But it’s very “safe” as well. You’re basically sweeping the uniqueness under a rug. What’s cool is when a unique first name matches the person really well and the whole become greater than its parts. John H. Poirot wouldn’t be as good as Hercule Poirot.
Considering the fact that Hercule Poirot was Belgian, “John” would have been an odd choice for a first name.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around an OP who wants to name a child after a literary character, but thinks Jaws should be in the running. You should have named him Jason Bourne or Jack Ryan.
One of our options for a girls name was Cecily from The Importance of Being Earnest. We went with something different because she was born with dark hair, and in our minds Cecily is blond. I am holding that name on reserve for child number two.
Of course, if the last name starts with a G, then you got your fictional character!
Also, you have to dress him as an egg every Christmas. >_>
Their last name wouldn’t happen to be O’Neil, would it?
Please excuse me if I’m being completely thick but what’s wrong with a name from Jaws? The book came first. Hell, I wasn’t even born when the movie came out and I still read the book before seeing the movie. Jason Bourne and Jack Ryan are also literary characters.
Books don’t have to be hoity toity Shakespeare-caliber writings or from the Bible to qualify as literature.
I hate to break it to you, but even the moronic Twilight books are still works of literature.
Bioware Games has always had some good names…my kids will be named one of the following:
Imoen
Mission
Branwen
Bastila
Shepard
Garrus
Tali
Thank you, I do understand the concept of literature. What I was pointing out was the disparity of the OP’s literary taste: David Foster Wallace, Mark Twain, James Joyce, Vonnegut, and Peter Benchley. There’s nothing wrong with a nice thriller or airport novel, but I’d sure hate to be named after one.
Ahhh, I see. I completely misunderstood the point you were making. There are a few people in my life who insist that only classics are REAL literature (and they’re also the people least likely to read a book) so I automatically assumed that was where you were going with it.
I see nothing wrong with naming a kid after a thriller or airport novel character but since I don’t plan on ever having a kid, my opinion probably isn’t sought after.
If hell ever does freeze over though, my daughter will be named Esmerelda (Weatherwax) or my son will be Samuel (Vimes). Middle names were never discussed.
Evangeline is one of my favorite female names. However, I was first acquainted with this name by means of a vampiric character in a manga; I’m not sure what my response would be if I were to meet a real person with such a name.
A Japanese website recently conducted a poll asking which fictional characters (primarily video game and anime) would you name your child after. Over 50 percent voted that they would not name their children after a fictional character.
Octavian is a great name, but maybe I’m a bit biased from having one in the family as well (from my grandparents’ generation).
My SIL is planning to call her unborn baby Tyler if it’s a boy because the father’s last name sounds similar to Durden. Yup. When I asked her if she really wanted her kid to be associated with a psycho violent extremist (albeit fictional), she assured me that by the time he’s be old enough to go to school, nobody is going to remember the movie. Ooookaayy. But hey, it’s not my decision!