Excuse me for not posting here in MONTHS but there’s something I don’t really get that I’m wondering if people here might have insight into?
For context I’ve never read/watched [name_m]Twilight[/name_m] and have no desire to, but I keep seeing posts along the lines of “why did the [name_m]Twilight[/name_m] fandom just act like [name_f]Renesmee[/name_f] was a normal name?” and feel kinda confused by it? I mean I get why it could be seen as overly embellished but in the grand scheme of things, even compared with some more popular names, it doesn’t seem especially bad. So I’m wondering if there’s something I’m missing? Like was it completely invented for [name_m]Twilight[/name_m] and people just think it’s an odd choice (I feel like I’ve encountered it irl but maybe I’m wrong)? Is there an association irl or the context of the story that makes it awkward?
I know this is incredibly unimportant but it’s driving me nuts, hopefully someone can explain!
It was invented for [name_m]Twilight[/name_m], as a smoosh of [name_f]Renee[/name_f] and [name_f]Esmee[/name_f] - which I think is why it doesn’t sound too outlandish. But I think the fact it came from [name_m]Twilight[/name_m] gives people a certain view of it - and I know there are memes about the character, and I feel like there is some weird stuff about her character and an adult character in the series - but not having read them, I can’t really comment.
It is used irl though - in the UK, it has ranked in the Top 1000 since 2017
I haven’t seen/read all the [name_m]Twilight[/name_m] books/movies, only the first few, but I’ve seen memes here and there about the character – as a baby they used CGI for her, so it came out looking a little odd I guess?
The name was invented for [name_m]Twilight[/name_m], as a smoosh of the main couple’s mother’s names (Renee & Esme), which I suppose also led to a bit of criticism because people may think it an odd way to honor. I know that the baby was also nicknamed “Nessie”, which might also come off as a little unconventionaI as well – perhaps choosing something like [name_m]Ren[/name_m], [name_f]May[/name_f], or even [name_f]Essie[/name_f], could have made the name feel a little more familiar.
I personally always wondered why they didn’t use a more established name, like [name_f]Esmeray[/name_f]
Honestly I think because it’s so highly associated with the series and I think this association as @Greyblue said there are some awkwardness with the character which may give the name a bad rep. Either way I think [name_f]Renesmee[/name_f] feels normal not at all outlandish and I have actually through my previous job supported a lady who had a daughter with this name so for me it feels ‘normal’. However she did also have aj older daughter named Isabell@ so clearly was a fan! I do prefer [name_f]Esmeray[/name_f] as @daisydarcy mentioned.
So I did read them because the first book was at least somewhat promising with the world building but then a family member that didn’t know me well bought me the whole series and my mom said I should read them to be nice…
Yeah, basically she just smooshes her mother and MIL’s names together (Renee and Esme) which is just…cringe. Also, I feel for the babies that have these names because they’re definitely going to grow up being teased/asked about the series constantly.
I think part of the hate is definitely because of Twilights controversial public image, but I think another factor is that the book includes a baby naming scene.
Bella literally comes up with the name Renesmee for her daughter on the page, presenting it to Edward while pregnant like, “Here’s a baby name I came up with.” I know in Mormon circles, the scene reminded us so much of our cousins who got married to much older returned missionary guys at 19 and invented names for their babies by smooshing together sounds they like (McTaysleigh or Kazdyn). For better or worse, that’s a very specific cultural thing that the book definitely recreated.
I think that invited more people to judge the name as a baby name than if, for example, there was just a random vampire character already named Renesmee.
And I think Renesmee also stood out because most of the other Twilight names are so popular and well-known. Isabella, Charlie, Jacob, Edward, Alice… Even the ultra powerful old vampires have names like Aro or Jane, nothing too fanciful. So Renesmee really clashes style wise with the other names in the series and I think that makes it feel more odd. If Renesmee had been in a book with characters named Lestat and Astarion I don’t think people would have commented nearly so much.
