So, recently there have been a few topics about names you like from books/other works of fiction. This is similar to that, but expanding off of it. What thing in pop-culture (that’s the only way I can think to describe it) has influenced your naming style the most? You can list names that you have on your list from it, or maybe it included a certain style of name that you now love because of it.
For me, It would be [name_m]Hamilton[/name_m] and [name_m]Little[/name_m] Women. Both included very vintage names, and my love of those works is probably biggest the reason I love classic names.
Literally anything [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] haha. Absolutely love romantic names! But then also old Disneymovies I suppose, like [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] and [name_u]Florian[/name_u]
Hmm… well a lot of my favorite names come from books ([name_m]Ronan[/name_m], [name_f]Lana[/name_f], [name_f]Jinny[/name_f], etc).
Sometimes shows will also influence my naming style— I wouldn’t like [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] if not for the book-series-turned-show, Little Lunch.
I suppose for me I was very much influenced from fantasy books!
[name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] would be a perfect example of this. The mix of traditional/real world meets fantasy with both setting, plot, characters was/is so intriguing to me! The mix of traditional names: [name_u]Harry[/name_u], [name_u]James[/name_u] & [name_m]Ronald[/name_m] mixed in with more unique names: [name_m]Lucius[/name_m], [name_f]Lavender[/name_f], [name_f]Narcissa[/name_f] etc. Now I just truly love the blend of the traditional and intriguing.
Pride & Prejudice is probably pop culture in the sense that it still has a dedicated following, and newly published variations (so basically fan fiction) can be commercially lucrative. So now that I’ve determined that it counts: [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] [name_m]Bennet[/name_m] has convinced me that anyone called [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] is a romantic heroine in the making. It would also explain my ambivalence towards the name [name_f]Lydia[/name_f], it matches quite some criteria but I feel like I could never willingly bestow it on my own child.
It has mostly influenced my style in the sense that I think if push ultimately comes to shove, I want a name that is well-established at least somewhere in the world. Most [name_u]Austen[/name_u] characters have relatively unremarkable names (at least in today’s context) but there’s so much personality there that there seems to be strength in that simplicity. Doesn’t mean I won’t appreciate a good whimsical fantastical find (see UC hehe), I really do, but they do scare me a little if I think of them in terms of actual first names for my own - hypothetical - future children.
I don’t know if this is pop culture, but mythology is definitely the #1 influence for me. In terms of things that are definitely pop culture: [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] is up there, and books (especially fantasy series like [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], LOTR, Eragon) have played a role. It’s really mostly books for me, for whatever reason movies and TV don’t influence my naming quite as strongly (though there is some influence).
Star Wars and A Song of [name_u]Ice[/name_u] and [name_u]Fire[/name_u], certainly. ASoIaF has some invented names (Rhaenyra) and some existing names that were changed to fit the story theme ([name_f]Lyanna[/name_f]). It really helped me to be more criative and adventurous with the names I like. While [name_f]Star[/name_f] Wars did the same thing + there are some AWESOME combos in the universe (first and last names). If one of my combos pass the [name_f]Star[/name_f] Wars Test, it quickly becomes one of my favorites.
A LOT of comic book/movie characters and [name_f]Star[/name_f] Wars. I love [name_u]Marvel[/name_u] and DC comics and [name_u]Marvel[/name_u] movies and [name_f]Star[/name_f] Wars movies/shows so I have a ton of names from there. Some are more on the down-low ([name_m]Leonard[/name_m], [name_m]Lucius[/name_m], [name_u]Zola[/name_u], [name_m]Ulysses[/name_m], Russo, [name_f]Dinah[/name_f]) but some are much more obvious ([name_m]Buchanan[/name_m], [name_f]Amidala[/name_f], [name_m]Gambit[/name_m], [name_u]Marvel[/name_u], Luminara, [name_u]Storm[/name_u], [name_f]Zatanna[/name_f]). Then they’re are other based off books or shows (Mycroft, Iroh, [name_m]Sherlock[/name_m], [name_f]Wednesday[/name_f], [name_f]Azula[/name_f], [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f]). I have a lot of pop culture names and if I said all of ‘em this post would be three times as long
Such a wide variety of pop culture has made its way onto my name lists, but I think [name_f]Jane[/name_f] [name_u]Austen[/name_u] has had the biggest impact!
For me it’s Percy [name_u]Jackson[/name_u] and the Olympians, Heroes of [name_m]Olympus[/name_m], and 13 Treasures that influenced my taste the most. I’ve also gotten names from Star Wars, [name_u]Marvel[/name_u], Harry [name_m]Potter[/name_m], soccer from around the world, Dance Moms, H2O: [name_m]Just[/name_m] [name_m]Add[/name_m] Water, and probably others that I can’t think of right now.
Definitely video games ([name_u]Legend[/name_u] of [name_f]Zelda[/name_f] and the Professor [name_u]Layton[/name_u] series); they gave me [name_m]Hershel[/name_m] and [name_f]Zelda[/name_f]!
Probably fantasy stuff like Eragon, LotR (not necessarily the biggest fan; I just like the names lol), ATLA&TLK, and most recently, The Dragon [name_m]Prince[/name_m]. For most other sources, I only picked up a couple names
I would definitely say, like @nataliaelisabeth, [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] and Disney have definitely influenced my style, making me lean toward the romantic and royal. But classic literature ([name_u]Austen[/name_u], Dickens, etc.) and Old Hollywood films have definitely given me an affinity for classics and vintage gems as well. (Overall, this results in a rather eclectic list of favorites for me!)
Having a song/musician to connect a name to really helps me to love it. See my top two names, [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] (Ophelia by The Lumineers) and [name_m]Vance[/name_m] ([name_m]Vance[/name_m] [name_f]Joy[/name_f]), and my recent loves [name_u]Joan[/name_u] (Joan of [name_m]Arc[/name_m] by Arcade [name_u]Fire[/name_u]) and Huron ([name_m]Lord[/name_m] Huron).
