[name]Hi[/name]! I’m new to Nameberry, so forgive me if this is not “on topic”.
My husband and I just found out that we are pregnant with our first child, and are very excited. We know that it’s a little early, but are eager to start picking out names for our son or daughter. [name]Both[/name] of us are literature geeks, and are toying with the idea of naming our children (we want to have four for now!) after characters from a book. [name]Do[/name] you think this would subject our children to ridicule?
Some of the books we are thinking about are:
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
[name]Emma[/name]
[name]Little[/name] Women
[name]Jane[/name] [name]Eyre[/name]
This is a very common desire and is a great idea. Anything that grounds a name and gives it significance makes it all the more special, rather than simply being a pleasing collection of sounds.
[name]Do[/name] you mean that you would give all of your children names from the same book? That may subject them to teasing, along the lines of naming boy/girl twins [name]Romeo[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name] or [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Joseph[/name]. The teasing would likely not be anything serious or degrading, but it would cause chuckles. However, choosing literary names from a variety of different sources would be kind of cool, in my opinion, and is something I’ve considered myself.
I thought about it, and I doubt anyone would be made fun of for being named after a character in a book. Especially with classic [name]Austen[/name], [name]Bronte[/name] and [name]Alcott[/name] names. And there are some great names in those books ([name]Little[/name] Women & [name]Emma[/name] are two of my favourite books. I’d love to see someone use Friderich or [name]George[/name] Knightly!).
Thank you all so much! You’ve made my husband and I a little more confident!
To clarify for Alzora:
We were thinking of using different sources, but do love [name]Elinor[/name] and [name]Marianne[/name] as a sister set!
On another note:
[name]Do[/name] you think that [name]Darcy[/name] is a usable name for a boy? I’m absolutely in love with the name, but am worried that it sounds ridiculous, girly, etc.
I have a twin sister who is also a name nerd, and [name]Darcy[/name] has been one of her favorites for years! She likes it for EITHER gender, and has never been able to decide which she would prefer it on. I think [name]Darcy[/name] is decidedly female today, and yet if I personally met a little fellow called [name]Darcy[/name], I would adore it on him even if most of society found it girly.
Back to your original question, I forgot to add that when I was a teenager, I thought it would be awesome to have a [name]Peter[/name] and a [name]Silas[/name], with the middle names [name]Pan[/name] and Marner. No joke, I wanted a [name]Peter[/name] [name]Pan[/name] and a [name]Silas[/name] Marner. Lol…let’s blame it on my youth.
That’s hilarious! Can’t say I was thinking the same thing, although I do love the name [name]Peter[/name]! I’m glad that you think [name]Darcy[/name] could work for a boy, because I am already picturing a little [name]Darcy[/name] running around my house! I like it for girls do, but I don’t love it as much as I do for boys.
We had a debate on the board re: [name]Darcy[/name] a few days ago. The consensus is that women love it, but men think it’s wussy. We all agreed D’Arcy, the original, was a cross-the-board crowdpleaser.
It’s that way for my husband and I! I don’t want my son to be made fun of by other boys, but I love the name. D’Arcy did not seem to please my husband either. But I’ve got nine months to convince him!
But I’ve got nine months to convince him!