22 October 2013

Top Ten Character Names I Love

Top Ten Character Names I Love
hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

I always love a good character name. I think it's something that my mum instilled in me from a young age. She has always preferred names that aren't so common. When she named me, she was debating between Amber and Brooke (which is now my sister's name). Both names were ones that she'd never come across in real life, only heard about in the media. I think she is the reason that I tend to sway more towards the less common names, and I always value a creative name, as long as it's not too ridiculous. So, here's a list of my favourite character names. You guys should let me know what yours are in the comments, because I always love talking about names!

I went through a stage when I was younger of wanting to call my first child Tiger Lily. I often gave that name to my toy animals, and later on to my Sims. It's such a pretty name, and I honestly forgot all about the name until I read Jodi Lynn Anderson's Tiger Lily last month. Now it has shot back up to my list of favourites. I'm not sure if I would give that name to any potential future child, but I'm definitely saving it for a pet.

2. Iolanthe (The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas)
I wasn't a fan of this book, but I totally fangirled over Iolanthe's name on Twitter. It sounds so pretty!

3. Violet Ambrose (The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting)
Her name is Violet Ambrose. My name is Amber Violet. Do you see the connection? This is some sort of parallel universe shit right here.

4. Aubrey (Blackout by Robison Wells)
I have loved this name since forever, because it's my Grandad's name and he's my favourite person ever. I decided a few years ago that, Tiger Lily aside, this is the name that I want to give to my future first child. It's a unisex name, mostly given to males in the UK but females in the US, so it's a good choice, I think. I love the way it is spelt, and I love the way it's pronounced. If I could change my name to anything, it would be this.

5. Gannicus (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena/Vengeance/War of the Damned)
Did anyone not see this coming? Yes, it's a slightly unusual choice, but it's a real life name and I kind of love it. Out of all the names in the Spartacus series, apart from perhaps Ilithyia, Gannicus is my favourite. The fact that Gannicus is also my all time favourite character has nothing to do with it, I promise.

6. Cersei (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin)
Isn't it pretty?! The spelling of this one draws me in more than the actual pronunciation.

7. Sansa (A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin)
This is another name that I would consider for my future offspring.

8. Isla (Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins)
Pronounce Eye-La, like island without the 'nd', in case you didn't know. I bloody love it, mostly because it reminds me of summer and the ocean.

9. Nikolai (Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo)
Partly because it reminds me of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, the adorable guy who plays Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones. But also because it's spelt nicely *nods*

10. Sturmhond (Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo)
BECAUSE SIGNIFICANCE.

14 comments:

  1. Awesome names, and I agree, Cersei is as cool as she's bitchy... :) And writing it down looks good as well. I loved it from the first moment I saw it in book one. :D
    Great picks!

    My TTT

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  2. Cersei, Nikolai, Tiger Lily, I love those names tool. I don't think I'll use them for my future child(ren), but they are so pretty :D

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  3. Haha Sturmhond! I was going to include him, but his name actually bugs me a teeny bit since it's German so my brain always freaks out and tries to translate it *hits high school German class brain* But I still love him :D

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  4. Wow! What interesting names. Great choices :-)

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  5. I love that you named your Sims Tiger Lily! I used to love naming Sims. You get to try out all the best name combinations with none of the regret at making a bad choice. You just drown that Sim in a pool and try again.

    Also, despite it's total obviousness, I have been mentally pronouncing "Isla" wrong and now I have the shame.

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  6. I included Etienne in my list and considered adding Cricket. I never considered Isla since I obviously haven't read that book yet, but it is a great name as well. Stephanie's characters are always so unique.

    Here is my TTT: http://jacquesbooknook.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-character-names.html

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  7. The Amber Violet/ Violet Ambrose thing is freeeaky. I too love the name Iolanthe, although I haven;t read the book yet.

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  8. For my offspring, I like names that are well known, and yet not often used, hence the names of my kids. I mean, everybody knows the names Eryn and Imogen, but hardly anyone knows anybody called that, you know? (Madison is slightly more common, but only because I had to talk Ben down from Dakota. I mean, really? W h y) In books though, I tend to like names that really match the characters, like, you couldn't ever imagine them being called anything else. Like Hermione from HP, for example. But I agree, Sansa and Cersei are really pretty names!

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  9. Great list! I Forgot The Burning Sky on mine...great names in it. I love all the names in A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin does such an amazing job naming his characters (pets too).

    My Friends Are Fiction's TTT

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  10. Aubrey is my favourite name too but even though I am from the UK I have never known it to be a mans name here so thats interesting, I always associate it as a US girls name.

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  11. So many names in the Game of Thrones books! I didn't know that was how to pronounce Isla, by the way. Iolanthe, definitely an unusual name (I loved that book, by the way, one of my favorites). Great list! ~Pam

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  12. So many great names to pick from A Song of Ice and Fire, I love so many of them. I ended up picking Tyrion and Daenerys but I think that's more from a love of the characters than the names, which makes me adore the names more for some reason. Also loved Cersei, Sansa and Arya. I really love the name Aubrey but have only ever seen it used as a girls name, I'm from UK. Such a great name though. Great list. My STS.

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  13. Cersei is indeed a very pretty name for a very wicked lady! And I'll bet lots of parents will be naming their kids Sansa/Arya, etc, now that the TV show is out.

    Thanks for visiting!

    Stephanie @ Inspiring Insomnia

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  14. I love the name Tiger Lily! As for Isla, the name is so pretty! :D<3
    And I definitely approve of the name Sansa for your future offspring! ;D

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