Monday, October 31, 2011

Would You Name Your Son Rhett?: Colorful Baby Names from the World of Fiction

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

Recently I saw an article on Parents.com that said the latest trend in baby naming was to name your kid after a fictional literary and/or cinematic character. Apparently it's all the rage these days. Considering I named my own babygirl after a fictional nubian princess, I could only agree, although I felt a little "sheepish" knowing I was part of a so-called trend. Still, I was curious to see if babygirl's name made it on to Parent's list of top-ten names culled from our favorite books and movies. Not even close. In fact, there's not one female name on the list of any characters of color. Not a one. Instead, we have names like Gatsby, Eloise (from the children's book), Darcy and Rhett. Yes, Rhett. Would you name your Black child after Rhett Butler? I'm just sayin.

Still, I love the idea of naming one's child after a favorite hero or heroine in literature. In case you do too and have a baby to name in the near future, I thought I'd create my own Meltingpot list of best baby names from some of my favorite books and movies. So, here goes:

1. Sula (Toni Morrison's main character in the novel of the same name)
2. Beloved ( Same as above. I just think it would be cool to name my child Beloved.)
3. & 4. Birdie & Cole ( The two mixed sisters in Danzy Senna's Caucasia. Obvious Jazz influence there)
5. Coco (From Fame, the movie, not the TV series)
6. Storm (From the X-men, can be for a boy or girl or both.)
7. Isis (From superhero/Egyptian lore)
8. Shelby (From Dorothy West's The Wedding)
9. Lilo (From one of the better Disney flicks, Lilo & Stitch)
10. Fire ( He was the sexy, Jamaican poet from Colin Channer's sumptuous debut novel, Waiting in Vain. If I were to have another boy, I might name him Fire.)

Okay, dear readers. What names would you add to this list? I'm listening. And perhaps a whole bunch of expectant mothers are too, so speak up.


Peace!

7 comments:

jeanette nicole* said...

I like Tayari Jones' usage of the name Ariadne from Green mythology in The Untelling. That's a name I'd consider for the future little J.Nic, hahaha.

lifeexplorerdiscovery said...

Jack and Rose!!

: )

a said...

Lori..Dont name your child LILO, #dontdoit LOL. I just think of a furry little creature..I like SULA, but i probably would go for an author name, i dont read enough books and the character would have to be extrodinary, i still like ROSA and MArtin. maybe Nala from the Lion king the only name i like is savannah from you know what but i can't fathom naming my child after a woman who steals somebody's husband.

ttoya said...

Since seeing the movie with the same title, I've always thought Sankofa was a pretty name.

Ola said...

I love #10. But I like Fire's 'actual' name better, AJ Heath. I actually use favorite literary characters, generally male, for passwords..lol

Anonymous said...

We named our son Cyril after my father-inlaw who was named after Saint Cyril.

BekkaPoo said...

Ayla is a name I would call a daughter (if I were to have one), after the main character in the "Earth's Children" series by Jean Auel.