Saturday, February 14, 2009

What's in a Name?


For this week's edition of Weekly Geeks, we're going to take a closer look at character names. What are some of your favorite character names? Go to Google or a baby name site like this one or this one, and look up a favorite character's name. What does their name mean? Do you think the meaning fits the character? Why or why not?If you'd like, look up your own name as well and share the meaning.

Well, the first names that popped into my mind are these..

From the Southern Vampires series by Charlaine Harris.. Eric and Quinn..
Eric:
Meaning: Its source is ei rikr, an Old Norse name meaning "Complete ruler."
Well Eric the Northman is the sheriff of Area 5 and is very old.. and he is a very strong leader to his followers and employees!

Quinn:
Meaning: Its source is Conn, an Irish Gaelic name meaning "Wise Leader."
Quinn is calm and wise I would say, because he is holding his cool most of the time unless the situation calls for action! He still acts wisely through and through!

From the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay..
Dexter:
Meaning: Its source is a Latin expression meaning "Fortunate."
Hmm, fortunate?! well maybe because he is taken in by people who care for him and his "father" accepts his desire to kill and channels it to a "right" direction.. according to them!

From the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.. Jamie..
Jamie:
Meaning: Its source is Iacobus, a Latin name meaning "One who grasps by the heel or supplanter."
I guess this also applies since Jamie took the place of Clair's husband, not intentionally but it just happened..

From the Dark Ones series by Katie MacAlister.. Dante..
Dante:
Meaning: Its source is Durante, an Italian name meaning "Enduring."
I guess for him to be enduring over 900 years of lonliness while looking for his Beloved makes him deserve the name..

So I see that the meanings of the names of the characters I choose seem to match the characters perfectly :)

11 comments:

Dorte H said...

Interesting post.
I think tne name Jacob, John and all the other variants of it is interesting. My father´s name was Johannes, and my brother´s name Jan - both variants of Jacob :)

gautami tripathy said...

Liked reading about the names. Dante is a favourte name of mine too!

http://readingandmorereading.blogspot.com/2009/02/naming-through-characters.html

Desert Rose said...

Dorte, thanx.. I like Jacob.. how could I have forgotten Jacob of Twilight :)

gautami, thanx.. I guess Dante is quite a unique name :) glad you liked it too!

Maree said...

Very interesting list. They're all quite strong names, aren't they?
Happy Weekly Geeks :)

pussreboots said...

I haven't read any of the books in your list. Interesting names. Mine is here.

Kerrie said...

Dexter (dextra) actually means right-handed, where as sinister (sinistra) is left-handed

Desert Rose said...

Maree, yeah they seem so.. thanx :)

pussreboots, thanx for passing by :)

Kerrie, WOW nice to know.. thanx :)

Erika Powell said...

oh I really like the name Quinn and I like that you think they match the characters. I love when authors put work in to that.

Desert Rose said...

Erika, yeah I love when authors do that too.. it seems they did their homework :)

Unknown said...

I like Jacob with a 'k', like Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers. According to allthebabynames.com, Jakob is the Danish form of Jacob. Read it here: http://www.allthebabynames.com/BabyName/Danish/Jakob.aspx

Desert Rose said...

Jakob sounds really good, I like the K instead of the c, makes it kind of unique!

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  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
  • Where There is Evil by Sandra Brown
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  • The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block
  • Time to Murder and Create by Lawrence Block
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