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Guest blogger Aislinn Nicole is a fan of both baby names and George R. R. Martin‘s epic Game of Thrones series.  Here, she combines enthusiasms and helps us navigate the names of the new season.

The people of George R.R. Martin’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire (adapted by HBO to become the TV series Game of Thrones) are very much like the people of our world.  Martin’s characters are vivid and real, and their names are an extension of that, including interesting similarities and alternatives to several classic names.

There’s the simple and lovely Jeyne, pronounced just like Jane.  Tywin and Tyrion are similar to Tyler, while Edmure and Eddard sound much like our Edmund and Edward.  Marcella was my grandmother’s name, so Myrcella holds a particular fondness for me.  There are a dozen other examples in the series… and some names you’ll never have heard before, that are equally lovely.

Game of Thrones is about a continent (Westeros) of feuding noble families, all vying to control the Iron Throne.   At the beginning of the series, the Iron Throne is held by King Robert Baratheon, who requests the aid of his childhood friend Eddard Stark to help him keep the Iron Throne which he won by defeating House Targaryen.  Below, the noble houses are listed with the main characters included as well as some characters with more interesting names. Note: some of the characters listed don’t appear (or become important) until later in the series, but they are simply too good to exclude.

If you’re interested in knowing more about Game of Thrones, the series’ first season came out on DVD March 6^th, and the second season began on HBO on April 1^st.  For the real experience though, I’d recommend the book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, whose first book is called A Game of Thrones.

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Mike Myers’ recent choice of the name Spike for his infant son got me to thinking.  Did other former SNL cast members make equally offbeat, out-of-the-box choices?

Saturday Night Live is at this point a certifiable institution.  The show has now been around for 36 years, and over its long run has featured many of the funniest, most creative, offbeat comic talents in America–some of whom have gone on to become so iconic that we’ve almost forgotten they were ever regulars on the show. As in Billy Crystal, Robert Downey Jr, Bill Murray, Dennis Miller, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Martin Short and now-Senator Al “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough” Franken.

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For this week’s Nameberry 9,  Appellation Mountain‘s Abby Sandel got busy with her remote as she surfed for the most fascinating names from new TV shows.

The kids are back in school and there’s a chill in the air – must be time for the new Fall television line-up!  I’ve been listening for character names – bland, bold, and everywhere in between.  Last week we discussed Walden, the new roomie on Two and a Half Men.  The jury is still out on how the series will fare with Ashton as a co-star, but berries agreed – Walden is a winner of a name.

Even the most high profile shows today attract a fraction of the viewing audience that tuned in just a decade back.  That might be good news if you’ve been planning to name your newborn Walden, but it does make me wonder: are the days of television launching new names over?  So many great choices, from Allison to Xander, owe their popularity in part to a television character.

Or is the opposite true?  You couldn’t name a kid Jed in the 1960s without conjuring up The Beverly Hillbillies. Now that we’re all watching dozens of different shows, maybe it will feel less problematic to borrow a name from a favorite series.  Here are a few that caught my eye:

Anders – Comedy Central’s sophomore sitcom Workaholics follows three slacker friends – Adam, Blake, and Anders, known as Ders.  Anders ranked #936 in 2010 – that’s pretty obscure, but it is also about the best the name has ever fared.  The evergreen Andrew might strike some parents as too ordinary.  The character’s nickname, Ders, works for Anders or Anderson.

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Nameberry intern Danielle Miksza, who wrote for nameberry last Halloween on vampire names, turns her attention now to names inspired by the new popular monster in town — werewolf names.

Last year the world was falling into the icy clutches of the vampires. The Salvatore brothers of L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries were fighting over the beautiful Elena Gilbert, lethally handsome Edward Cullen once again rescued his mortal love, Bella Swann from a gruesome death in the new Twilight movie, Eclipse, and a vampire child by the name of Abby has been terrifying audiences in Matt Reeve’s new film Let Me In.

Unfortunately, not all of us are lucky enough to escape the bite of immortality, but fear not fellow name lovers! There is hope for us mortals yet, a hope that comes in a very furry form.

This Halloween goes to the wolves. The vampire reign is in danger of coming to a close as the popularity of werewolves quickly rises. The vampire-werewolf rivalry is one of the oldest feuds in existence, so it’s no wonder that we humans have been caught in the middle once again. At least the wolves will get the vampires off our backs for a bit. Right?

Okay. You may be thinking that werewolves are just as bad as vampires, but let’s think about this. Unlike vampires who have absolutely no escape from their condition, unless they go a day without sunscreen, werewolves only change during a full moon. So if someone you love is carrying the curse of the Lycan, it’s best to take a little vacation from them once a month. After all, we all need a little me time. Also, werewolves aren’t constantly craving your blood. They’re actually quite normal in human form (I should know because I used to date one), whereas vampires obsess over the sound of blood pumping through your veins. Hence, werewolves are the lesser of two evils.

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