Fantasy Names

[Sarajaine"The Solar"]

Ladies and gentleman of Enworld I need your help.

As some of you are aware myself and scratched_back are due to have a little girl this coming August.

I'm a big fan on being unique and having something different for my daughter's name, so I'm curious if anyone out there has any ideas.

I don't have a particular preference, I'm open to any fantasy names and from any race.

Any sites you feel may be of help are also much apreciated!

Thanks x

 

[fafhrd]

Well if you're the type that's inclined to sit on the porch with a shotgun when she's out on a date, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and just go with Demogorgon. Even for those who've never heard it before, it just has that ring.

 

[Sarajaine"The Solar"]

Well if you're the type that's inclined to sit on the porch with a shotgun when she's out on a date.

You hit the nail on the head with that comment! My boyfriend is exactly that kinda guy although he is partial to the baseball bat I believe

 

[Whisper72]

Well... Medusa is a better known name in that case....

Some female names from greek mythology:

Phaedra
Megaera
Iphigenia
Hecate
Iocaste
Nausicaa
Azazel
Cesshahl

Which I often use in fantasy settings..

 

[Torm]

My rule of thumb has been to give my kids a relatively normal first name, and an interesting middle name: It may be neat to have her friends call her "Galadriel", but Jessica G. is a lot more likely to get hired, I think.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Go with Gwendolyn:

1. It has a nice short form Gwen, should your daughter ever want to go with that.

2. You can spell upteen different ways: Gwendolinn, Gwyndolin, Gwendylinn, etc. That may not sound like that big of deal, but in today's identity theft world, a complex name can save your butt. (I myself can now thank my horrid handwriting to saving me from fighting a massive amount of identiy theft, the person couldn't read my social security number & got it wrong, I also have friends with weird name spellings that got them off the idenity theft hook).
By giving her a unique (yet common, Gwen), you protect her, yet let her make the option as to whether shes wants a unique, pretty name that sets her apart or a more common name that lets her fit in.

She'll probably do both as she goes through phases growing up.

Plus Gwendolynn, Gwendylynn, whatever will make her very mad when she goes to kindergarten & she has to learn to spell her name, along with all the Kims, Tommys & Johns in her class. It'll make her a better writer.

 

[Torm]

I actually have a name that I came up with for a girl that I had set aside in case we ever had another little girl - but that looks pretty unlikely at this point, so I'll share - Kimbriel.

It would probably help, btw, if we had your last name - names need to flow all the way through.

 

[Henry]

I'm of Torm's philosophy on this - one "Work" name, and one "fun" name. No Moon Unit Zappas, please!

I've always liked Tika, from the Dragonlance Chronicles. There's also

--Shandril (Shana, Shannon, Shane) - Shandril Shessair, from Forgotten Realms
--Dorotea (Dorothy, Dori) - from the Truename of the Lady, Dorotea Senjak
--Eowyn (from Lord of the Rings - kick-ass woman, IMO)
--For that matter, Miranda (the lady who plays Eowyn in the movie) has a nice ring... and you could go with Miri
--Miriam (from Robin Hood)
--Mina (form Dracula)
--Dejah (Dejah Thoris from John Carter Barsoom fame)
--Jadzia (Jadzia Dax from Star Trek, though that might be getting too far afield...)
--Honor (Honor Harrington series of books)


That's just a few.

 

[CarlZog]

I'm a big fan on being unique and having something different for my daughter's name, so I'm curious if anyone out there has any ideas.

I don't have a particular preference, I'm open to any fantasy names and from any race.

While, it's nice to have something besides Mary, Susan and Jane, don't let your zeal for a unique name result in something that's going to be a burden for your child.

Beware of names that:
-- the kid will have trouble pronouncing or spelling, particularly early in life.
-- are prone to multiple pronounciations or spellings.
-- can be turned into stupid or cruel nicknames.
-- are a joke in themselves, even unintentionally.
-- sound cool, but are meaningless.
-- sound cool by themselves, but don't jive with your last name.

Carl,
who -- growing up in Florida -- was called coralhead by the mean kids, but turned out OK anyway.

 

[arscott]

Go with Gwendolyn:

This is the route to go. Don't give your children gimmicky names, not even middle names. Just give them names that are fantasy/myth inspired but still exist in the modern day. Cassandra and Diana sring immediately to mind, if you don't care for Gwendolyn.

Alternately, you can do what my parents did and accidentally name your kid after a superhero that you've never heard of.