My daughter is named after my wife's first PC!

[diaglo]

Ok, choosing an original, unique name inspired by a fantasy name is all well and good. There are just too many Robs, Jessicas, Bobs, Betsys, Johns, Joes, Chris's, etc. out there.

My kids are going to have names that are unique and cool-sounding, but nothing like Ragnar, Mordenkaiden, Galadriel, or Eowyn. That's like tattooing I like beatings. on a kid's forehead.

Dweezil, Moon, Star, .... some kids are better naming themselves later in life.

 

[eXodus]

as these are other people's children i find the whole thing really entertaining and humorous.

my wife and i are not having children so my son is safe from being named calvin of carnage and death after my very first pc. our pets are not so lucky though.

my wife recently named our new pit bull emma frost. not a d&d character but most know of the x-men character of the same name. she is already excited about one day having another dog named gambit!

 

[The Forsaken One]

I think I'll name my child Drizzt. Girl or boy, makes no difference.

Argh 3 posts did he beat me to it

But seriously, I honestly think Mystra, Auril and especially Talona are nice names (especially when pronounced in Dutch). And I really like the first name "Winter", luckily my girlfriend does to, as well as Talona but she doesn't know yet where it comes from. I think telling her its a fantasy goddess of plague and poison kills the mood a bit

 

[Desdichado]

My kids all have more normal, although not plain, I think, names. Spencer Joshua, Jessica Michelle, Alexander Williams, Logan Taylor.

However, my little sister once dated a guy named Gamble Lynn Money. And there's a sales guy that is in the cube next to me a fair amount named Barry Cuda.

 

[Hardhead]

Ok, choosing an original, unique name inspired by a fantasy name is all well and good. There are just too many Robs, Jessicas, Bobs, Betsys, Johns, Joes, Chris's, etc. out there.

This is becoming less and less true. As of this year, for the first time in history, the top 50 names account for less than 50 percent of boys born each year, and for less than 40 percent of girls. Novel names are becoming more popular.

Names also go in cycles. My grandparents were stongly against my parents naming my Zachary, because it was "such an old name." No one was named "Zachary" anymore! But then, in the late seventies, all of the sudden the name exploded in popularity, and has increased every since. In the 1990s, it was the 16th most popular name. It actually annoys me, to tell the truth. When I was grade school, it was an odd name, and I really enjoyed having an odd name. Now, no one blinks twice at it.

My kids are going to have names that are unique and cool-sounding, but nothing like Ragnar, Mordenkaiden, Galadriel, or Eowyn.

I met an Arwen once (before the movies came out). She liked her name, but wasn't a big Tolkien fan. I don't believe she even finished Lord of the Rings.

My opinion is: if you give your kid a weird name, then the least you can do is give them a normal middle name to fall back on, should they decide they don't like it later in life. Not that my friends have followed this practice. One named their kid "December Storm" and another friend (who's only met the first friend a couple times) named their kid "Raven Sky." I must have weird friends.

I met a guy last month who was about 18. His name was Paladin.

 

[Mercule]

My kids all have more normal, although not plain, I think, names. Spencer Joshua, Jessica Michelle, Alexander Williams, Logan Taylor.

Likewise. I've got a Gabrielle Elise and Brigit Keely. Considering the first is pronounced with a long "a" (Gabe, not Gabby), I have come to the conclusion I've doomed one daughter to always have her name mispronounced and the other to always have it misspelt.

On a different note, I heard of a gal once named Carrie Seaman (or some variant spelling). She dated a fellow name Daley. My understanding is that it was suggested that, should they marry, she hyphenate her last name. *sigh*

 

[Brother Ezra]

I don't have any kids, and would probably give them normal names if any pop out in the future. I was thinking about my first D&D characters, tho, and applied them to children's names:

Bozomus: "Call me Bozo"
Lilandra: Lilly could actually be okay.
Elmo: "Tickle me, baby!"
Otis: "MY MAN!!!!"
Sulgo Stonefoot: I'm not even gonna try.

 

[Henry]

One of my old gaming friends has a nephew -the parents named him Remington Spencer. Yes, after the Arms company and the firearm, respectively.

I've personally run into children with names from Doral (after the cigarettes) to Chanel (yes, the perfume). I cannot for the life of me fathom people who actually name their children after consumer products, but that's my little pet peeve.

And Rel's wife has got to have one of the coolest names I've heard in a while. I'll let him tell if he wants.

 

[mmadsen]

You can have a real blast looking at the Social Security Administration's Top 1000 Names of the 1990s. It's really shocking how unpopular so many "common" names are.

 

[The Lemon Merchant]

Some of my old gaming buddies believe that I named my son after my Cyberpunk character. Of course the reality is that my wife and I had already decided on that name for our son (who wasn't born for another 7 years). I really liked the name Joshua Michael and figured my, as yet unborn, son wouldn't mind.