As some of you know, I’m expecting a baby girl in January and anyone that’s been pregnant knows that once you find out the sex of your baby you get the “whatcha gonna name him/her” question 5 times a day, sometimes from the same person. At work, at church, at the supermarket, where ever. Maybe it’s just me but I start dreading the question, out of numbing repetition but also since DH and I have our own tastes and are very particular about them so it seems like sheer luck when we actually agree on one. We won’t finalize the name until the baby is actually born and we can see his/her face anyway, so what’s the point?
Anyway, today I’m curious. I have some character names I’ve come across that I’ve considered as names for my girl, that is if DH hadn’t vetoed them all already. :p The characters are not necessarily dear to my heart – I just like their names and think they do or could work great in real life. Here’s my short list:
Bryony from Atonement by Ian McEwan
Gemma from A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Liadan from Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
So do you have any favorite character names? Since DH and I only have one possible name at this point, you can also feel free to play name that baby. Several books and thousands of baby names later and I’m up for anything at this point. Well, except for Trashkicker, or BOB, DH’s joking favorites. 
I put my vote in for Liadan. Aside from the fact that “Son of the Shadows” is one of my favorite books, Liadan is such a strong, admirable character that I think any girl would love to look back and say “I was named for this character.” Plus, it’s not too unusual — I have a unusual name, and it wasn’t fun to grow up with — and you could get all kinds of cute nicknames from Liadan.
This is all too true. Love the book, love the character too. It’s three syllables though. Would definitely need a nickname.
Liadan is a beautiful name!
And based on one of my favorite characters. It’s so hard to choose a good name for a baby. I kind of like the idea of going for unisex names like Julie James’ characters – Taylor, Cameron. Or even Gen (I’ve heard that some people who read The Thief thought that Gen was a girl at first).
Other character names that I liked – Meliara from Crown Duel, Sabriel from Sabriel and Isilee from The Goose Girl.
Oh I like Meliara – could call her Mel or Ara. Unisex names can be good too. Not sure how much DH likes them though.
I didn’t like the character Gemma, but I really do like the name. I’ve used to want to name a girl Eowyn. But now that I’m older I’m not so keen on the idea.
Emily, I used to like the name Bronwyn, don’t ask me why. DH hates Gemma.
Congratulations =) We’re also expecting a baby girl but that’s in February. I can’t really think of any character names, most of them doesn’t really work in Norwegian so it has been out of the question really.
Thanks! And congrats to you! That’s exciting. That should make sense that must names wouldn’t work.