Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Characters (and Literary Figures) That I'd Name My Children After

So this week's Top Ten Tuesday is kind of a freebie - The Broke and the Bookish have cleverly decided that you can choose your own list today. I was ambling through the list of previous Top Tens for inspiration when I saw this category and clicked on it so fast I nearly dislocated my finger.

I am forever deciding that I'm going to name my child after a particular character or author. It happens so often that I'm going to need about sixty children to use up my ideas - I'm sure The Boy will be more than thrilled when I reveal the mathematics to him.

Thing is, it irritates me beyond belief when people give their children stupid names. I know it's their choice and isn't any of my business in the slightest, but for God's sake - you're not a celebrity and it's only mildly more acceptable when they do it, so think of your god-damned child! I just know there are going to be 50 million 'Katniss' children born this year... Anyway, rant over. It doesn't stop me from wanting to name my child after one of my favourite things in life - books - but I'd like to somehow combine sense with fiction.

And so, in no particular order - 

1) Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth. Elizabeth.

With or without this list, this is genuinely what I want to name my first-born. I adore this name and I always have. When you add in the Pride and Prejudice link and the fact that it's a variation of my middle name, there's absolutely no chance I could be dissuaded from calling my daughter Elizabeth.

I have more than thirty copies of Pride and Prejudice -it's a small step to inflicting the character names on my offspring. 

2) Anouk from Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Anouk was the daughter of Vianne, the lady that owns the chocolate shop. She has a whiff of magic about her, but that's not why I'd name my daughter Anouk. 

To be honest, I pretty much just like the name. I love French female names and this is unusual but still nice-sounding.

3) Marguerite Blakeney from The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy

There's a slightly more concrete reason for wanting to call my daughter Marguerite, although it is French (again) and I genuinely like it.

In the book, Marguerite is the (unknowing) wife of The Scarlet Pimpernel, but instead of choosing to stay home and pine for her mysterious, absent husband, she sets off across revolutionary France to track him down and finally find out what's going on.

She's a very strong woman, especially for the time period and I'd be proud for any of my daughters to emulate her.

4) Oscar Wilde

Another dual-purpose name. I like the name for it's own name-ishness, but Oscar Wilde is one of my favourite all-time authors. Any child who looked into the history of Oscar Wilde would be inspired to stand up for what they believe in and know it's important to be who you are.

I want an Oscar Wilde tattoo one day, but I can't think what to have.


5) d'Artagnan from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

I like this name so much I can even spell it without conscious effort.

I don't really want to call my son this (she admits grudgingly) but I love it nevertheless. There have been many Whitehead-Parkinson arguments regarding this potential name choice and it usually ends in The Boy protecting our potential unborn child from name doomery by flatly refusing to speak to me (ergo - potential child remains just that).

6) Arthur, as in King

Surely there can't be a stronger role model for a child growing up? Perhaps fictional, perhaps not -  but either way, it's a nice sounding, relatively normal name with a fascinating background for them to delve into when they're older.

What a great way to introduce him to mythology and legend! 

7) Harper Lee

So does this contradict my don't-call-your-child-something-stupid diatribe? I can't decide. I'm not sure if I'd name my daughter it or not, but I love the name Harper anyway.

It's just so pretty. It's like naming your child after a famous author, but without it sounding overly pretentious and thereby irrationally irritating me.

LATER - What!? The Beckhams have named their daughter Harper? Seriously? Scrap this one! Thanks Laura!

8) Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hester, Harper... I'm seeing a pattern here.

I know naming your daughter after a woman that was forced to wear an adultery badge in puritan society might not be the best idea in the box, especially when you have to one day explain to said infant daughter exactly what that woman did. It was the way that Hester dealt with the stigma that is particularly inspirational though, and I can't think of a better name to show your child that sticks and stones can't hurt them.  

9) Elena from Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

I love this name. It sounds so feminine but with a fictional role model that's strong and independant. A mix of a genuinely nice name with a sensible inspiration behind it.

10) D.H. Lawrence and also Laurie from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Despite my less than favourable review of Daughters of the Vicar (here) I do like D.H. Lawrence as an author and as a name.

Also, Little Women is one of my all-time favourite books but I don't really like any of the girls' names, so Lawrence is the perfect way to declare my love for the book and give my son a name I like.

If nothing else, it'll inspire him to read it and show him that it's not just a book for girls!

The Bronte Parsonage

11) (just because I can) Charlotte Brontë
   
Haworth is only about fourteen miles from my house so I'm intimately familiar with the Brontë parsonage and Haworth moor, where Wuthering Heights was set. Although I'm not a fan of that particular book, Jane Eyre marked the beginning of my reading of classics.

So not only would naming my child Charlotte be a nod to local heritage, it'd also be commemorating my first foray into classical literature.