[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! It’s me again!
So I have a friend that just came to the US from [name_f]China[/name_f], and is trying to find an English name for herself (since her Chinese name is kinda hard to pronounce for non-Chinese people). She just grew very fond of the name [name_f]Eowyn[/name_f]. But she is worried that since she’s not American people might think that she just named herself after the character, and wants some opinions.
She wants to know that: 1: [name_f]Do[/name_f] you think of the character when you see/hear this name? 2: Have you ever met any [name_f]Eowyn[/name_f]'s? If so, what are they like? What do they think about their names? 3: [name_m]Will[/name_m] you think that someone just named herself after the character if you know that she is not American?
PS: I do know two [name_f]Eowyn[/name_f]'s around my school, so I don’t think that it is that weird for her to use this name, but I do kind of share her worries. She also really like the name Winola, but feel like it’s a bit too close to granola’s sounding.
Thanks a lot!
Also, she is a big fan of Tolkien, which would probably increase the possibility of people being like “Oh so you named yourself after your favorite character?”
I’d say it’s too LOTR, but [name_f]Elowen[/name_f]/[name_f]Elowen[/name_f] is a perfect alternative! Also [name_f]Winona[/name_f]
Technically it’s Old English. Tolkien actually didn’t create the name, but I’d still say it’s too LOTR.
I’ve never heard of the character. I did watch the first and last LOTR movies, wasn’t too into the franchise though. I’d assume she had some English/Irish/Welsh heritage, but other than that I don’t see a problem with it.
Has she considered [name_u]Wynn[/name_u], [name_f]Winnie[/name_f], [name_f]Olwen[/name_f]? And the suggestion of [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] is great. [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] even?
I would think of the character, but I don’t think people thinking she named herself after a character in LOTR is necessarily a bad thing!
My first thought is the LOTR character, but that’s probably because I’ve never heard of another [name_f]Eowyn[/name_f]. However, my cousin is named Arwyn which did prompt some people to ask if she was named after [name_f]Arwen[/name_f] from LOTR (she is not), but she’s not school age yet so I presume no one suspects she named herself. I also went to school with a [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], who was questioned fairly often if she was named after [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_m]Granger[/name_m] (she is not), but I don’t think anyone ever asked/thought that she named herself.
I grew up on LotR, well before the movies came out, so I do immediately think of the character. [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] of people have taken names from literature for centuries. I don’t think that’s a problem at all. LotR is well respected; it’s not like it’s from a young-adult novel. I also know [name_f]Eowyn[/name_f] existed as a name long before LotR, so I wouldn’t immediately assume someone got the name from the character, though I’ve never met one. Being that your friend is Chinese, I might think she just found it in a name book and liked it as much as anything else. It might help her to connect with people, so I think the literary connection may be helpful more than anything else.
[name_f]Winola[/name_f] is very nice as well. I don’t think of granola at all, but the way I pronounce it is quite different. Sort of like [name_u]WIN[/name_u]-oola. It may depend on the accent where you live.