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HelpRe: I phrased that poorly. (m)
in reply to a message by Dot
Would Strider sound nice to you if it wasn't for Aragorn?
Maybe not, but what if you come to love the name through his character? What if, after seeing it on someone, it seems plausible, workable, and yes, attractive for the sound?
I would never have considered Eve if not for V for Vendetta. I may well have come to Evening anyway (they share top billing on my favourites, though Eve is more a backup-in-case-my-spouse-just-doesn't-get-it kind of choice, if you get what I mean), but Eve? I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. But give me a film that moves me, a comic book that makes me think about the natures of freedom, happiness, anarchy, and truth, give me a woman of immense strength of character, and the sound begins to appeal more. It's a bit like Stockholm Syndrome--I hear the name often enough, associated with something I love a great deal, and I see more in the name than simply "a nice association."
More examples--here's a list of some of my favourite names for girls and boys. Parentheses indicate the sources of my inspiration for loving the name (I've removed those that don't relate directly to this point).
Evening / Eve "Evey" (Evey Hammond, V for Vendetta)
Katharine "Kitty" (Kitty Jones, The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
Juniper (Juniper Pearl, Benny and Joon)
Karana (Karana, Island of the Blue Dolphins)
Ofelia (Ofelia, Pan's Labyrinth)
Scarlet Carson (V for Vendetta)
Morpheus (Morpheus, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series)
Ptolemy (Ptolemy / Ptolemaeus, The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
Edmond (Edmond Dantes, The Count of Monte Cristo, by way of V for Vendetta)
Nathaniel "Nat" (Nat of Little Men / Jo's Boys and Nathaniel of The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
Simon (Simon Tam, Firefly)
Lucien (Lucien, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series)
And so on and so forth. Not all of them would be specifically after the person, but I'm willing to bet good money that I'd pass quite a few of them over if not for the fact that I'm head over heels for some of their characters.
Frankly, I do think you're being unreasonably snobby, despite your extended explanations, and I don't think it's in any way attractive to act as though finding names through literature or musical theatre is somehow superior to discovering them through films and comic books--but then, I'll admit freely that I am very close to this issue, as many of my choices could be painted as being born of "nice" associations.
Array (apologizes for jumping into this, but she feels very strongly about it)
Maybe not, but what if you come to love the name through his character? What if, after seeing it on someone, it seems plausible, workable, and yes, attractive for the sound?
I would never have considered Eve if not for V for Vendetta. I may well have come to Evening anyway (they share top billing on my favourites, though Eve is more a backup-in-case-my-spouse-just-doesn't-get-it kind of choice, if you get what I mean), but Eve? I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. But give me a film that moves me, a comic book that makes me think about the natures of freedom, happiness, anarchy, and truth, give me a woman of immense strength of character, and the sound begins to appeal more. It's a bit like Stockholm Syndrome--I hear the name often enough, associated with something I love a great deal, and I see more in the name than simply "a nice association."
More examples--here's a list of some of my favourite names for girls and boys. Parentheses indicate the sources of my inspiration for loving the name (I've removed those that don't relate directly to this point).
Evening / Eve "Evey" (Evey Hammond, V for Vendetta)
Katharine "Kitty" (Kitty Jones, The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
Juniper (Juniper Pearl, Benny and Joon)
Karana (Karana, Island of the Blue Dolphins)
Ofelia (Ofelia, Pan's Labyrinth)
Scarlet Carson (V for Vendetta)
Morpheus (Morpheus, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series)
Ptolemy (Ptolemy / Ptolemaeus, The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
Edmond (Edmond Dantes, The Count of Monte Cristo, by way of V for Vendetta)
Nathaniel "Nat" (Nat of Little Men / Jo's Boys and Nathaniel of The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
Simon (Simon Tam, Firefly)
Lucien (Lucien, Neil Gaiman's Sandman series)
And so on and so forth. Not all of them would be specifically after the person, but I'm willing to bet good money that I'd pass quite a few of them over if not for the fact that I'm head over heels for some of their characters.
Frankly, I do think you're being unreasonably snobby, despite your extended explanations, and I don't think it's in any way attractive to act as though finding names through literature or musical theatre is somehow superior to discovering them through films and comic books--but then, I'll admit freely that I am very close to this issue, as many of my choices could be painted as being born of "nice" associations.
Array (apologizes for jumping into this, but she feels very strongly about it)
This message was edited 10/10/2007, 9:01 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
You're right; I apologise.
I'm sorry I came off as snobby. I don't find musical theatre particularly high-brow and I don't think I'm a better person for liking it. I think it's fun.
What I actually meant was that the problem I have with Rogue and Strider is that they are immediatly associated with the characters. A child named Strider is always going to be associated with Aragorn, and people will always assume his parents must have been very into LOTR, and will oftentimes feel the need to comment. John wouldn't have that problem. (Nor, by the way, would Eve.)
Either way, I'm sorry I phrased my opinion in such a bitchy way. I really didn't mean to offend.
I'm sorry I came off as snobby. I don't find musical theatre particularly high-brow and I don't think I'm a better person for liking it. I think it's fun.
What I actually meant was that the problem I have with Rogue and Strider is that they are immediatly associated with the characters. A child named Strider is always going to be associated with Aragorn, and people will always assume his parents must have been very into LOTR, and will oftentimes feel the need to comment. John wouldn't have that problem. (Nor, by the way, would Eve.)
Either way, I'm sorry I phrased my opinion in such a bitchy way. I really didn't mean to offend.
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For me it's more a question of the general impression the names give and how obvious the reference is. I've heard of a medieval philosophy professor who named his kids Abelard and Heloise. The reference is very highbrow, but it's a very infortunate sibset for various reasons (naming siblings after lovers, naming a son after a man who was castrated, giving him a name that for many will sound ugly and strange). I find this name just as bad as something from a hyped popular culture source.
So for me, it's not a question of high-brow or low-brow, but of how the name will be seen in general, since the child won't interact only with its parents. Some of the names Array listed might be unusual, but the graphic-novel association is not too blatant, especially as these graphic novels are a bit more obscure. On the other hand, names like Othello, Abelard, Strider and Rogue Marie all feel cumbersome and limiting, and give the idea that the kids' parents were rather obsessive, and this is going to be more obvious if the name comes from a super-hyped source such as LotR or Harry Potter.
And as concerns "heroism" being subjective, well, there have been people who named their kids Benito, Stalino or Lenina because these names matched their personal criterion of heroic.
So for me, it's not a question of high-brow or low-brow, but of how the name will be seen in general, since the child won't interact only with its parents. Some of the names Array listed might be unusual, but the graphic-novel association is not too blatant, especially as these graphic novels are a bit more obscure. On the other hand, names like Othello, Abelard, Strider and Rogue Marie all feel cumbersome and limiting, and give the idea that the kids' parents were rather obsessive, and this is going to be more obvious if the name comes from a super-hyped source such as LotR or Harry Potter.
And as concerns "heroism" being subjective, well, there have been people who named their kids Benito, Stalino or Lenina because these names matched their personal criterion of heroic.
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Thank you. This is what I was trying to say and not saying very well.
My concern is exactly that the parents will come off as obsessed, and the child will bear the brunt of that...especially when the name's heavy and not too name-like in the first place. (Such as Rogue.)
But yeah, thanks for putting that so clearly. The reference being obvious is exactly my qualm, not what it referenced.
My concern is exactly that the parents will come off as obsessed, and the child will bear the brunt of that...especially when the name's heavy and not too name-like in the first place. (Such as Rogue.)
But yeah, thanks for putting that so clearly. The reference being obvious is exactly my qualm, not what it referenced.
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