 2 is Simon August (called Gus) and daughter is Anneliese. In a Salinger state of mind, there’s Lionel from the short story ‘Down at the Dinghy’, Clay from ‘For Esme-With Love and Squalor’, Lee and Arthur (there it is again) from ‘Pretty Mouth and Green my Eyes’, and Teddy and Sven from ‘Teddy’. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049/60 "2010-07-18T16:45:56Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Where is that internet chart of names in the US. It’s been linked in the SDMB before, and now I can’t find it. Help me help the OP 🙂 The chart, AKA the Name Voyager, is [here](http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#). The Social Security Administration’s name website (top 1000 names for each gender for every year since 1879) is [here](http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naming-your-kid-after-a-fictional-character/547049.md?page=4)