A girl who works at a local auto parts store wears a nametag that boldly proclaims
“L A D Y N A S T Y”
I had to ask how it is pronounced and as it turns out, it is La-Dynasty.
She explained that when she was born, her mother was the proud owner of a brand new 1987 Dodge.
Regarding Anastasia as a cartoon movie name:
When we were considering naming our child Arthur, a family name, we asked around to find out what some of the common associations with the name were, hoping to avoid any major pitfalls. We found that kids did, indeed, hear “Arthur” and immediately think of the cartoon aardvark with glasses. And so what? We named him Arthur, and have had no regrets.
The things that names remind us of change over time. While it certainly does make sense to avoid names with immutably bad connotations (like Benedict), you can’t control what people think of when they hear a name. There are worse things that they could think of than enjoyable cartoons.
And the connotations of a name can change in an instant anyway. Think of all those women happily skipping through life with a perfectly ordinary name–Monica. And then, boom. Their names became synonymous with blowjobs.
My daughter is named Anastasia. (Spelled slightly differently to reflect the ethnic heritage of my Ukrainian family. We call her “Stazi.”)
Anastasia was the 288th most popular name for baby girls in the US in 2006, coming in ahead of Heidi, Meredith, and Heather. It is not rare, unusual, or weird.
One example where my fantasy/sf-geek side overpowers my history-geek side. I always think of the laconic master strategist/arms master character from Roger Zelazny’s Amber series before I think of the American general. No negative connotations at all ;).