Books & Names đź’•

General Name Discussion
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Have you ever read a book and been impressed by the names?

I’m currently reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame (side note, Victor Hugo is brilliant), and I was just thinking this morning how impressive his name choices were… Phoebus, Esmeralda, Quasimodo, Clopin, Frollo… they’re so wonderfully inventive and charmingly storybook. Les Mis names are inspired, too, but I’ve been especially intrigued by these names. (Also, side note, so in love with the fact that he wrote this book as a love letter to Paris when it was going through so many changes he feared it was losing its identity… :heart:)

Anyway, thought others might be equally impressed by an author lately, and would love it if you shared! :heart:

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I’m currently reading [name_m]Sing[/name_m], Unburied, [name_m]Sing[/name_m] by Jesmyn [name_m]Ward[/name_m] and the names are incredible!! A few standouts include [name_f]Philomène[/name_f], [name_f]Leonie[/name_f], [name_u]River[/name_u], [name_f]Maggie[/name_f], [name_u]Joseph[/name_u] “Jojo,” Eschelle, Given, and [name_f]Gloria[/name_f]!

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I remember reading and loving a book called; The Siren, with characters names; Kahlen, Miaka, [name_f]Aisling[/name_f], and Akinli .

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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler is a great read with great names!! Rosemary, Lowell, Fern, Harlow, Peter, Hazel, and Katherine “Kitch” are some faves. :relaxed:

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Those are some stunning names!!

A couple of books with names I love:

The Vanishing Half by [name_u]Brit[/name_u] [name_u]Bennett[/name_u] - [name_f]Stella[/name_f], [name_f]Desiree[/name_f], [name_u]Jude[/name_u], [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_u]Lou[/name_u], [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u], [name_u]Early[/name_u]

[name_f]Villette[/name_f] by [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Brontë[/name_f]- [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Ginevra[/name_f], [name_f]Paulina[/name_f] “Polly”, [name_f]Fifine[/name_f], [name_f]Georgette[/name_f], [name_f]Desiree[/name_f], [name_f]Modeste[/name_f]

The House in the [name_u]Cerulean[/name_u] [name_u]Sea[/name_u] by TJ Klune - [name_m]Linus[/name_m], [name_u]Arthur[/name_u], [name_u]Chauncey[/name_u], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Talia[/name_f], Phee, [name_u]Sal[/name_u], [name_m]Theodore[/name_m]

White is for Witching - [name_f]Helen[/name_f] Oyeyemi - [name_f]Miranda[/name_f], [name_u]Eliot[/name_u], Ore, [name_m]Luc[/name_m], [name_f]Sade[/name_f], [name_f]Deme[/name_f]

[name_f]Pet[/name_f] by Akwaeke Emezi - [name_m]Jam[/name_m], Redemption, [name_m]Moss[/name_m], [name_f]Hibiscus[/name_f], Bitter, [name_u]Aloe[/name_u]

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My niece was reading A Series of Unfortunate Events the last time I saw her and I was wowed by the names- Beatrice, Violet, Klaus, Sunny, Isadora & Esme in particular.

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I absolutely love The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and your post is making me want to read it again. :heart:

I’m currently reading Spinning [name_u]Silver[/name_u] by [name_f]Naomi[/name_f] Novik (have been on a bit of a fantasy kick recently, especially Eastern European fantasy), and her characters tend to be impeccably named:

[name_f]Silvija[/name_f]
Miryem
[name_f]Irina[/name_f]
[name_m]Lukas[/name_m]
[name_m]Ilias[/name_m]
Mirnatius
Magreta
[name_f]Wanda[/name_f]
Stepon

I’ve also read one other book by the same author and I loved the main character’s name - [name_f]Agnieszka[/name_f]!

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Aww, I absolutely love [name_u]Les[/name_u] Mis but am enjoying The Hunchback of Notre Dame… hopefully I like it as much as [name_u]Les[/name_u] Mis by the end!

And NO WAY! [name_f]My[/name_f] sister literally just finished Spinning [name_u]Silver[/name_u] lol! She loved it too, and she hopes you like it just as much. :heart: She, too, is on a big fantasy kick lol. Those are some great names–I love Miryem, [name_f]Agnieszka[/name_f], and [name_f]Silvija[/name_f] especially, but Mirnatius is super interesting (feels like [name_m]Miroslav[/name_m] meets Ignatius?). Stepon seems a little much like “Step on” something lol but [name_m]Stepan[/name_m] is interesting for sure, too!

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I just finished [name_u]Truly[/name_u] Madly Guilty by [name_f]Liane[/name_f] Moriarty and I really enjoyed her name choices! They include cellist [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] [name_m]Hart[/name_m], her children [name_u]Holly[/name_u] and [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], ex teacher [name_f]Marianne[/name_f]. There are couples named [name_f]Erika[/name_f] and [name_u]Oliver[/name_u], [name_f]Tiffany[/name_f] and [name_m]Vid[/name_m], [name_u]Ainsley[/name_u] and Hu. There are casual mentions of an [name_u]Ezra[/name_u] and a [name_m]Lochlan[/name_m].

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I love the fantasy names in the book I’m reading right now. Many of them are goofy on purpose, like Bottle and Mallet. But the names that are made up that are more serious are so cool. I love Apsalar, Crokus, Felisin, Tavore, Heboric, and Icarium. It takes some real creativity to invent names that sound so natural but don’t exist outside of that universe.

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Haha, that’s an amazing coincidence! I’m glad to hear your sister enjoyed it - I’m about 2/3 of the way through and so far it’s been fun.

It could be that kind of a blend! Mirnatius is the name of a tsar, so I’m sure it’s as grandiose as possible on purpose. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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