Monday, March 1, 2010

2009: Year of the Twilight Babies. Welcome to the world, little Esme.

When a character name doesn't come naturally to me, I head over to BabyNames.com. Today, I checked out the Top 100 Baby Names for 2009, and lo and behold, most of the Twilight characters made the list.

GIRLS:
18. Bella (increased position from 2008)
40. Alice (increased more than 10 places)
84. Esme (new to the top 100)
88. Rosalie (ditto)

BOYS:
8. Jacob (actually a small decrease in popularity)
42. Jasper (increased more than 10 places -- hey lil Jazzy!)
54. Emmett (new to top 100)
65. Edward (increased more than 10 places)

I don't know if I should be thrilled that a YA series had this much impact in the world... or disturbed.

All I can say is THANK GOD Carlisle and Renesmee aren't on the list.

There might be hope for us, after all.

However ... this cutie pie's name is Kinetica Joule, so maybe Renesmee isn't so bad.

How traditional are your character names? What's your favorite?

What's the worst real-life baby name you've heard of? I heard of a teenage girl whose baby's name is pronounced "Ab-uh-cee-dee" ... spelled "Abcde." No joke.
Posted by Donna Gambale at 12:00 AM
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29 comments:

  1. Kinetica Joule? That is ridiculous. Do they want their daughter to be a physics teacher or something? I seriously feel bad for people with ridiculous names.
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  2. My mom used to work at a hospital, and I have yet to hear a name that's funnier than the twins she saw: Lemongelo and Orangelo.

    Lemon Jello
    Orange Jello

    Swear. To. God.
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  3. This is very disturbing. Very.

    Great post though :)
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  4. omg that baby is SO cute :-)

    In my first novel, my character's had pretty standard names (done on purpose because the ended up being anything but ordinary characters)

    In my second (plotting stage) WIP, my characters have fun names :-)

    I heard a story on the radio once about twin girls named Ima and Ura... They're last name was Hogg.
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  5. I have a relative whose name was Ima Pye. Pye is a family name...thank goodness it skipped me.
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  6. My friend is a doctor in the pediatric and delivery ward in a hospital. Best (i.e. worst) baby names she told me:
    La-a
    (pronounced Ladasha)

    A name I feel bad to write in a public forum. I'll just say it's pronounced sha-theed) but replace the a with an i and the 2nd e with an a) No really.
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  7. elizabeth - Funny enough, I was only searching for a cute baby picture for the post. Then I read what was on the site with the picture and I saw the name!

    Mireyah - Wow. Just. Wow.

    choco - Yep, I love to share disturbing things with you guys!

    Sara - Isn't she? I think she's like 3 or 5 now. The link said she was born in 05 or 07. I've found my own character names are relatively generic, but not like "Kate" and "John."

    Summer - Ima Pye! Well, at least it's not Ima Hogg like the people Sara heard of. And Summer Pye would be sorta cute -- or Cherry Pye. You KNOW someone's used that before!
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  8. My friend is a doctor in the pediatric and delivery ward in a hospital. Best (i.e. worst) baby names she told me:
    La-a
    (pronounced Ladasha)

    A name I feel bad to write in a public forum. I'll just say it's pronounced sha-theed) but replace the a with an i and the 2nd e with an a) No really.
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  9. Hmm... this is kind of disturbing! How many twilight fans are really there out there? Weird.

    And thank god that Renesmee isn't on the list! That's the ugliest name ever! Not that Esme, Rosalie and Emmett are much better...

    poor children!
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  10. I love looking at baby name books!

    When I was in jr. high, I created a cast of characters for my boarding school novel using one. They had awesome names!
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  11. My friend taught a little girl with the name of La-a.

    YOu pronounce it LaDASHa- you literally said dash
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  12. Melissa - Wow. Is there a baby named ,d out there somewhere?

    YA Vamp Books - I don't think they're all Twilight fans, probably just they heard of the names because there's so much out there in the media about the books. Which kinda concerns me more, since it means that they actually LIKE Jasper and Esme as names.

    Lenore - I love names too! I used to search name sites in a boring high school computer class. I didn't even WANT a baby for years and years, I just love names!

    Kelly - Alright there are at least TWO La-a's in the world. That's scary.
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  13. I love Fayhte from the Shifters series, but my BF has a french family name so it would kinda sound weird.
    Faythe Fiévèt, not so sure =/
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  14. It's mostly disturbing, that's what.

    The weirdest name I ever heard was Mailbox. Mail-freakin'-box.

    I wondered what genius would assume that's a good name for their child.
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  15. Kinetica Joule? Oh my God, poor kid! I'd definitely change my name if I were her!

    I'm Argentine, but I don't really like Spanish names, like mine. I hate mine. Or like Carolina, Martina, Valentina, Sabrina, and every other name ending in -ina.
    That's why I give my characters English names.
    Cora and Ben are currently my MCs. Their friends are Phoebe, Dakota (male), (and for adults:) Connor, Camille and Stephen. They're aunt and uncle are Morgan and Andrew.
    Before them, there were Portia and Luke.

    I once watched an E! Special, about celebrities and their babies. O. M. G. Those kids are scarred for life. I mean, Nicholas Cage, who could you? Kal-El? Really? And Banjo?
    There was one that was something like Audiovisual Something-I-can't-really-remember-but-sounded-like-a-school-subject. I swear I'm gonna look it up and get back here to tell you guys.


    Simplicity people! Just because you think you're naming your kid something really cool and original, doesn't give you the right to ruin their lives! Remember, the kid has a life ahead of it!
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  16. Oh, world. So easily swayed by popular culture.

    I'm writing fantasy, which some people take as a carte blanche for making names bizarre--personally, I like names that are different, but easily pronounced--i.e. my MC, Aranelle.

    In college my french class actually studied a law suit in which the French government wouldn't let a couple name their child Megane, because it's the name of a popular car company there. Apparently (at least when I was in college) the French Gov't has the ability to veto a name if they think it will be too detrimental to the child. So no french Kinetica Joules. (Personally I think it's kind of cute. Or having science-y parents and naming their daughter Joule, instead of Jewel. But that's just me.)
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  17. Wow that is just craziness. I have to say though, I really like the name Bella but the with others I would never name my kids any of those names...especially Jasper.
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  18. When I was in elementry school, I would name my characters in short shories I would have to write names like Isabella or Melissa, with Isabella shortened to Bella. And names like Adrian, Caleb, and Emmett. But I no longer like Bella or Emmett :P
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  19. Wow. I will never understand the whole Twilight movement. I mean, the books are good--I get it, but good enough to name your baby after? Nah.

    I have a weird spelling story (Almost as annoying as the stupid names? Stupid spellings. Can't your kid be unique because they're just unique?) My friend teaches in Philly and she had a student named Wil. One L. How lame is that? Whenever he writes his name, it looks like he spelled it wrong!
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  20. Oh no! I just realized I've been commenting under the wrong username. Blerg.

    The above comment is OURS!
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  21. I went to school with a girl named Chiquitika (Che-kweet-i-kuh). I would be ok with Esme.
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  22. I swear, there should be a rule against naming your child while drunk.
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  23. @ Melissa, my cousin is a grade school teacher and she had a "she-theed"! Poor little guy.

    I read a Washington Post article in which a woman said she was determined to name her daughter Reneesme, and I cringed. Esme at least existed pre-Twilight!

    Note that you won't get people naming their daughter Stephenie.
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  24. Tynga – I’ve definitely had some of my favorite names come from books too.

    Ella – That’s funny, I love Spanish names. But you’ve chosen great English ones too! And celebrity baby names are usually horrendous. I love it when they give their kids normal names.

    Sara – Yes, I love what you choose for character names! Though I have to disagree – Kinetica is a cool word, but as a name it only works in a sci-fi novel. Or even if it was JUST Kinetica, no Joule, it would be better.

    Addicted Book Reader – Yeah, I’m not saying that Stephenie’s character names are all awful… it’s just crazy how trendy they’ve become.

    Mandy – Wow, characters in my elementary school writing were named so uncreatively!

    LiLa/Laura – So apparently many awesome people, like your teacher friend, live in Philly. Totally worth a visit…

    Little Ms J – I’d be ok with Esme too!

    Not Nessie – Hear hear.

    Sarah Enni – Oh no what a mistake across cultures! And with names like the ones listed in these comments, Renesmee’s not so bad. I’m content as long as it’s not in the top 100. Though by the time the fourth (and fifth) movie comes out, who knows…
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  25. wow thats a bit much i think... Well my favorite names i want for my kids one day and yes they're odd... Riku, Fae or Cloud lol
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  26. A friend of mine taught a girl named Female (pronounced Fee-mah-leh). Sadly, her parents thought the tag "Female" Jones meant the hospital had already named her for them and so they filled out the birth certificate accordingly.

    Sad.
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  27. I just start writing and when a name comes to me and fits, I use it. I have looked up last names, as I seem to have problems coming up with something more interesting than Smith or Black. But I've got Holly, Melodi, and Charlie. Guess I've got a thing for the -y, -i, -ie names. Dangit.
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  28. I personally have wanted to name my daughter Bella since I first heard it used as a name when I was 15 (7 years ago). Now I can't because everyone will assume it's because of twilight. Maybe in like 5 years it will die down a bit. Maybe.
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  29. This is my first comment on this amazing blog, so here it comes:
    When it comes to names I (I'm a romanian not yet published author) I always choose the best ones from latin. Names like Darius, Marius, Victor, Livia, Sylvia, and amazing others have such strength that it is impossible to forget them.
    ReplyDelete

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