The ‘point’ in giving a child a fuller/more reliable name is to give them something to start from. I hesitate to use the word ‘respectable,’ because it’s not that I don’t find [name]Katniss[/name] a respectable enough name.
The nickname argument always comes back to the same thing for me: just because I want to call my daughter, say, [name]Katie[/name], doesn’t mean she always will want to go by [name]Katie[/name]. There are even some circumstances where having a ‘nickname’ name would make a person feel more uncomfortable – and I can say this as the owner of a “what’s that short for?” full name.
[name]Katniss[/name] is slightly different, as it’s arguable whether it’s full or not (honestly, this is totally subjective, as it’s a ‘new’ name to begin with). I do feel like the same argument applies, though perhaps for different reasons – she will know she’s named after the major character in a ‘fad’ book/movie series. [name]Will[/name] she always be happy with that? Maybe, maybe not. The safe option is of course to give her a name that isn’t quite so specific, so that she can have that choice. I know many people that have chosen different variations on their names to suit their current situation. Going back to [name]Katie[/name], she may be [name]Katie[/name] at home, but at work she’s probably [name]Katherine[/name] or [name]Kate[/name], with her significant other she might be [name]Kay[/name], with friends maybe it’s Kath. Who knows.
Then there are plenty of anti-nickname folks, who want their kiddos to be LOCKED IN for all eternity. I’m one of those kids, whether intentionally or not, and I resent it to be perfectly honest.
I agree. I haven’t read the books or seen the film, so I see myself as an impartial outside observer as far as this name goes. I can guarantee that 90% of the [name]Katniss[/name] lovers love it because of the character and the story – if they’d heard the name without any media association (as I did) they’d be quite unlikely to favor it as much.
In the end, though, it doesn’t matter why we love the names we love, as the fact is that we love them. I tend to take a more objective approach to names and try to imagine what it would feel like to HAVE that name, to introduce myself as [name]Katniss[/name], what others’ response would be to that name. The coffee shop test is a great one for that, but I imagine the response to [name]Katniss[/name] NOW will be quite different from the response in 10 or 20 years.