Hello people of Nameberry!
[name_m]How[/name_m] do we feel about naming a baby after a character from pop culture?
I’d say it would largely depend on what character you name your child after. I don’t see anything inherently wrong about naming your child after a character, though.
I don’t mind it if the name (i.e. the character) really means something to you, but I’d stay away from names that are very strongly and uniquely connected to one character, like [name_m]Frodo[/name_m], [name_m]Sherlock[/name_m] or [name_f]Katniss[/name_f].
A name like [name_f]Elsa[/name_f], on the other hand, is now very much associated with Frozen, but when little [name_f]Elsa[/name_f] is an adult the connection probably won’t be so strong. And if you love [name_f]Alice[/name_f] in wonderland, [name_f]Alice[/name_f] could be a perfect name for your daughter.
For me it depends on whether the name has other association or not. If the name is almost exclusively associated with the character, then I’d say it shouldn’t he used as a first name.
Examples that work:
Naming a child [name_m]Harry[/name_m] after [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]. [name_m]Harry[/name_m] is a familiar name with multiple points of reference so even with a massive fandom following it’s still a usable name.
[name_f]Coraline[/name_f]. While perhaps best known for the [name_u]Neil[/name_u] Gaiman book, [name_f]Coraline[/name_f] is a [name_m]French[/name_m] diminutive of [name_f]Coral[/name_f] that has existed for a very long time and has a reasonably fair amount of use. It also has other associations, like the opera [name_m]Le[/name_m] torédor.
Examples of names that don’t work:
[name_f]Katniss[/name_f]. Pretty much exclusively connected to The Hunger Games series.
[name_f]Eponine[/name_f]. While it’s a legitimate [name_m]French[/name_m] variant of Epona, it has never seen a lot of use, so it’s only major association is the tragic character in [name_u]Les[/name_u] Misérables. This is why, while I adore this name personally, I would only ever use it as a middle name.
Naming a child after something you love when it’s pop culture/art/media related can be tricky for the child. If it’s one like the example of [name_f]Katniss[/name_f], they will always be associated with this thing that has a huge fandom or following, and they may not even like it themselves.
Generally speaking, I don’t see a problem with this. People have been naming their children after fictional characters for probably as long as books have existed. The reason the name [name_f]Samantha[/name_f] became popular was because of a character in a 1960s TV show.
The only names I would caution against would be those that are solely associated with a very famous character e.g. Gandalf, [name_m]Anakin[/name_m] or [name_f]Katniss[/name_f].
It’s your kid do what you like, I would hesitate at using villain named but ehhh YOLO
Agreeing with posters above! It really depends on the name. I wouldn’t use [name_f]Daenerys[/name_f], [name_f]Katniss[/name_f], or anything tied inextricably to one character. If something is a little out there (like [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] or [name_m]Sirius[/name_m]) but still has a historical connotation/connection outside that one character, I’d personally slot it in the middle but if you wanted to go fo it I’d say go for it. [name_m]Harry[/name_m], [name_f]Elsa[/name_f], etc. all work!
i don’t see a problem with it. i really enjoy sarah j maas’s books and they mean a great deal to me so not only do i want to name my kids after people who have helped me, but me and sjm just have really similar name tastes and i’m not going to give up my favorite names because some people might be turned off by it.
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