Thinking of Naming your baby Katniss, Bella or Arya?

How did you pick your children’s names?  Lots of parents get their inspiration for names from characters in books.   My own daughter is named after the main character in one of my favourite childhood stories.  A story I fell in love with, and begged my mother to read to me repeatedly.  It also happens to be the name of my great grandmother, so it has some family history to it as well.

Many authors are credited with popularizing names, and some have even invented their own names that have become commonly used. Shakespeare created several names including, Miranda for the Tempest, from the Latin word meaning “to be admired”.  The poet Philip Sydney invented the name Pamela in the late sixteenth century for his poem Arcadia, which was later popularized by Samuel Richardson’s eighteenth century novel, Pamela. 

J.M. Barrie is often credited with creating the name Wendy for his popular play turned novel, Peter Pan, but some experts state that the name was previously used as a short form for Gwendolyn, and appeared in the United States census a handful of times prior to the publication of Peter Pan.  Barrie may not have invented the name, but he inspired many parents to name their daughters after Wendy Darling. 

More recently there has been a rise in the use of the names Bella, and Edward, inspired by Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series, and even the name Renesmee (a blending of the names Rene and Esme) which Meyer coined in Breaking Dawn has been chosen by a number of parents, although it hasn’t reached the top of the charts yet. 

 

Suzanne Collins popular Hunger Games Trilogy  has a long list of unusual names, most based in nature or agriculture, or have a Roman flair, and it will be interesting to see which ones will become commonly used.   Would you name your child Katniss, Primrose, Peeta, Finnick, or Rue?  What about Cinna or Enobara? Another popular series inspiring baby naming trends, is A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.  Soon we might be seeing an influx of children named Daenerys, Eddard, Bran, or Arya. Do you know anyone named after a character from a book?

 

If you're looking for some more baby naming inspiration try some of the books listed below.  They provide the meaning and origin of the most popular names, from the traditional to the modern.