“What’s In A Name?”

“…that which we call a rose,/ By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a marvelous and lovely Sunday, hopefully filled with lots of reading and, I don’t know, chocolate. Or something.

Anyway, today I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for their weekly prompt, Top Ten Tuesday. I love linking up for this blog meme on days that are not Tuesday because… I’m such a rebel that way. (Seriously, this is as rebellious as I get. I don’t even sneak cookies out of the cookie jar or anything like that.)

This week is a “freebie,” where anything goes! I can post a top ten list of anything as long as it’s bookish. Since I’ve seen some awesome ideas already, I’m going to use two of those ideas and one of my own creation. Today I’m talking about NAMES, people!

Enjoy!

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Emily @ The Loony Teen Writer posted about the top ten YA characters she’d name her children after, so I’m going to borrow that idea – with one exception. I won’t limit myself to only names from YA.

Also, before we get started there’s one other thing you should know: I like kids, but I’m pretty sure that I don’t want any of my own. I know they’re tiny and cute and everything, but… gah. That’s just not what I want to do with my life.

That said, I LOVE finding cool names. So if you were to visit me someday and say, “HI ENGIE, I HAVE SPAWNED A SMALL MINION AND I WANT YOU TO NAME THEM BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE BESTEST,” I would be more than happy to comply.

1. Rue (from the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins). I think this is a very pretty name and hey, it’d be easy for the kid to learn how to spell it. Too bad that it means “regret”….

2. Ronan (from the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater). This is, like, my favorite dude name of all time, everyone. Just so you know. I’d never even heard of it before reading this wonderful, wonderful series, though.

3. Violet (from All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen). This name is old-fashioned yet pretty. I strongly admire this character, as well, so that’s a plus.

4. Ingrid (from the Echo Falls Mysteries series by Peter Abrahams). Gah, how I wish these books were better-known! I like old-fashioned girly names, I guess. (Actually… my name is an old-fashioned girly time. Pffft.)

5. Simon (from The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare). I just… like the sound of this name? It’s fun to say. Simon, Simon, Simon.

6. Sadye (from Dramarama by E. Lockhart). It’s pronounced like “Sadie,” and I freaking LOVE this character – and the fact that she named herself, too.

7. Thomas (from the Maze Runner series by James Dashner). Such a dignified name!

8. Annabeth (from the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan). Again, I’d never heard of this name until I met it in a book. But I really, really like it.

9. Kady (from the Malice / Havoc duology by Chris Wooding). This is a very pretty alternative spelling of the name Katie!

10. Molly (from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling). “Molly” is the perfect combination of cuteness + girliness + fun. It’s just plain fun to say. (And while we’re at it, I also love the name Holly. But I would never give this name to siblings. Ugh. The awkwardness.)

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Oh, look! An idea of my very own invention! Although I wouldn’t give any really weird names to children, I love to find weird character names and fangirl over them. I collect them, kind of.

And J.K. Rowling and Derek Landy are practically royalty when it comes to authors-who-give-their-characters-weird-names. Seriously, they are the BEST. Their characters’ names are A) wonderfully strange and B) filled with meaning.

So I’ve compiled a top ten list of my favorite names from EACH author.

Best Harry Potter names:

1. Remus Lupin
2. Bellatrix Lestrange
3. Nymphadora Tonks
4. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
5. Minerva McGonagall
6. Rita Skeeter
7. Rubeus Hagrid
8. Narcissa Malfoy
9. Neville Longbottom
10. Horace Slughorn

Best Skulduggery Pleasant names:

1. Ghastly Bespoke
2. Valkyrie Cain
3. Skulduggery Pleasant
4. Tanith Low
5. China Sorrows
6. Dexter Vex
7. Frightening Jones
8. Remus Crux
9. Anton Shudder
10. Gracious O’Callahan

On second thought, perhaps it would be a good idea to not let me name your children, because maybe I’ll choose to name your twins Rita Skeeter and Dexter Vex. And by “maybe,” I mean “probably.”

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Cait @ Paper Fury wrote about “ridiculously unfortunate character names,” and that was such a good idea that I’m going to STEAL it! [Insert villainous laughter here]

1. Bifur (from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien). This is not a name. This is a sound effect, as in, “The sound a pillow makes when you hit someone with it is bifur.” (I figured this out by hitting lots of people with pillows, obviously.)

2. Percy Jackson (from the Percy Jackson series and the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan). No, wait, it gets better/worse: His real first name is “Perseus.” I’m sorry, kid.

3. Chuck (from the Maze Runner series by James Dashner). This name always makes me think of, um, upchuck. Teehee.

4. Tobias “Four” Eaton (from the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth). Tobias is just an unfortunate name, peoples. And being nicknamed after a freaking NUMBER isn’t much better.

5. Haymitch Abernathy (from the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins). Abernathy is actually a great surname, but what the heck is a Haymitch?

6. Bubba Moon (from the Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy). This guy is a villain and I can’t take him seriously AT ALL because… that name. I would say, “What were his parents thinking?!” but in the magical world of these books, you choose your own name. So… wow.

7. Étienne St. Clair (from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins). That boy’s first name is way too fancy for his laid-back personality, and his last name makes me think of pastries. You know, éclairs? Mmm, I’m hungry now.

8. Annie (from Misery by Steven King). I used to like this name. That was before I read an extremely gruesome horror story with an antagonist of that name. Damn you, Mr. King. You ruined the name “Carrie” for me as well.

9. Bran (from the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin). Everyone in this series has an awesome name – Arya, Jaime, Theon, Viserys, Olenna. And then there’s Bran. Congratulations, you were named after your parents’ favorite breakfast cereal. (Wait, do they even have cereal in Westeros?)

10. Wentworth (from the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett). I’m sorry, but this name just SCREAMS “bratty little boy.”

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Tell me about your favorite fictional names? Which ones do you think are lovely, and which ones make you giggle?