Sometimes name nerds complain that the names of TV characters seem to be chosen based on current trends rather than on the trends that would’ve been developing when the character was born. I always think, though, that if I were in charge of naming TV characters, I might give them names on the verge (ones I liked, of course) to try to see if I could tip them over.
Haha, ok, so maybe that’s weird. But would you consider doing it?
I always find it a little annoying when tv characters have current trendy names and not names from when the character would have been born. But at the same time it would be boring if all the characters had names like [name]Linda[/name], [name]Bob[/name], [name]Jennifer[/name] and [name]Josh[/name]. If it is a serious/authentic movie then I think the characters should have names from the proper time periods. With pop tv shows I find it more ok to have trendy names.
Did you ever watch “[name]Buffy[/name] the Vampire Slayer”? I didn’t watch the show when it was on tv, but I watched the DVDs two years ago. All the character names were more obscure when the show was made but now a lot of the names have become popular. The best examples are [name]Xander[/name] and [name]Willow[/name]. I think that [name]Buffy[/name] made the name [name]Xander[/name] popular, I had never heard of it before the time when [name]Buffy[/name] aired on tv (about 1998 to 2003). If you are curious, look up [name]Buffy[/name] on Wikipedia, there is a character list. [name]Joss[/name] Wheaton, the writer/director, has an interesting taste in names. He also writes “The Dollhouse” that is currently on tv.
Anyways, it would be a fun experimetnt if I got to choose character names for tv shows. I think I would pick one or two names I like and see if they catch on in popularity.
Nope. I hate it when people do this. ): It draws me out of the show because the whole time I’m supposed to be getting mind-sucked by the television, I’m thinking, “Why the crap do the thirty-year-old dad and the infant have names that make it sound like they could be brothers?”
I don’t even like it when authors choose only “pretty”, or so-out-they’re-in-again names for period pieces. (I’m looking at you, Twilight.) I mean, sure there’s [name]Alice[/name], but [name]Agnes[/name] was of the same era and you don’t read about them much, do you?
I agree with the [name]Joss[/name] Whedon sentiment: choose a whole bunch of random names and see what happens. (He had a superhero named [name]Buffy[/name], a cheerleader called [name]Cordelia[/name]…there was a jock named [name]Percy[/name], a thug named [name]Jayne[/name], a street punk named [name]Charles[/name], a male cowboy-cum-lawyer named [name]Lindsey[/name], and a sometimes-psychopath amusingly christened “[name]Angel[/name]”). Good times, good times.
I write World War II historical fiction…As a name nerd, I look for names that would have been popular (or at least possible) around the time that my characters were born.
Yes, I’d have a tendency to give fictional characters names I like. No, it wouldn’t be because I wanted to promote them.
Yes, sometimes fictional characters are named too much in keeping with current trends. But often, writers are rather out of touch with current trends and use names that were common a couple decades ago, which unintentionally results in more believable names. And, of course, fictional characters can drive real-life trends.