What films/shows/books influenced your names as a kid?

General Name Discussion
1

Hopefully the title make sense but the ‘what did you want to name your first baby when you were a kid’ thread got me thinking. Obviously other than meeting people in real life, all the names I liked as a kid were mostly drawn from tv shows and I have a little laugh to myself whenever I watch my baby sister play with my old barbies and polly pockets because I remember their names and what shows they came from.

For me, I got names from:
Big Brother: Tully, Tahan, Layla, Mikayla, Estelle, Jade, Ava, Matthew
The Bachelor: Gia, Tierra, Ricky, Ally, Desiree
Home & Away: Leah, Ricky, Ruby, Phoebe
Power Rangers (to throw in the only kids show :joy:): Taylor, Claire, Gia, Emma

Read into that what you will :sweat_smile:

So what films/shows/books inspired your favourite names from childhood?

1 Like
2

Ummm… this might get embarrassing…

To start off, my dolls were named [name_f]Laura[/name_f], [name_f]Katie[/name_f], & [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Alice[/name_f]. I have no idea why.

[name_m]Little[/name_m] House on the [name_f]Prairie[/name_f] - [name_m]Charles[/name_m], [name_f]Caroline[/name_f], [name_f]Laura[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f]
Boxcar Children - [name_m]Henry[/name_m] & [name_f]Violet[/name_f]
[name_m]Little[/name_m] Women - [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], & [name_f]Amy[/name_f]
[name_f]Anne[/name_f] of [name_m]Green[/name_m] Gables - [name_f]Anna[/name_f]

1 Like
3

A lot of my favorite names were originally influenced by characters from TV shows, books, movies, etc!

One of my favorite TV shows ever was a teen reality show called Endurance lol. This was where I encountered my favorite girl name, [name_f]Maryelle[/name_f]. I also really liked [name_f]Sabrina[/name_f], [name_m]Isaac[/name_m], [name_m]Bjorn[/name_m], [name_f]Lana[/name_f], [name_f]Christa[/name_f], [name_f]Erika[/name_f], and [name_f]Shea[/name_f]. Also on that channel was a show called Darcy’s [name_m]Wild[/name_m] Life and, well, I love the name [name_f]Darcy[/name_f], and a show called Strange Days where I discovered the name [name_m]Vaughn[/name_m].

Pokemon had some influence too, especially with names like [name_f]Misty[/name_f], [name_f]Lorelei[/name_f], and [name_m]Blaine[/name_m] (Sabrina and [name_f]Erika[/name_f] are also Pokemon names). Also [name_m]Cerulean[/name_m] is on my list as a middle name, and the [name_m]Cerulean[/name_m] City probably helped!

I picked up the name [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] from The Underland Chronicles by [name_f]Suzanne[/name_f] [name_f]Collins[/name_f], and the name [name_m]Garrett[/name_m] came from the TV show Zoom lol. There was also a book called Waiting For [name_f]Anya[/name_f] I read in middle school which made me like the name [name_f]Anya[/name_f]. Keel(e)y I originally encountered on the TV show [name_m]Phil[/name_m] of the [name_m]Future[/name_m]. Also really random there was this cell phone game I played in like 2008 with a character named [name_m]Renzo[/name_m] and that name eventually found its way onto my list. In that game you got to name two of the female characters, and I named them [name_f]Shayla[/name_f] and Stella… not too bad tbh for a budding name nerd.

1 Like
4

I was always ‘coming up’ with names. [name_f]My[/name_f] first girl name was [name_f]Nikia[/name_f].

I am personally not a fan of having children’s names be obviously related to a franchise (so [name_f]Anne[/name_f] is okay because it’s established outside of [name_f]Annie[/name_f] of [name_m]Green[/name_m] Gables vs. [name_f]Galadriel[/name_f] which is obviously from LOTR as it isn’t established outside).

So if I’m going to pick a name that’s related to a favorite fantasy world, it’s probably going to be pretty obscure because I wouldn’t want my child to grow up feeling the pressure to like X thing if they genuinely don’t just because it’s their name.

But as for kids shows, I always liked these:

[name_m]Danny[/name_m] Phantom: [name_m]Fenton[/name_m], [name_f]Desiree[/name_f], [name_m]Vlad[/name_m], [name_f]Starr[/name_f], [name_f]Ember[/name_f], [name_f]Valerie[/name_f], (I actually really dislike [name_f]Paulina[/name_f] though)
[name_f]Kim[/name_f] Possible: [name_f]Monique[/name_f], Killigan, [name_f]Zita[/name_f], [name_f]Tara[/name_f], [name_f]Kimberly[/name_f] although the last names in this one are cooler I think.

There are so many I’ll stop there.

1 Like
5

A Series of Unfortunate Events was my favorite book series as a kid, and definitely had the largest impact on my naming style! Very eccentric and meaningfully chosen

As a kid, my favorite names from the series included [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_f]Sunny[/name_f], [name_f]Isadora[/name_f], [name_m]Friday[/name_m], [name_m]Ishmael[/name_m], [name_m]Hector[/name_m], & [name_m]Dewey[/name_m].

The use of these names really colored my consciousness-- [name_m]Hector[/name_m] was a kind man who helped the main characters, and it’s still the sweetest name to me. There was a villainous character named [name_f]Esmé[/name_f], and I just cannot shake that association, no matter how much I try and learn to love that name!

2 Likes
6

I love series of unfortunate events so much!!! I was obsessed with all the books and the TV show for my entire gr. 3 year, and I love the names too! Especially Klaus, Hector, Isadora, Jerome, and Josephine. ( I also associate Esme with Mrs. Esme Gigi Genevieve Squalor lol.)

Little House on the Prairie definitely influenced me, as I had a doll in a patchwork dress named Laura and I also Caroline to my early list.
The Secret Garden seeded my love of Mary, Colin, and Martha early on… And A Little Princess ( by the same author) made me adore Sara!
Also, the Beatrix potter stories! I had dolls Lucinda and Jane after the Good Mouse and Bad mouse tale, and I was obsessed with Peter too.
Last but not least, I first fell in love with my top name, Agnes, while listening to my dad reading my David Copperfield out loud when I was eleven.

2 Likes
7

From what I remember:

[name_f]Cathy[/name_f] [name_f]Cassidy[/name_f] books: Dizzy, Indie/Indigo, [name_f]Misty[/name_f], [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f], [name_f]Tess[/name_f], [name_m]Finn[/name_m], [name_f]Cat[/name_f], [name_f]Anya[/name_f], [name_f]Frankie[/name_f]

[name_m]Chris[/name_m] Higgins books: [name_m]Felix[/name_m] ‘Fee’, [name_f]Romilly[/name_f], [name_m]Jem[/name_m], [name_f]Kally[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f]

[name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f] [name_m]Wilson[/name_m] books: [name_f]Pearl[/name_f], [name_f]Florence[/name_f] ‘Floss’, [name_f]Jackie[/name_f], [name_f]Mandy[/name_f]

[name_f]Jenny[/name_f] Nimmo books: [name_m]Emlyn[/name_m], [name_m]Naren[/name_m], [name_f]Nerys[/name_f], [name_m]Lysander[/name_m], [name_m]Iolo[/name_m], [name_f]Nia[/name_f]

The Beano (comic): [name_m]Roger[/name_m], [name_m]Sidney[/name_m], [name_f]Bea[/name_f], [name_m]Wilf[/name_m], [name_f]Minnie[/name_f]

[name_m]Pitt[/name_m] and Kantrop: [name_f]Deena[/name_f]

Arthur; [name_f]Sue[/name_f] [name_f]Ellen[/name_f], [name_f]Fern[/name_f], [name_f]Nadine[/name_f], [name_f]Francine[/name_f], [name_f]Muffy[/name_f]

[name_f]Narnia[/name_f]: [name_f]Polly[/name_f], [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]

[name_f]Judy[/name_f] [name_f]Blume[/name_f] books: [name_f]Deenie[/name_f], [name_f]Shelby[/name_f], [name_f]Amy[/name_f]

1 Like
8

I had a list of probably like 150+ names, and pretty much all of them were from [name_f]Twilight[/name_f] :rofl: I also got a lot of inspiration from the YouTubers I watched! I won’t share every name, because that would be way to many, but a few…

[name_m]Levi[/name_m]
[name_m]Edward[/name_m]
[name_m]Brooks[/name_m]
[name_m]Jasper[/name_m]
[name_m]Emmett[/name_m]
[name_m]Atticus[/name_m]
[name_f]Sutton[/name_f]
[name_f]Isabella[/name_f]
[name_f]Lennon[/name_f]
[name_f]Margot[/name_f]

1 Like
9

[name_f]Anne[/name_f] Of [name_m]Green[/name_m] Gables - [name_f]Diana[/name_f] & [name_f]Minnie[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f]

[name_f]Barbie[/name_f] movies - Merliah, [name_f]Willa[/name_f], [name_f]Chelsea[/name_f], [name_f]Mariposa[/name_f], Brietta, [name_m]Skipper[/name_m], [name_f]Stacie[/name_f], [name_f]Summer[/name_f] & [name_m]Ken[/name_m]

[name_f]Twilight[/name_f] - [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] (bella) and [name_f]Alice[/name_f]

H20 [name_m]Just[/name_m] [name_m]Add[/name_m] Water - [name_f]Rikki[/name_f], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Cleo[/name_f] & [name_m]Zayn[/name_m]

[name_f]Nanny[/name_f] McPhee - [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], [name_f]Celia[/name_f], [name_m]Cyril[/name_m], [name_m]Norman[/name_m] & [name_f]Meg[/name_f]

[name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] - [name_f]Luna[/name_f], [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], [name_m]Ron[/name_m], [name_m]Harry[/name_m] & [name_f]Ginny[/name_f]

[name_m]Tinker[/name_m] bell - [name_f]Fawn[/name_f], Vidia, [name_f]Rosetta[/name_f] & Silvermist

The Incredibles - [name_f]Violet[/name_f] & [name_m]Dash[/name_m]

Diseny princesses - [name_f]Belle[/name_f], [name_f]Cinderella[/name_f], [name_f]Jasmine[/name_f] & [name_f]Ariel[/name_f]

[name_m]Scooby[/name_m] Doo - [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] & [name_m]Fred[/name_m]

Chronicles Of [name_f]Narnia[/name_f] - [name_m]Edmund[/name_m], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_m]Peter[/name_m] & [name_f]Susan[/name_f]

[name_f]Peppa[/name_f] Pig - [name_f]Suzy[/name_f], [name_m]George[/name_m], [name_f]Candy[/name_f] & [name_f]Zoe[/name_f]

[name_m]Alvin[/name_m] & The Chipmunks - [name_f]Brittany[/name_f], [name_f]Jeanette[/name_f], [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f], [name_m]Simon[/name_m] &Theodore

The [name_m]Wild[/name_m] Thornberrys - [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Debby[/name_f], [name_m]Donnie[/name_m], [name_m]Nigel[/name_m] & [name_f]Marianne[/name_f]

The Rug Rats - [name_f]Angelica[/name_f], [name_f]Kimi[/name_f], [name_m]Tommy[/name_m], [name_m]Chuckie[/name_m] & [name_f]Susie[/name_f]

Pirates Of the Caribbean - [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] & [name_m]William[/name_m]

10

[name_m]Lion[/name_m] King!! [name_f]My[/name_f] favorite movie and my biggest obsession as a kid!

I always dreamed of having twins named [name_m]Simba[/name_m] [name_m]Kale[/name_m] & [name_f]Kiara[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]!

1 Like
11

[name_f]My[/name_f] monkey was named Monkey lol.

[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]: [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_f]Lavender[/name_f]
[name_m]Charlie[/name_m] and the Chocolate Factory: [name_m]Charlie[/name_m], [name_f]Violet[/name_f]
[name_f]Enid[/name_f] Blyton (the author’s books in general): [name_f]Felicity[/name_f], [name_m]Frannie[/name_m], [name_f]Irene[/name_f], [name_f]Joan[/name_f], [name_f]Isabel[/name_f], [name_f]Hilary[/name_f], [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f], [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] (I read these books this year, but I really wanted to put them lol.)

1 Like