OK, I'm fairly new to book blogging and so here I am taking part in my
first meme, how exciting. It's Top Ten
Tuesday which was created by The Broke and The Bookish and this week's
list is......
Top Ten Character Names I Love/Unusual Character Names
Sigismond
in The Blessing by Nancy Mitford
I understand that this is probably quite a hard name to love for a lot of
people, but I'm not one of those people.
I love unusual boys names in books that have some history behind them,
rather than being recently made up, as I think that we have so many male
characters with names like Michael, David, Max etc that it's nice to have
something a little different. Unfortunately
the Sigismond in this book isn't the most lovely of characters, but he's not so
terrible that it's put me off the name.
Penelope
in Penelope by Rebecca Harrington and in The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by
Eva Rice
Isn't it always the way, you wait forever for a Penelope in a book and then
two come along at once. I really used to
hate the name Penelope (I honestly thought "why have you chosen that name
Tina Fey?" when she had her second daughter) but thanks to Harrington's
novel I don't mind it too much now. I
used to think it gave off quite a snooty vibe, but not so much anymore, and I
guess that's the power of books, that a character can change your perception of
a name.
Flora Poste
in Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
You don't hear the name Flora all that much so that's why it's such a great
name for a character, literature isn't inundated with them.
Mia Thermopolis
in The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Maybe it's because I loved the books so much but this name is just
perfect. If someone says the name
"Mia" I automatically think of Mia Thermopolis and the character is
just so alive to me. Although I should
probably be respectful of royalty and give her her full name, Amelia Mignonette
Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia.
Katniss/Peeta/Gale
in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
What I love about these names is that they're not a million miles away from
real names that we have now (Kat, Peter, Gail) and so they give this impression
of the world having changed from how we live now but not so much that it's
totally and utterly unrecognisable, much like the books do.
Inigo
in The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
I'd never heard of this name before I'd read the book but Wikipedia tells
me it's a proper, historical name and I love it. I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not
100% sure how you say it (I think it's In-e-go) but it's so unusual that I'm
sure I'll remember it. Basically, I'm
just a sucker for a boy's name that's a bit different.
Margo Pike
in The BabySitters Club books by Ann M. Martin
I'm afraid I don't really remember Margo Pike other than the fact that she
was Mallory's sister and was called Margo but what I do remember was that this
was the first time I'd ever seen the name Margo anywhere and I thought it was
such an unusual name. I couldn't believe
it when my mum told me she'd heard of the name and it wasn't that odd. The BabySitter Club books were
probably some of the first American books I read and so the names in them were
quite different to 12 year old me - Dawn, Claudia, Margo, Logan (I've still to
meet a British Logan, actually)
Every name in Harry Potter
by JK Rowling
Harry Potter is choc-full of amazing names.
Rowena Ravenclaw (my favourite), Cornelius Fudge, Horace Slughorn,
Severus Snape. They're often names that
would stick out like a sore thumb in the real world, but in the magical world
of Hogwarts they all fit perfectly.
Scarlett O'Hara
in Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I'm not sure that I can say anything new and exciting about the name
Scarlett O'Hara. It just fits the
character so perfectly and that's what makes it such a good name.
The second Mrs de Winter
in Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
You only really realise how much power a name has once you take it away (I
think Dumbledore said something similar but way more eloquent in one of the
Harry Potters). I spent the whole of Rebecca
just thinking "Yes, but what is your name, Mrs de Winter?" and
it still drives me mad that I don't know it now. Similar characters have included Piggy from Lord
of The Flies and The Saxophone teacher from The Rehearsal.
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday :-) It's a really fun meme, I hope you enjoy it. I really like the Harry Potter character names. There's some wonderfully imaginative ones.
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you Chrissi! Yep, gotta love JK's imagination.
DeleteCheers Andy.
ReplyDelete