Well, I was thinking about boy names to honor a [name]Margaret[/name] who goes by [name]Maggie[/name].
I’m pretty fond of just [name]Margaret[/name] on a girl, but it doesn’t go with most of my favorite first names, so I thought I’d try to think of boy options (first or middle.)
And then I had the very silly idea that MACHEATH would be just smashing, with the nickname [name]Mackie[/name], like [name]Maggie[/name].
DH and I love [name]Kurt[/name] Weill and Bertolt Brecht. Macheath of course is the swashbuckling antihero of Threepenny [name]Opera[/name] who goes around thieving and raping and murdering prostitutes. Needless to say, a completely unusable name! Too bad, because “[name]Heath[/name]” is lovely, “[name]Mac[/name]” is spunky as all get-out, and Macheath is one flavorful sandwich of the two.
So I was wondering… what names do you love that are simply too villainous to use? Or too tragic?
I think [name]Othello[/name] is also pretty beautiful, but no way would I touch that one.
And if anyone has thoughts about a male spin on [name]Margaret[/name]/[name]Maggie[/name], I’m collecting ideas. Thanks!
I second [name]Othello[/name] and [name]Heathcliff[/name]. And I add:
[name]Iago[/name], [name]Caliban[/name] (from The [name]Tempest[/name]), Malbecco (The Faerie Queene, the man became a hideous monster when his wife cheated on him) and [name]Edmund[/name] (the gruesome most evil in [name]King[/name] Lear).
I’ll have a think about [name]Margaret[/name]-ish names.
I have chosen (probably naively) to believe that more people would associate [name]Edmund[/name] with the more recent Chronicles of [name]Narnia[/name] :). Luckily, it’s a moot point since DH would never let me use nn [name]Ned[/name] and I hate nn [name]Eddie[/name].
I’d agree with this, sort of. I’ve seen a performance of [name]King[/name] Lear by the RSC (good lord, it was sensational!) but I wouldn’t have remembered that there was an [name]Edmund[/name] in it. By contrast, I’ve never read [name]CoN[/name] but I know that there’s a boy called [name]Edmund[/name] in it.
I associate the name (and nickname [name]Ned[/name]) with my great grandfather… though I guess his story is also rather tragic. He survived the horrors of world war one only to be killed in a car accident in 1936 with my great grandma, leaving their three kids orphans
My friend used [name]Iago[/name] and [name]Othello[/name] for her chinchillas and I used [name]Tybalt[/name] on my cat. While not all my pets have had “unusable” names, it’s a good way to use names I like that are too tragic to get away with on a kid.
Mmm [name]Caliban[/name] is devilishly handsome. [name]Iago[/name] is just pure evil.
[name]Edmund[/name] - too bad, it’s got a nice ring. Is he the one who plucks out Lear’s eyes? “Out vile jelly!” Yikes.
[name]How[/name] about
Malvolio
[name]Tamerlane[/name] (Genghis Khan’s ruthless successor)
I feel like [name]Edmund[/name] has probably been used more as a given name, and also has the similarity to [name]Edmund[/name] to help people forget [name]King[/name] Lear association. Or I hope.
Kungfualex, I rather like [name]Tybalt[/name]. Or [name]Cobalt[/name] for that matter, but it’s not as heavy obviously.
Renrose, what a sad story. It’s strange when names carry a family “curse” or karma, whatever you want to call it. I have four generations of truly bipolar men named [name]Henry[/name] in my family.
Ooh, [name]Tybalt[/name]. That’s one delicious baddie there.
Is it safe to confess that I l.o.v.e [name]Ichabod[/name]? Nn Icky? I’m obsessed. I need a sickly looking cat to name so I can get this out of my system.
Tk, I love [name]Ichabod[/name] too! But he wasn’t a villain, just skinny, timid, and eccentric. A one-man name though, for sure. I like Baltus, as in [name]Katrina[/name] [name]Van[/name] Tassel’s father. Or as in the painter Balthus.
[name]Shannon[/name], thanks for [name]Garrett[/name]. Good thought, but it makes me think of “garret,” as in a chilly attic hovel, or “garrote,” as in an execution chair.
Hm… [name]Magnus[/name]. I like it when I think of it as a Scandinavian Kings’ name. But honestly, I’m not wild about it. Looks too much like Magnum to me, as in the brand of condoms and the gun. [name]Just[/name] too macho for me. Magus too, to a lesser extent.
[name]Ivan[/name] is cool. Lots of Russian babies with that name… I don’t immediately think of [name]Ivan[/name] the Terrible. I think of [name]Ivan[/name]'s Childhood, the beautiful Tarkovsky film.
Otterpup: Cornwall and Gloucester! [name]How[/name] could I forget? The scoundrels.
Clytemnestra?
[name]Ophelia[/name]? This one’s making a comeback but I find it to be a total downer.
Yes Tk, [name]Antigone[/name] is lovely. But too heavy even for a pet.
[name]Medea[/name]!
I think [name]Electra[/name] is beautiful.
