influences...

[supermonkeyfics.livejournal.com]

Has anybody ever changed their opinion about a name after stumbling across a fictional character they particularly love/hate w/ that name? How about a real person?

I could come up w/ a long list of names I liked as a kid because they were the names of favorite characters, but right now I'm going to focus on names I actually changed my mind about because of a character/person.

Henry - I didn't like it much until the English dub of Digimon Tamers came out & I became a fan of Henry Wong [Jenrya/Jianliang Lee]. But the real tipping point was when I read The Time Traveler's Wife & fell in love w/ Henry DeTamble. Dunno if I'd use it on a kid, but definitely an option in my writing.

Clare - Time Traveler's Wife again (Clare Abshire DeTamble). Never had much appeal to me until then; seemed kinda... prissy? I dunno. Now I think it has a nice ring to it, though I do prefer Claire over Clare.

Olivia - Sorry, I know there's a mass of Olivia-lovers out there these days, but this name really bugged me until I became a Law & Order: SVU addict. The character Olivia Benson made this name tolerable & even likable in my eyes.

Benjamin - A thoroughly unappealing boys' name in my mind until recently. One of my best friends is a Ben, & the name eventually grew on me enough for me to determine that it makes a nice middle name for one of my favorite boys' names (Connor).

I'm pretty sure there have also been one or two names that fictional characters ruined for me, but I can't think of any right now.

Comments

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

Hey i'm a Claire!! [Definately better spelling this way :P]
For me...Summer was a cute name until the OC...[i am not a fan lol]
And while it isn't from a book/movie....i didn't think anything of the name Michael until my boyfriend was named this...now i love it!
I can't figure out if it is because i love him, or because the name has really grown on me.
Oh and i liked the name Owen until he became my ex boyfriend...
Now i hate it lol.

[supermonkeyfics.livejournal.com]

Animorphs!!! XD That series got me hooked on Rachel & Tobias (though these days Rachel has dropped from my list). Ah, the memories...

I can't take my eyes off your icon. up, down, up, down. I'm too easily amused. x)

[child-of-eru.livejournal.com]

Oh, recently I fell in love with the name Peter. I never liked it before, but then I read 'Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens' and 'Peter and Wendy.' I've always liked the story of Peter Pan, but once I read the books, I just adored the name. That happened with Duncan too. I used to find that name quite ugly-sounding, but Jeff VanderMeer, my favorite author, wrote a book entirely about a Duncan Shriek, and now I find I rather like it. Maybe not for a child, but maybe a character in a story.

[decim.livejournal.com]

Sweet Valley High forever ruined the name Jessica for me. D: I couldn't STAND her character.

The name Isabelle is ruined because of 'Izzy' on Grey's Anatomy. I don't even watch the show enough to know if her name is Elizabeth or Isabelle, but my brain made the Izzy = Isabelle connection too quickly for me to change it now. :/ She's another character I just want to slap across the face.

[sageharper.livejournal.com]

Yeah Izzy (short for Isobel) on Greys annoys the crap out of me too.

[xanya.livejournal.com]

I think she annoys everyone. Or I hope she does, because she is unforgivably irritating and it shouldn't be tolerated.

She's ruined the name Izzy for me, but not necessary Isobel/Isabelle (not that I'd use either of those).

[ex-ollivande895.livejournal.com]

Bill. I was indifferent towards it, but then I read a book called Dead Until Dark, in which a tall dark and handsome vampire is named Bill. Changed my whole outlook on the name. It's now on my favorites list :D

[ex-ollivande895.livejournal.com]

And I can't forget about Jack Sparrow from POTC! Jack became another favorite of mine after watching the movie.

[iceni.livejournal.com]

It would be interesting to compare associations with names that we have coming from different countries with different TV shows and celebrities. For instance, when I see Declan, I think 'Ant & Dec' (UK).

[in_excelsis_dea.livejournal.com]

Name me a name, and 90% of the time, I can relate it to another name or character or something like that. So yes, some names do hold special meaning or I particularly dislike simply because of a fictional character that happens to be named that. There's also my extreme dislike for naming a child after a character in a book/TV show/movie (irony is that I myself received my name that way), which slims down the list of names I could use a lot.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Tessa and Justin... The Constant Gardener. :)

[sageharper.livejournal.com]

Positive influences ...
Adah (Cold Mountain)
Arlo (kid I know)
Caroline (sweet little girl I know)
Esme (J.D Sallinger short story)
Juliet (sweet little girl I know)
Meredith (Greys) [I liked the name before, but forgot about it, then watching the show reminded me that it was a great name]
Stella (CSI:NY)
Tobias (NCIS)

Negative influences ...
Clare & Eleanor/Ele (ex-room mate)
Izzy/Isobel (Greys anatomy)
Juliet [For the longest time I didn't like it, because of the play. It's grown on me though]
Lydia (pride & prejudice)
Marissa (the OC)

[jesus--suburbia.livejournal.com]

I used to hate the name Jeff or Jeffery, because it was my manager's name. But I recently went up to the college I'm going to in fall, and met this guitar performance major named Jeff, and now I like it.

[fullofgrace40.livejournal.com]

My hairdresser had a little girl, named her McKenna, after her husband who was Ken. Last fall she found out that he was having an affair so they are in the middle of a divorce. Now she is seriously thinking of changing her daughter's name because she doesn't want to have that association anymore. The little girl, who is 4 now is just adorable, and even though I dislike the name McKenna it fits her well. Obvisously she can't nn her Kenni or anything like that and the middle name is the mil's name and she doesn't get along with her mil. I think that that's horrible to make this little girl change her name.

[sweatydog.livejournal.com]

I went by my middle name for a while. Can't she do that?

[xdarkxseraphx.livejournal.com]

I love the name Ashleigh from the Thoroughbred series of books, Kayleigh and Malcolm from the TV series Firefly and Amalthea from The Last Unicorn. I don't know if I'd use any of them, but I like them none the less. I also named my dog Nemo after the movie Little Nemo. I think it's a cute name, even if it means nobody. Sometimes we call him Captain Nemo after the Jules Verne book!

I also love the name Liesel because it's a derivative of my best friend's name, Annalise, and the character from The Sound of Music.

[sweatydog.livejournal.com]

I can hate a name if I know people by it. I decided that I really don't like names beginning with "Don" because I've known more than one that were really horrible.

Julian- Enders Game series, Amber Series, Passions (soap opera okay hes supposed to be evil but I still love his charactor) basicly every thing I've ever read has a Julian in it and I love it.

Henry- my friend had a boyfriend once who she wanted me to know so she gave me his number and said "Don't call him Henry" which of course I did and it stuck. Also Ugly Betty.

Olivia- SVU!

[mystickiwi.livejournal.com]

A name like Benjamin I don't think i could be affected on because i know so many of them, but if i hear a name that i like in a book or TV show and isn't already fairly common or I hadn't thought of it previously, I won't use it. I'm trying to think of examples but I can't...

Well, I am fine with using that for a naming technique on animals. My two cats are Piper and Phoebe (and I don't want to name any kids after my cats so those names are a double no)... meh, I'll try to think of good example

[priorincantato.livejournal.com]

I work in Child Care, so a lot of names are ruined for me (for lack of a better word!) because of some of the "cherubs" I look after. ;)

[irishkitten441.livejournal.com]

The Time Traveler's Wife made me fall in love with the name and spelling of Clare. I also like Henry for the same reasons.

There are plenty of names that I detest because they belonged to a person that I couldn't stand. Oh, well. It's not like I had my heart set on any of their names or anything.

[x-cherrydarling.livejournal.com]

I usually wind up liking new names because of celebrities, especially athletes. A few I can think of off the top of my head are Peyton, Dirk, Lleyton, and Roger for boys. For girls Danica, Tatiana, and Elena come to mind.

[crazy-surf.livejournal.com]

i love the name henry for the same reason too. that book was fantastic, i dont think the movie will do it justice! i also like the name holden because of holden caulfield in catcher in the rye.

[chibiaichan.livejournal.com]

I *loved* the time travelers wife!!! I agree completely I felt the same way about Clare- and I do like it spelt better Claire =)

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I didn't like the name Ariel until Sofia Vassilieva's character in 'Medium' was called Ariel. She was awesome. Now it's one of my favourite middle names =).
I thought Astrid was a boring old-fashioned name until I read 'White Oleander' by Janet Fitch, now I like it =)
I considered Andrea an ugly name until I started listening to the Corrs...now I think it's an ok name =)
Hm...no idea why these are all A-names =P

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

the name aidan did that to me. i liked it a lot before it got super popular, but sex & the city killed it for me.