Oh yeah, and [name]Edward[/name] is really stalker-like. VERY ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP. He controls her and doesn’t let her visit her friends ([name]Jacob[/name]) and gets angry so easily and is all dark and sort of cajoles her into marrying him even though she doesn’t want to…
Ditto! Which makes me sad because I like [name]Bella[/name] as a nickname from [name]Arabella[/name]. But one thing they did right was pick [name]Kristin[/name] [name]Stewart[/name] to play [name]Bella[/name]. Emotionless actor for a personality-less (I know that’s not a real word but it’s exam week and my brain is fried.) character! Plus they were poorly written. I unfortunately read all four books (it was like a car wreck you had to look at) and seen two of the movies with my younger sister for her birthday.
[name]Ren[/name] gave me a link to a fantastic hilarious site with comments on sections from the books, I’m laughing so hard. It seems to be very poorly written, and just an awful story.
link, please
Yes, [name]Ren[/name], gives us the link please. 
Here it is:
My boyfriend is reading it out loud to me, it is fantastic stuff!
Thanks. Oh my goodness that is HILARIOUS!!! 
Such a stupid story…
It’s not the popularity of the names that turned me off, it’s the characters in the series. [name]Edward[/name] to me is an abusive, manipulate, creepy stalker who constantly puts [name]Bella[/name] in danger and thinks about killing her. [name]Bella[/name] is a daft girl who is completely dependent on [name]Edward[/name] for her self esteem, when he leaves her at one point she tries to kill herself.
She starts jumping off cliffs just to see hallucinations of him yelling at her, then he tries to kill himself because she’s (rightly) upset about being abandoned in the middle of the woods because “if he wasn’t attracted to her, he wouldn’t have to break up with her”
The only redeemable quality of the Twilight series is that [name]Stephenie[/name] [name]Meyer[/name] gave the characters excellent names. That said, I think “the Twilight connection” with names is COMPLETELY overblown. [name]Just[/name] because a name appears in a particularly awful piece of literature does not mean it has been ruined. [name]Edward[/name], [name]Bella[/name], [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Emmett[/name], [name]Jasper[/name], [name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Esme[/name], [name]Carlisle[/name], [name]Cullen[/name], etc are GREAT, WONDERFUL names. USE THEM ANYWAY!
I tackled this when I first started loving Edwards (grandmother’s maiden name) for a boy’s name. Interestingly enough, I found that Twilight has literally had NO EFFECT on [name]Edward[/name]'s popularity whatsoever. [name]Isabella[/name]/[name]Bella[/name] and [name]Jacob[/name] were already at the top of the charts when Twilight was first published. [name]Carlisle[/name] isn’t even in the top 1000. I haven’t done an in depth analysis of the other names, but I’m sure they have been boosted by Twilight somewhat. However, I think that has a whole lot less to do with people naming their children after the characters and a whole lot more to do with moms reading the books and thinking “Wow! -insert Twilight name here- is a great name! That’s what I want to name my son/daughter!” Most of the “Twilight names” were due for a revival anyway.
I love that site 
I kind of feel like the association with Twilight has turned perfectly good names into ones with a teen mom stigma. I wouldn’t mind someone assuming I named my kid after a book or movie I actually enjoy (or even one I was into as a teen) but one that I don’t like and is connected to teenagers, it’s just too much. I really thought I was going to hate The Hunger Games since it’s YA and seemed cult-ish like Twilight, but I actually wound up enjoying those. I’d still feel weird naming my kid [name]Gale[/name]/Peeta/Finnick though.
I still really like the name [name]Esme[/name], but it does bum me out that it used to feel like this personal treasure and now it’s been exposed to the masses. I’d still consider using it, though, provided it doesn’t make it too high on the charts. The [name]Salinger[/name] and Jawbreaker connections are still really powerful for me and I feel like anyone that makes the mistake of saying “oh, like in Twilight” to me will get an earful. Maybe it’s even a good thing, since when I first fell for this name in college everyone I mentioned it to gave me a confused look. I’m hoping by the time I get around to having a girl baby it will be familiar to the general public without having reached any major level of popularity.
Yeah. [name]Edward[/name], [name]Alice[/name] and [name]Esme[/name] are fairly normal names in [name]England[/name], I guess that was why I was curious. She did use some pretty great names… after reading quite a few pages of the reasoningwithvampires blog I understand the awfulness.
Okay, here goes. These are the numbers for [name]Emmett[/name], [name]Jasper[/name], [name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Esme[/name], and [name]Cullen[/name] starting in 2000, just so we can see if these names were already on the rise. (Sorry this is so long.)
[name]EMMETT[/name]
2000: 231
2001: 255
2002: 255
2003: 286
2004: 341
2005: 380 – year Twilight was published
2006: 439
2007: 448
2008: 479 – year Twilight (movie) was released
2009: 955
2010: 1271
2011: 1590
[name]JASPER[/name]
2000: 334
2001: 390
2002: 478
2003: 465
2004: 389
2005: 451 – year Twilight was published
2006: 442
2007: 585
2008: 624 – year Twilight (movie) was released
2009: 940
2010: 1177
2011: 1240
[name]ROSALIE[/name]
2000: 131
2001: 133
2002: 143
2003: 136
2004: 134
2005: 145 – year Twilight was published
2006: 161
2007: 132
2008: 164 – year Twilight (movie) was released
2009: 334
2010: 496
2011: 528
[name]ALICE[/name]
2000: 668
2001: 631
2002: 654
2003: 698
2004: 754
2005: 753 – year Twilight was published
2006: 841
2007: 947
2008: 1022 – year Twilight (movie) was released
2009: 1271
2010: 1774
2011: 2181
[name]ESME[/name]
2000: 35
2001: 42
2002: 66
2003: 76
2004: 74
2005: 68 – year Twilight was published
2006: 103
2007: 106
2008: 154 – year Twilight (movie) was released
2009: 239
2010: 280
2011: 258
[name]CULLEN[/name]
2000: 362
2001: 336
2002: 318
2003: 284
2004: 270
2005: 278 – year Twilight was published
2006: 260
2007: 286
2008: 283 – year Twilight (movie) was released
2009: 562
2010: 676
2011: 566
I really don’t think [name]Edward[/name], [name]Isabella[/name] or [name]Jacob[/name] would be assumed to be Twilight-based (unless used together) due to their popularity. It would be completely reasonable to know people with these names before it came out. It’s the names that are less commonly used that are more likely to pick up an association. According the the Nameberry entry, [name]Esme[/name] has only been in the top 1000 since 2010. The first time I’d ever heard of the name was when I read 9 Stories in college and I was someone who was reading baby name books and compiling lists for years prior.
I don’t get all the Twilight hate here! Yes, you could interpret the behavior in the books as controlling, weird, stupid. You could be right, but come on people, it is a book!!! I don’t have many books that I have read to be shown the realities of life. I read to escape or for pure pleasure. I happen to have loved the series. It was a very easy escapist read. I think a lot of people feel above the series and so there is a level of embarassment that comes with saying you like it. A lot of people are anti popularity and don’t want to be associated with a current trend. The only naming downside I see is popularity and people assuming you named from the movie.
I have to say, the Twilight hate gets to me.
This is not because I think the books are pristine examples of excellent literature. This is not because I think that the relationship between [name]Edward[/name] and [name]Bella[/name] is perfectly healthy. [name]Nor[/name] do I think the concept of sparkling vampires is particularly brilliant (although, if you want to get punny…)
I think that people love to be on a bandwagon, whether it’s the rabid squealing fangirl bandwagon or the scathingly condescending hater bandwagon. I happen to harbor a particular loathing for bandwagons in general.
To answer your original question, [name]Ottilie[/name], some people hate the series because of its sweeping popularity, or because vampires aren’t their thing, or because the author was an amateur and it shows, or because the characters behave in ways that an ideal person would not behave (even though other characters–and some of the fans–consider them ideal people). I feel like in some cases people hate the series just because they can…because they like the hater bandwagon, or even because god forbid they be seen on the fangirl bandwagon, and what other alternative do they have? 
When people criticize the writing, I think they forget that the first book was written years before it was discovered and turned into a franchise, and that it was actually just [name]Stephanie[/name] writing down a crazy dream she’d had, in which a girl and a vampire were talking in a meadow, and the sunlight was sparkling on his skin. It was not originally intended to be published. Clearly concepts that come to us in dreams are fantastical, and clearly she was an amateur author who stumbled into fame rather than pointing her life in that direction and planning for it from the get-go.
When people criticize the relationships between the characters, I think they forget about [name]Jane[/name] [name]Eyre[/name] and Wuthering Heights, Gone With the Wind, or even the classic fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast and the [name]Little[/name] Mermaid. (I mean, have we MET [name]Heathcliff[/name]? People have tried to tell me for years that Wuthering Heights is this darkly romantic gothic love story, but the man is an absolute devil! [name]Edward[/name] is a toothless kitten in comparison.) And they most assuredly forget about [name]Bram[/name] Stoker and [name]Anne[/name] [name]Rice[/name]. Were those vampires dark, brooding, and seductive? Yes. But they are also monsters, inhuman. Again, [name]Edward[/name] is a kitten in comparison. In any romantic scenario involving a vampire, there is going to be bloodlust, danger, and creepiness. Who reads a book about a girl dating a vampire and expects a normal healthy relationship? Goodness, [name]Buffy[/name] is 16 and [name]Angel[/name] is 240 something years old when they sleep together. The creepy angst is kind of the point.
None of my statements in this post are meant to condone abusive relationships, rabid fandom, or bad writing [name]Nor[/name] do I imply that I am a Twilight fan. I have no love in my heart for the movies, and books 2-4 killed the series for me. I have a special fondness for the first book, given the age at which I discovered it and my subsequent introduction to the world of paranormal fiction. Teen romance at the time was severely limited to certain genres that held no interest for me. And while I find [name]Stephanie[/name]'s writing amateurish, I am glad that she sparked the paranormal romance revolution. I owe it some of my most enjoyable books!
My dislike for idealizing unhealthy teenage romances goes way beyond Twilight. [name]Romeo[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name] is the story of very young people who knew each other a very short time and took drastic and irreversible action. It’s not so much that stories of dysfunctional or dangerous relationships shouldn’t be told, but it does make me cringe when young girls wind up taking away the message that they want to find their own [name]Edward[/name] or [name]Romeo[/name].
I really loved BTVS, but I was creeped out by the [name]Buffy[/name]/[name]Angel[/name] relationship. At least when they had sex he lost his soul and even once it was restored they had no future together and had to part ways. The [name]Buffy[/name]/[name]Spike[/name] relationship is all kinds of messed up too, but again it’s a doomed relationship.
I am willing to admit that if I was 17 now instead of in 1997, I might very well be into this. I also admit that being into something really popular has its benefits–the more people that are willing to buy books/tickets, the more likely they are to keep making those books/movies. I’ve had several shows I loved get cancelled after 1 or 2 seasons and I’d much rather have kept watching them than get to feel cool and clique-ish about it later. There are other things that are wildly popular and I honestly have no idea why.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one that thinks the [name]Edward[/name] & [name]Bella[/name]-relationship is unhealthy, most of my friends love the series and are idolize their relationship. I read the 1st book and found it really hard to read because of how [name]Edward[/name] acted with [name]Bella[/name]. (I have been in an emotionally abusive relationship and it reminded me of that.) I do understand it’s a book and it’s fiction and their relationship mainly bothers me because so many young people look at them as role models. Personally I can just leave the books alone if I don’t like them, but seeing people idolize the characters bothers me.
[name]Esme[/name], [name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Emmett[/name] and [name]Jasper[/name] (and [name]Bella[/name] as a stand alone name)are the names that I’ve reconsidered due to the books and movies, but I think it’s because most of my friends are/were into them. I wouldn’t want people thinking I chose the name because of Twilight and with my friends that very well could be the first thing they’d think about.
I read all four books, liked them up until the last one, which I hated. Yes her writing style isn’t the best, and yes it’s an unhealthy relationship, but I think as long as you can get past that they’re more interesting than the films. And don’t look at them as role models. The characters are far from that, but from an observational point of view you can see how easy it is to fall into an abusive relationship, which I’ve always found rather interesting and lacking in YA lit. However, most readers just look at it like just another love story, when you kind of need to take a step back from that.
Also, [name]Kristen[/name] [name]Stewart[/name] is the most wooden actor I’ve ever seen, and I’ve only seen the first and half of the second movie, but from what I’ve heard she doesn’t improve.
On the name front, [name]Bella[/name] has been ruined for me in part because of Twilight, because it’s only been Isabels/Isabellas born since the later part of the 2000s that go by [name]Bella[/name]. All the others I know that are older have always been [name]Izzy[/name]. And [name]Bella[/name] has become not only the go-to nickname for [name]Isabella[/name], but also for other bel/bella ending names, and I hear it everywhere, and I’m bored of it. I was never the greatest fan of the name anyway, preferred [name]Izzy[/name], but its overpopularity has killed any liking that may have developed over time.