I’d officially fallen in love with the name [name_f]Serena[/name_f] (nickname Seri) for a hypothetical future daughter. Husband liked Seri. So far, so good.
This was after a long argument with myself/DH over whether [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] (nn Sairy) is usable for us; I think our 7 y.o. daughter would have some kind of identity crisis because she wants to be called [name_f]Sarah[/name_f]. With Seri/[name_f]Serena[/name_f] we could sort of get around that problem and still use a name we both love.
Anyway, I was just Googling the name [name_f]Serena[/name_f] to make sure I hadn’t missed any of the associations (tennis player Ms. [name_m]Williams[/name_m]; Gossip Girl, Bewitched character; [name_u]Sailor[/name_u] [name_f]Moon[/name_f], etc., none of which are a huge deal to me) and apparently there is a new movie coming out this [name_f]September[/name_f]. “[name_f]Serena[/name_f]” is the name of the movie. It’s about a woman who can’t have children and tries to kill her husband’s illegitimate child and baby-mama.
Gosh dang it.
Would you still use it? Wait and see how well-known the movie becomes? Force yourself to fall in love with [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f] or [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f] (reminds me of Aquafina bottled water) or Seri as a stand-alone name? Use the classic [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] w/ Sairy as a nickname and hope it doesn’t bum out [name_f]Elise[/name_f]? [name_m]Cross[/name_m] it off the list entirely?
If it matters, this hypothetical child would/will be our last baby.
I would still use the name. One movie is not a good enough reason to rule out a lifetimes worth of a nice name. Especially since it seems to be a standalone movie, not part of a popular mega series or anything, I’d bet the movie is forgotten about 4 months after it comes out anyways…
@asche, I really hope you’re right. Please let it be a forgettable movie. It’s got [name_u]Bradley[/name_u] [name_m]Cooper[/name_m] and [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] [name_u]Lawrence[/name_u], though…
Yes, I’d use it. If we eliminated all the names in the world used in movies, popular or not, we’d have a very small list to pick from. [name_f]Serena[/name_f] is a nice name with a history and association that extends far past this movie.
Really, I don’t think this is at all a big deal. This doesn’t sound like it’s going to be some sort of seminal film, it’ll probably do OK in the cinema with those actors and some people will see it, but it’s very unlikely to be the sort of thing that’s going to turn [name_f]Serena[/name_f] into a one-strong-association name even if some people do remember it by the time you are potentially naming a daughter. I mean, it’s not like people are going to be all: “Oh, did you name her after that crazy woman in the film from last year?” because obviously the answer would be no. [name_m]Cross[/name_m] the bridge when you come to it, but I wouldn’t worry in the slightest.
I think it’s no big deal. Everyone knows of the name [name_f]Serena[/name_f], and it doesn’t sound like a huge movie. Not like the Dumb and Dumber movies they just can’t stop making which have sadly ruined my favorite boy name, [name_m]Lloyd[/name_m].
I’d still use it because my guess is more people will connect it with [name_f]Serena[/name_f] [name_m]Williams[/name_m] than the movie. Then again, my name came from “Play [name_f]Misty[/name_f] for Me” and I hate it, but it my case, they thought of it after the movie, not before.
[name_f]My[/name_f] son’s name is [name_m]Patrick[/name_m]. The main character in American Psycho is named [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] and a serial killer. It wasn’t enough for us to not use the name and I think American Psycho is probably better known that this film will become in a few years. I don’t really think it matters since almost every name has some negative connotation if you search hard enough.
@lovewn, I don’t think [name_m]Lloyd[/name_m] is forever connected to Dumb & Dumber. Unless you used [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] as a middle name or something, I think you’d be fine.
@mdeast77, I had to google that one. Did your parents end up getting a lot of questions about whether they’d seen the movie, when they’d tell people your name?
I’m not really sure. I just know the movie had been on television not too long before I was born. People of my generation usually don’t know about it, but their parents do, lol. People made the association more when I was a kid, because the movie was recent. Not so much anymore. But I still know, lol.
It’s got [name_u]Bradley[/name_u] [name_m]Cooper[/name_m] and [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] [name_u]Lawrence[/name_u], though…