Naming children after literary/historical characters

I am a long time name nerd and have been fascinated with names since I was little. Actually to the point that I currently maintain 5 different lists with my favourite names from various cultures and languages. I do not have any children and do not expect to have children for some years but that has not stopped me from regularly contemplating what I would like to name my own children.

Recently, I have been thinking about that when the time comes for choosing names for my children, I want to honour certain people beyond my own family whose legacy and/or work has not only been of huge interest to me but has also positively impacted my own life. But as excited as I am about the possibility of being able to honour such positive influences in my life I am also facing certain questions which make me question whether this is wise.

The names I have chosen are:

[name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]: I absolutely love [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Eyre[/name_f] by [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] [name_f]Bronte[/name_f]; that book influenced me greatly in an extremely positive way when I was teenager and I want to be able to honour that.

[name_f]Jane[/name_f]: I love [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_u]Austen[/name_u]'s novels and associate some wonderful things and memories with them. By using the name [name_f]Jane[/name_f], I would also be able to pay tribute to the wonderful novel [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_f]Eyre[/name_f].

[name_f]Elinor[/name_f]: I grew up watching the 1995 film version of the novel and have always adored the character of [name_f]Elinor[/name_f] in that film (and the novel). It has been a favourite name of mine for so many years and I associate it with many positive things.

[name_f]Laura[/name_f]: I grew up being immersed in the wonderful “House on the [name_u]Prairie[/name_u]” book series by [name_f]Laura[/name_f] Ingalls [name_m]Wilder[/name_m]. To say that I loved these books would be an understatement. I loved them so much I spent my time either imagining that I was [name_f]Laura[/name_f] or wishing that I was! I also distinctly remember writing when I was 8 years old that my favourite name was [name_f]Laura[/name_f], only because of the books. Those books mean so much to me and I associate them with wonderful memories.

But the questions that make me leery of choosing names that honour literary figures are two:

Would naming a child after a literary figure make me an automatic candidate for the pretentious parent of the year award?

I am Scandinavian and none of the people I would be honouring hail from my own culture or country. Is it okay to name after people that do not have a direct connection to your country/heritage but do have a great deal meaning to your own personal life?

As a side note I would like to add that while all these names are English in origin they would work out fine in my own country ([name_f]Elinor[/name_f] would be changed to Elinora) :slight_smile:

All advice and thoughts are gladly accepted - this has been bugging me quite a bit!

Yes, you can definitely call your children names that have nothing to do with your country or heritage. Very few of my favourites actually do. It’s important that you love your children’s names and that they, to some extend, work in your language/country. I wouldn’t name my child [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] in Germany because even though people are familiar with it, there is no [name_m]German[/name_m] pronunciation. Other names like [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] are also of English heritage but work just fine in [name_m]German[/name_m].
For your names, I think [name_f]Elinor[/name_f] and [name_f]Laura[/name_f] work well in Scandinavian languages (would you even have to change [name_f]Elinor[/name_f] to Elinora?). [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] might have more than a minor pronunciation difference, [name_f]Jane[/name_f] is the only one that might sound a bit forced with a non-English last name but that’s something you need to think about and decide if it matters to you :slight_smile:

They are beautiful names & it’s not pretentious at all! I think it’s a lovely way to add meaning.
On a daily basis, most people probably won’t make the link. Plus they are beautiful, classic names. I knew a little boy who was given the 2nd name of [name_m]Mandela[/name_m] recently, which I really liked.