The popularity of Game of Thrones-themed baby names continues. According to the UK’s Office of National Statistics, in 2014 parents in England and Wales named 244 babies Arya, 53 babies Khaleesi, 18 babies Theon and 17 babies Tyrion. The trend has been similar in the United States, though the numbers have generally been higher.
It’s worth noting that Arya, Khaleesi, Theon and Tyrion have consistently led the Game of Thrones namesake trend since the show began in 2011. There have been few if any babies named after fan favorites introduced since the first season such as Brienne (after whom only four babies were named in the UK in 2014), Ygritte or Podrick, nor have the aforementioned names declined in popularity despite some of their characters’ … er, arcs.
Many fans have also been quick to note that, though Khaleesi has been consistently more popular than Daenerys, Khaleesi is a Dothraki title, not a name.
As perplexing (or inspirational) as some may find it, Game of Thrones‘ influence is not exceptional. Baby name trends have a history of correlating with pop culture and current events. The name “Elsa” enjoyed a significant boost after Frozen took the world by storm in late 2013 and baby girls named Katniss have been on the rise since the first installment of The Hunger Games franchise hit theaters in 2011.
While literary namesakes go back centuries (J.M. Barrie and Shakespeare invented the names, “Wendy” and “Olivia,” respectively), there’s something about naming children after Game of Thrones characters that raises eyebrows.
23-year old expectant mother, Alice-Caraline McAdams, told The Guardian she plans to name her baby Arya if it’s a girl (and Kit after Kit Harington if it’s a boy). “I love Arya Stark,” she says. “She’s so feisty and a longe ranger … She’s also a completely different person compared to the other Starks. She decides her role. She’s not a gender, really. And I think that’s really inspiring.” Though McAdams admits she’s getting some pushback for her plans, she has no intention of changing her mind. “I’ve just got to the point where I don’t care,” she says. “I like the name!”
This gave me great ideas!
I’ll name my kid ‘cock merchant’
dragonreborn,
What have you done!!
Seems someone named their baby Drogon!
Theon? Really? Someone call child services, quick!
Any kid named Hodor yet?
My page a day calendar quote for 18-August:
I rose too high, loved too hard, dared too much. I tried to grasp a star, overreached, and fell.
-Griff -A Dance with Dragons
“She decides her role” LOOOOOL
And, yes, I believe Khaleesi is a horrible name. And what about the fact that children might not like the name or the character or are bullied because of it?
Some people should not reproduce. Ever. Especially those who name their child Khaleesi.
Alice-Caraline McAdams, your Arya assessment is way off the mark. You don’t seem to understand what the show is about at all. I feel sorry for your kid.
Bran is a nice subtle name – until he becomes the ringleader of the Others ….
Anyone else having problems with ads auto-playing sound? I had to turn my adblocker back on.
I don’t see what’s wrong with naming your child Arya or Theon. One may not agree with the character’s decisions and behaviour in the books (well, especially Theon) but still, I find these names quite nice, and decent enough.
Khaleesi, on the other hand.. That’s no proper name. I feel sorry for these children.
Even so, for myself, I wouldn’t give GoT-inspired names to my children, I’d rather give a more “normal” name.
Dragonslayer,
We’re not supposed to have any ads with sounds. What was it for, what platform on you on etc? We can take a look. Chrome & Safari have had some malware going around too, things keep sneaking in.
Any Walders yet? Heh.
Well, some of these names actually make sense.
Arya
GENDER: Masculine & Feminine
USAGE: Indian
OTHER SCRIPTS: आरय, आरया (Hindi)
Meaning & History
Means “honourable, noble” in Sanskrit. This is a transcription of both the masculine form आर्य and the feminine form आर्या.
Theon
GENDER: Masculine
USAGE: Ancient Greek
OTHER SCRIPTS: Θέων
Meaning & History
Derived from Greek θεόν (theon) meaning “(of the) gods.” Theon of Smyrna was a Greek philosopher and mathematician from the 2nd century AD.
Source: http://www.behindthename.com/
Tyrion is probably a variation of Tyrone: From the name of a county in Northern Ireland which is derived from Irish Gaelic Tir Eoghain meaning “land of Eoghan”. And Eoghan possibly means “born from the yew tree” in Irish. Yew trees (Taxus baccata) are also known as “trees of death”, due to their toxicity and because they were planted in graveyards. The latin name taxus is derived from Greek taxon (“arrow”). They were indeed used to make poisoned arrows. I wonder if GRRM chose the name Tyrion for these reasons… 😀
If any of your friends or family names their children Khaleesi or Tyrion, give them a high five.
In the face.
With a chair.
Ugh, it drives me batty when people think Khaleesi is a name. It’s like parents that name their kids Queen or Princess.
Well Theon being the most popular male name is definitely an eyebrow raiser.
Don’t get me wrong, Alfie Allen plays him to perfection, but all the possibilities of such a kid being bullied are not pretty. Being called Reek is the smallest of them…
And hey, if people name their kids Prince, Princess or Tiger (sorry Nell Tiger Free), I don’t see why they couldn’t name them Khaleesi.
Arya is a beautiful name. If you watch GOT, you’ll get the reference. If you don’t, you’ll just think it’s a pretty name. Same thing with Theon and Tyrion. They’re both really nice names for boys, classic sounding. And in this day and age, different-sounding names is more and more becoming the thing.
As for Khaleesi, sure, it’s a title and not a name on the show, but it makes a pretty-sounding name. It sure as heck is better than Apple or Moon Unit or a bunch of names I’ve seen in my job (where I see tons and tons of names cross my path). And that’s the point, it’s being used as a name for these kids. And like with Arya, it’s a beautiful-sounding name. If you watch GOT, you get the reference, if you don’t, it’s a pretty name.
Something about Khaleesi makes me wince, even though the name “Regina” is used and means ‘queen’ in Latin. Arya and Theon sound okay to be, although Arya might also be interpreted as having opera or nazi connotations.
I did not know Olivia and Wendy were invented by Shakespeare!
I seriously considered Theon for my son. Not after the character per se but just because its a nice (and pre-existing) name. But I do see the potential for bullying there and my better half made me see sense!
TOIVA,
Frank Zappa chose really weird names for his children. 😀
Moon Unit
Dweezil
Ahmet Emuukha Rodan
Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen
Darkstar,now that would make a glorious name.
Ross,
Kids these days can be really cruel. They’ll look up Theon on the Internet and find out pretty quickly what the name refers to, and zero in on what Ramsey did to him. Yeah, the bullying could get ugly.
Sue the Fury,
Now that you are talking about, lately I am having a similar problem too. I am subscribed for new posts. On iphone google inbox app, when I click to ‘read more’ inside the mail, while it is directing to chrome it suddenly opens appstore. Particularly online betting app pages like ladbrokes. When I go back to chrome I see a link on the address bar that is not this site (if I go to that link the appstore opens again)
I have a mastiff, a grey hound and a King James spaniel called Robert, Stannis and Renly. See if you can guess which is which! 😉
Honestly, Khaleesi would be better as a dogs name…
Was Kit Harington named after the car in Knight Rider?
You must remember your name.
I always figured that GRRM derived it from the Norse god Tyr.
Arya, Tyrion, Theon etc are nice names. Arya is pretty common name in fantasy, while Theon is a reald old name. But Khaleesi, you instantly get the show reference. Plus the kid may not even like Daenerys.
IIRC In USA there were girls named “Khalessi”.
That is what would give me serious pause about using it. To many people Arya still suggests Aryan, which was Hitler’s warped fantasy of ethnic perfection.
Kit is short for Christopher. He was born Christopher Catesby Harington.
Kit’s mother named him after author Christopher Marlowe.
I named my penis Fat Walda.
Of course the kids will not like Dany themselves,she’s a cruel foreign invader who kills whatever comes in front of her and her momsters,no matter if it’s children or inocent people.Might just as well name my kid Sauron.
I wanted Ayra for our daughter but she wouldn’t have it so we named her Maisie instead ha
Naming your kid Khaleesi has nothing on Jermajesty Jackson, son of Jermaine.
And in some cultures/languages, they do and have done, since looooong ago! 😉 Certainly eons longer than GOT or GRRM existed. “Rani” = Queen in Hindi, is a pretty popular girl’s name in Hindi.
Arya sounds quite pretty to me but also reminds me of the term “Aryan”, which translates to “Arya” in some languages too. It’s like describing some girl by her ethnicity in ancient times. The equivalent of naming someone “American.” 😀
Ah yes, I guess it would have been KITT Harrington.
Drop the “Y” and add an “I”. Problem solved.
Scrotie McBoogerballs,
That’s an awesome website. I guess I know what I’ll be doing for the next hour, Thanks.
Theon is actually one of the best sounding names in the whole series. I was surprised tofind out that a pre-existing popular name somewhere in the world like Sansa and Arya are. I bet it would have been even high on the list if it was the name of a more heroic character like Jonor Robb. Cersie is another example of a great name forever ruined by the character.
I don’t why everybody has a problem with Khaleesi. It’s never been uncommon for titles to be used as names (Rex, Caesar, duke, Queen) And AFAIK a lot of arab names are basically that ( Amir/Amira, Malek, Khalifa…..)
Khaleesi is what most people know the character by. It sounds cool, unique and exotic. It also has the benefit of sparing the world the headache of trying to spell Daenerys.
The show is insanely popular and the character is a fan-favorite. 58 is a rather tame number.
Meh. Daenerys isn’t that far off from Nerys, a Welsh girls’ name which also seems to have been made up at some point (sources seem to be foggy on its derivation).
Arya is quite pretty, as far as names go, independent of context. In the fantasy department, one could do much, much worse for inspiration. There’s probably some poor kid walking around named Menolly, for starters. I don’t have much of a leg to stand on, since I’m very partial to Alia as a name, even though in the DUNE books the character named Alia had a terrible fate. (I’m not entirely convinced that Arya’s name wasn’t inspired by Alia’s; DUNE has its fingerprints all over ASOIAF.)
I agree with the point that a ton of girls’ names mean “queen,” “princess,” “noble one,” etc. etc. However, in all fairness, they have origins in real languages as opposed to ones that were made up. With that said, I don’t know that fantasy-inspired names are any worse than people making up their own dumb names or inventing their own rococo spellings. I’d take Daenerys over Alyvia or Julissa any day.
I’ve had greyhounds too, so I think Stannis is the greyhound. Robert is the Mastiff and Renly is the King James spaniel. Right?
For dogs or cats it’s sounds nice to name them after characters from books/movies. I named my cats after my favorite book characters.
Sue the Fury,
PC (Windows 7) with chrome.
In my years teaching, I’ve come across much weirder names for kids!
People need to chill out. What does it matter what people call their kids? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
If I was considering naming my child after a pop culture character, I would at least wait until the story is over — you never know how things will turn out, or whether you’ll still like it by the time it ends.
At least, if it’s an uncommon or made-up name. If you watched the first season of LOST and named your kid Jack or Kate, you’re not really taking a risk.
Though granted, I’m sure a lot of people who named their son Atticus thought they were in the clear.
I don’t think that when these kids grow get a little older they will be bullied. By the time they are in school the show will be pretty much over and not watched by really young kids. So they won’t even know what it’s from.
My fish’s name is Tyrion. If I ever get a cat I will name it Arya. Get it? Cat of the Canals. I am terrible.
A friend of mine was blessed with Vader Luke Anakin Darth. (Typical nerds for parental units, eh?) Anyhow! As soon as he was old enough, he changed his name. No one makes a monkey out of him since he became Allen Preston Edward. (Al is 6-5 & 3rd Dan.)
Another one.I could name my son Griff and then he could name his son Young Griff.
There are plenty of GOT-inspired names you could give your kid while maintaining plausible deniability: Jon, Robert, Jaime, etc. etc. I’m actually not surprised at the person in the interview planning to name her child Kit; Emilia’s seen quite the uptick in recent years as a girls’ name, Lena will likely get a boost from Lena Headey, and I’m guessing Maisie has also seen a resurgence.
I don’t know that it matters what the character did or didn’t do, or what kind of a person they ultimately turn out to be. Scarlett of GWTW was a horrible person or at the very least “problematic,” as the Tumblr kids love to say, but Scarlett’s still a pretty name and I don’t think anyone jumps to Scarlett O’Hara these days before they think of ScarJo. Hannibal Buress wears Hannibal quite well, despite it also being the name of a famous fictional serial killer. If a name works, it works, no matter how the most famous fictional owner of the name turns out.
Given the choice, I’d rather have an unusual name inspired by a fictional character than one of those “trend” names that sweeps a generation and then disappears (although to be fair, the two occasionally coincide).
To be honest, I actually *did* consider a few ASOIAF girl names when I was pregnant. This was before the show was even a thing (though not long before) so it wasn’t as hip, and it was just a book nerd thing.
But I had a boy instead and we named him after his father as we planned in that instance. What’s funny is that, though we call him by a nickname and never this, his name (as his father’s was) is Robert. So we did wind up giving him a ASOIAF/GoT name in a roundabout way 🙂
YASSS GAGA YASSS this.
Arya is my favourite character, I do admit but if I heard the name Arya without watching GoT, I’d still consider naming my child Arya. It is so beautiful!
I also like Rickard as a name, but I’d fear calling my kid Rickard in case they nickname themselves Rick, which I don’t like.
and added ion to the end to match up with Viserion aka the dragon Tyrion will ride!
Guys, there is only one question you have to ask before naming your kids: how much will other kids bully him because of his name? Simple as that.
This would prevent lots of Theons from shooting their schoolmates because they were called
.
I’m going out to feed plants named after some daughters of Garth Greenhands.
For he love of God, imagine if the kid named Theon will have a very small one… His Life will NOT be fun to bear
Yeah, as a preschool teacher in the USofA I’ve already seen this.
Nobody seems much bothered by it. The kids don’t get bullied, most of the parents don’t get offended by it.
We also have a tradition here of naming little girls “Princess” and “Queen”
It isn’t terribly common, but I see at least one new “Princess” a year.
“Khaleesi” seems to be a variation on that.
A friend who teaches at a private school across town has no less than three Khaleesis in her Pre-K class! The preferred nickname so far seems to be Kelly or Kally or Lee.
Aria/Arya is a traditional and popular name in Jewish communities (Aria drives from the Hebrew word for lion or lioness) and the Iranian/Persian communities (Arya derives from the word for honorable or noble)
I have seen parents get upset that people think they named their little Arya after a Game of Thrones character, when they chose a family name that meant a lot to them.
In general, though, it isn’t a big deal. We’ve had much stranger naming trends.
We named out Golden Retriever “Tugs” after “Scuffy the Tugboat”, a children’s book my kids loved. The cat is “Star”, after “Star Wars”, my grandson, an ardent fan, is responsible for that one.
Besides, what’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. It’s all about what the kid makes of himself in the end, not what name his/her parents stick with them.
Gatehouse Ami,
I like both your post and your username.
I would rather call my daughter Dany instead of Daenerys necause hey! it’s her nickname…Books all the way. I also get quite ticked off when show watchers can’t learn her name correctly because i mean it’s not like they said her name a MILLION times. I wouldn’t call my daughter Chell either from the game Portal…although it’s an amazing game but um yeah just use your good sense people…it’s always good for you and your entourage.
Dolorous Edd,
Ulph,
What Ramsay did to Theon will be NOTHING compared to what the bullies will do to his namesakes.
Sue the Fury,
Is that nickname Robb?
Joh,
I was harvesting Gatehouse Ami when I made my first comment and thought, “what’s a name no one will have?” She was the first. 😉
Khaleesi as a name just pisses me off. Maybe that’s irrational since I don’t care about people naming their kids Princess or whatever, but shit, I want to uppercut all these people in their reproductive parts.
Shireen, Jorah, and Sandor would all make good modern-day/real-life names IMO.
And Shaggydog.
Surprised Sansa is not more popular; although would such a name be a self fulfilling prophecy for the child (victim)! Khaleesi has to be this decades Chardonnay (UK viewers will get that)
The only GoT name I would give to my kid is ‘Jaime’. It’s a nice name, normal but unique at the same time.
M,
You might be too young to remember her but Welsh actress Nerys Hughes played “The District Nurse” on British TV in the 1980s. I’ve also thought of Daenerys being a bit like Nerys and Cerys, Carys – those sort of names (Viserys and Varys have names ending in -rys too). I did work in the same office as a Nerys for a short while when I was “temping” some years ago.
Deathdreams,
He’s not on TV so much (I’m talking about British TV) now but there was (and I think he’s still with us, just not on TV so much) a comedian called Griff Rees-Jones. I’ve heard of Sandor as a name – it might be Hungarian but I haven’t googled it so can’t be 100% sure.
dragonreborn,
This is a known problem with mobile browsers that we’ve addressed on our FAQ page. Check it out and see if it helps fix the problem.
My kid’s name is Aria, and tho it has nothing to do with these stories, non-book readers often think it does…
I think our next dog will be Sandor!
It must be SO embarrassing to be named after characters in a fictional fantasy show… I would legally change my name for sure, but of course before that the damage will already have been done.
Naming your kid after a fantasy character is like getting a tattoo of Tyrion on your forearm – It might be “cool” and “in” now, but god damn you’re gonna regret it later.
I feel sorry for these kids.
Sister Kisser,
Well seeing as how her name is Arya, pronounced Aye-Ah and not anything like Ah-Ree-Ah (Aria) just give them a slap and tell them to fuck off.
Nice job with the dog name though, that’s a great one. Clegane is good too.
ZappaCreed,
Jesus fuck with a name like that, I think taking some form of martial art should be manditory! Gah I can only imagine the tortue at school… Shame man.
I don’t understand why everyone hates the name Kelly C. It seems perfectly normal to me? 😉
Shireen is actually a great name — I know several people named that, but that’s what happens when you have a lot of Persian friends. (It means “sweet” in Farsi.)
Some friends of mine named their daughter Kahlan – a character from a much more cheesy and cliché fantasy series than anything found in ASOIAF. Fortunately, most people just think it’s a nice name and don’t realize the source.
TheTouchOfFrost,
It’s mainly because of bullying in school. Any strange names are PRIME targets for bullying and name calling. Look at muslim names, they get a hard rap. Now imagine introducing Viserion to the class. Recipe for years and years of abuse.
Of course if you name them Jon, or Robb or something that’s fine cause its a normal name. But we’re talking fantasy names, and most definitely Khaleesi or Theon. What awful choices wow. No foresight on the parents part…
Simeon,
That’s the thing, it’s BECAUSE its obvious they named them from the show (not the books because the trend has only risen since the show came on the air) that they get a negative reaction. If I named my son Drizzt nowadays I don’t think anyone would get it. It’s still a fucking stupid name for the real world though.
I heard hotpie is still gaining ground
The name Khaleesi wouldn’t bother me so much if I didn’t know the idiots who named their kids that thought that was Daenerys’s actual name.
Homplomplom,
Wendy was from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. (In addition to Olivia referenced above, Shakespeare probably gave us Jessica (Merchant of Venice) among others.)
I don’t think the children will really feel identified to these names but I’m not all for them being named after such deeply shaded characters. In the Unsullied fandom Daenerys is a real heroine but she also started to arbitraly exectute the masters last season (and cruxifictions before too). The children will at one point or another want to know the basis of their name and will watch the show which will also be a “don’t miss” classic by then. Once again I don’t believe there’s really going to be some identification but many parents themselves claimed the choice was inspirational and entirely linked to the character’s personnality (and I’m not even speaking of Arya and her revenge on Trant).
Characters aside, Khaleesi sounds pretty well and exotic and it has also been adopted in France although I don’t reckon the numbers but it was close to 15-20 I think (or less). And after all, I recall it is only a derived Turkish form of the word “Queen”. Tyrion on the other hand doesn’t sound so well IMO (and wouldn’t be surprised if Tywin chose it out of depsise for his son). Anyway, if the choice was really only based on the sound, there would have been more Joffreys (although I think it is already a common name in the UK), Cerseis or Tywins (the name is strong and not so imposing if used often, in bars for instance). I wonder why Renly or Loras or Asha is not used. Brienne is nice too.
outdoorcats,
Why? It’s a nice name, and it’s real. It even means something. I actually like Brienne a lot.
ZappaCreed,
I know a Gandalf …
Tywin of the Hill,
I was thinking “Usurper.”
harma dogememe,
Sandor already is a real name. A colleague of mine is called that. He says it’s a Hungarian version of Alexander.
You know what I wonder? If anyone ever named their kid Spock. Or Mister, in case their family name was Spock. It probably wouldn’t fly around here, since Germany has pretty strict rules when it comes to naming (at least Mister would be out), but is that a thing in the US?
Mine is Widows Wail.
Robert is the Mastiff, Renly is the King James Spaniel and Stannis is the Grey Hound.
I named my new puppy Sansa but as far as children’s names go, poor kids….
In one sense I’m surprised that the GoT variants of already common names aren’t being introduced (or at least publicised)
eg
Lisa/Lysa
Jane/Jeyne
In GoT terms, Sansa is a fairly nice name, same with Selyse and Shireen regardless of what you might think of the character
Theon is certainly an eyebrow raiser
Sorry. I don’t get all the gnashing and fear for naming kids after some characters in a TV show that will be off and the next new rage on by the time they are of school age. I know people with very unique names and they weren’t bullied because of it. There are grown assed adults named Arwen and Eowyn even Galadriel. As far as I know they didn’t change their name, though most people do recognize the Tolkien works they came from.
So to each his or her own. I think that if a child is raised with self respect and a good healthy dose of confidence and humor, they can deal with a Khaleesi name. Loving a name in a work of fiction, doesn’t equate to loving the character. So Theon would be totally okay and it would cruel ADULTS who would take it otherwise.
Dee. You have restrictions on names for babies in Germany??? Why is that? I figure for $15 in the US you can get a legal name change if it is that horrid and you don’t have to be an adult. No parent wants to see their kid suffering for some name they chose. I changed my legal name. It happens.
So let people do what they want without projecting all this negativity on them and I would bet the farm they will be fine.
Don’t be so sure! 😉
Deathdreams,
Heartsbane 🙁
Flora Linden,
Her assessment of Arya being unlike any other Stark is also wrong. Lyanna Stark?
I’m pretty sure this is true in Portugal, as well, where you have to choose your children’s names from an official approved list. In Brazil, on the other hand, it’s anything goes. There are guys named “Kennedy” and “Roosevelt” here (first names), as well as interesting phonetic attempts such as “Maiquel Jacqueson” or even oddities such as “Janeiro Fevereiro de Março Abril”, which is literally “January February of March April”.
Maybe Portugal and Germany are the smart ones…
JCDavis,
Yeah. They allow a lot of stuff, but forbid the more outrageous choices. It pretty much goes like this:
1.) you can choose any name that is actually a first name in real life, from almost any culture (I think the more outrageous American choices, such as Moon Unit, would have to be discussed) and you can spell it either the way it’s spelled or the way it’s pronounced. So Shaklin goes for Jaqueline, or Schantal for Chantal or, very common, Maik for Mike … .
2.)If you want any other name, they’ll consider it based on your reasons as well as how damaging a name might be to the child. Like, you can call your kid after a fictional character if it won’t be hurting the kid because it’s largely negative or ridiculous. Katniss would probably pass while Vader would not. Or maybe you could choose a family name for a first name, just not one that is negatively connotated in Germany. So Verdi would maybe pass while Mao Tse Tung would not.
I don’t know what the exact rules are, but there are professionals specialized in these things who will explain them to you when you have the birth certificates for your kids made.
Well here in central Europe you basically have to pick a name from a list. It must be a previously used name. (I’m exagerrating but you must have a really good reason for choosing anything less than traditional for it to get approved.)
So thankfully all of those modern nonsense names aren’t used.
Ser Matt the Sullen,
To be honest, I don’t think in a few years , when they start school, it will matter as the majority of charaters will have largely been forgotten. As bigger show as GoT is I’m still not sure the characters have become that firmly stamped in pop culture.
I mean, I taught a kid called Frodo once and that is obviously someone everyone is aware of but I’m not sure many people would recognise where Khaleesi came from and just see it as being a different name. We have to remember the general populace isn’t as up on this kind of stuff as us Thronites!
I’ve considered naming my future dogs some of these names, but never one of my children. Khaleesi as a kids name….. WTF?
There’s nothing wrong in naming Khaleesi your baby.
The name Reina, which is very common, is the spanish word for Queen, just as Khaleesi is the dothraki word for Queen.
What is VERY wrong is when people think that Khaleesi is Dany’s name. I hate that.
I would love to name my baby Daenerys, it’s such a beautiful name..
I know someone who named their horse Khaleesi. And frequently misspells it Khalessi and calls her Essie (short E). About 10 years ago I kept my horse at a barn where another girl named Dorcas also boarded her horse. I know it’s an old name, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. I avoided calling her by name as much as possible…
JB,
You probably know that “Pamela” came from the eponymous novel by Samuel Richardson, so you’re quite right, taking names from works of fiction has been going on for yonks.
Joh,
Aria was also the most popular Maori girls name in NZ in 2014, with speculation that GoT has influenced the choice. In old Maori, “Ariā” were symbols used by Tohunga (priests) to represent deities Ngā Atua and the elements etc. But in modern Maori, it’s also sort of taken on the Italian meaning (solo song).
JCDavis,
Simeon,
Names rejected by the NZ govt over the last few years:
Lucifer
*
89
III
V8
Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii
Number 16 Bus Shelter
Unfortunately a few still slip through. True names of babies and children (some of whom I’ve met): Ruckus, Revenge, Benson and Hedges (twins), Highway.
Alexandre Dumas,
Bran is already a widely used Welsh name, meaning raven… spot the link?
iridium,
Good lord! Benson and Hedges has me laughing out loud!!
This is why I chose British Queen’s names for my daughters: Elizabeth and Katherine. Can’t go wrong! 😉
Revenge? That sounds like there’s an awesome backstory. Also, this is just me, but I think Revenge is kind of a cool name. Sounds like a character out of a Louis L’Amour novel. It’s like the opposite of a name that attracts teasing: no one’s going to fuck with a kid named Revenge.
For all the mockery of Revenge and similar names, I prefer interesting or unusual names, even the silly ones, to uninteresting ones. Interesting names produce interesting people in my experience. Kids with weird, obscure or even unfortunate names also tend to be a lot mentally tougher than the Emilys and Ethans of the world, all other things being equal, since getting shit on every day of your life because of an unusual name will have that effect. It’s also a lot more difficult to conform when you have an extremely strange name, since you automatically stick out; again, this produces more interesting people (more independent, less conformist, etc.). In my experience, the more unfortunate the name, the more badass the child will turn out to be. The most awesome person I know has a name that would make you wince in sympathy for the bullying he endured as a result, but he hasn’t changed his name; he owns that shit and he’s tougher than a hundred Ethans put together. As I’ve observed, if you want an awesome human being, give them a hideous, or at least weird and difficult to pronounce, name.
Beautiful Light,
Could be the Welsh Bran or could be an abbreviation of Brandon which is English , I believe. It’s believe it’s a habitational name as it’s taken from place names. Brandon is a combination of the Old English Brant (steep) and dūn (hill). Although it could also be derived from Bréanainn (Basically Prince) which has many different Anglican, Gaelic and Celtic variants. This is why English is one of the most expressive but difficult language in the world. It keeps changing and incorporating new influences where as some languages stay pretty static.
TheTouchOfFrost,
I suspect you grew up with a normal name. My last name was very easy to mispronounce and misspell and caused me lots of trouble at school with the kids – they can be very cruel So if I had a kid I’d probably not want to name them something that might cause the same reaction. And while I think linking Arya with Aryan is silly, I can see certain populations having a field day with it.
Im also a teacher btw; haven’t seen that many weird names, but as I teach very young kids, I usually see the latest names first – and can usually tell how old someone is by their names (usually girls)- Jennifer and Jessica was from a very specific era, as was Chandler, Kayla (or Mykala), Ariel and now of course Elsa
Sam the Slayer,
Ive always wondered why Martin chose to give common English names to some of his characters, and really unusual or lesser known ones to others. Id think he’d want to go for the latter, esp with characters that are related.
Beautiful Light,
Hee, didn’t know that; cool!
M,
Don’t know about that, but it worked for Johnny Cash (for you younguns who don’t get the reference, youtube ‘a boy named Sue’)
Simeon,
Not to mention Hitler Mussolini de Moura Pacheco… *facepalm*
Same here. Hence my choice of very mainstream names with a plethora of nice nicknames from which to choose. My kids’ names sound good with “Dr.” in front. I’d have trouble trusting, “Dr. Khaleesi Johnson.” 😛
The fact that Tyrone is a place doesn’t let Tyrion off the hook as a name!
It means Eoghan’s Land. Because it’s a place. Not a person. Giving a child a placename is every bit as weird as giving a child a title, in my opinion… not that that stopped the hordes of Americans calling their children Shannon and Erin.
LOL, all I said was “poor kids.”
Having a name that is not very common, I think I have a little more insight into this than most. My name is “foreign sounding” to most Americans….yet it’s actually more “American” than the Euro names that dominate the US. (it’s Native American) It’s frustrating for a kid, simple as that. It’s a PITA when people mispronounce it, misspell it, and often times try to tell you they know where it comes from. (nobody has ever guessed right) At the end of the day, my name has a deep cultural meaning to me and makes me feel connected to my ancestors. A child with name like Theon, Khaleesi, Drogo, etc…not so much. All the frustration, “fake history” origin. That being said, the idea that names should be restricted by the government is terrible.
Dame Pasty,
the instructions are for android.
couldn’t find the same settings in iphone 🙁
Matsuki,
Not so terrible if parents want to name their kid Adolf Hitler because they feel they need to make a point about believing that the Holocaust never happened.
Personally, I think the restrictions make sense as child protection. Plenty of weird names still get through, just not the harmful ones.
More easily, in Italian it just means ‘air’ and sounds as /’arja/
In the earlier part of the 20th century Queenie was not uncommon as a name in England. The playwright Noel Coward had a character called Queenie in his play “This Happy Breed” It has fallen out of use now though.
Similarities to names mentioned by Shakespeare were mentioned in the article. I guess Oberyn is like “Oberon” who was the king of the fairies in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” though I haven’t heard of any child called Oberyn as yet. A work colleague did hear a parent calling to an “Oedipus” in posh London park…of course that’s from Greek mythology not GRRM but it seems a strange name to give a child.
EdmondDantes,
I know, right? What show has she been watching? She clearly missed all the awful things that have happened to Arya and that much of it was not her choice. Her traumas, her suffering. Then she made that weird comment about Arya not “being a gender”. . . youth these days . . . (facepalm)
Even in mere entertainment, some people don’t seem interested in using their brain cells. 🙁
ash,
Ashara D,
To be honest, people’s names were never a major issue when I was at school and haven’t been in any school I’ve worked in. People used to rib eachother over eachother’s names a bit but it was never anything serious. Kid’s are going to tease eachother over things and names are like everything else in that sense. As long as it stays good-natured then I don’t see it as being a problem. In fact, I think it’s quite healthy for children to play around with the language and also encourages bonding ala nicknames. The vast majority of nicknames are affectionate. Those that aren’t are a part of bullying but I believe that is a seperate issue and name-calling is just another way of it manifesting. No one gets bullied purely because of their name.
Why would you name anyone after a character on the show before finding out what happens to them? What if they turn mega evil and start eating babies, or get killed in the most horrific way imaginable. Gonna traumatise your kid! “Hey Theon, you were named after a tv character that betrayed the closest thing he had to an actual family, and was then tortured and had his genitals chopped off”
Also, anyone who names their baby Khaleesi needs to be rounded up, and shot out of a cannon into a sea, with a giant flag attached saying “HER NAME IS DANAERYS”. We have to send a message to these people…
Eleanor,
Naming children after places is by no means a recent trend. Blame it on Florence Nightingale’s parents if you want: Florence was not considered a woman’s name in 1820 when she was born, and now it’s accepted as quite normal.
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s middle name came from the hospital where she was born, her mother being very grateful for the good care that she got there. An odd choice, perhaps, but it scans well and suits a poet.
When you consider that the place a family came from, along with profession and whose offspring you were, accounts for the derivation of the vast majority of last names (in English, at least), it’s really not much of a stretch to do the same with first names.