Favorite Names Inspired by Books, Television Shows, Movies, Actors, Musicians, etc.

[starstung]

I've noticed that some names that I have always overlooked have become one of my favorites because I read it somewhere in a book or it was the name of a character on television/in a movie or it was the name of a celebrity. Here are some of mine:

Tessa, the supportive friend from the book The Way We Fall
Prudence, protagonist from the book Deadly
Rachel, because of Rachel McAdams and Rachel Crow
Regina, antagonist of Mean Girls
Scarlett, because of Scarlett Johansson
Nadia, protagonist from the anime Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water


What names do you like because of their mention in media?

[bex]

The only one for me really is Dean - not generally a fan, but then along came Dean Winchester and now it's awesome, IMO!

Oh, and I guess Dwight - Dwight Shrute is one of my favourite characters, I don't think that I could use the name, but I smile when I hear it.

[heimarmene]

Love this thread. Great idea!

Tessa and Jem, from The Infernal Devices.
Clare, a character in The Time Traveler's Wife.
Clary, Simon, Alec, all characters in The Mortal Instruments.
Hermione, Luna, and Neville, from Harry Potter.
Cinnamon nn Min, protagonist of The Gravesavers.
Athena, (embarassingly) because she's Ariel's mother in The Little Mermaid.
Ariadne, the Architect from Inception!
And about eight million others :P

Books are usually quite influential in my picks.

[pansy]

My biggest one would be Temperance. Never would have considered it and then I started watching "Bones" a few years ago. Now's it's one of our top names if this baby's a girl.

[kathrynsarah]

Minerva, Hermione, and Cedric from Harry Potter.
Phoebe and Chandler from Friends, though I can't use Chandler.
Jack from Pirates of the Caribbean but wouldn't use it because of popularity and I know a baby with the name.
Leo/Leonardo because of Mr. DiCaprio and Liam because of Mr. Neeson, both of which are too popular now.
Alexander for Alexander the Great...does that count?
I have also always loved River Phoenix's name. I used to want to name a son River Phoenix (first and middle name). I'm over that now haha, but I still love River and think about it from time to time. I have also considered Phoenix on its own.

[kathrynsarah]

How could I forget these?!

Matilda from the Roald Dahl novel.
Cordelia from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (also my inspiration for my love of Liam).
Rose as a fn from Doctor Who/nn Rosie from We Bought a Zoo.
Lucian from Underworld.

I love this thread because this applies to most of the names I love. I also want to clarify that I wouldn't be naming my children after any of these people/characters, they are just the reason I first heard or fell in love with the names.

[sabrinafair]

I have TONS here are some:

BOOKS:
Agnes, David - David Copperfield
Arrow Oliver, Kal-El Clark, Bruce Wayne, Damian Nightwing, Robin Grayson, Harley Quinn Ivy, Selena, Arkham, Gotham - DC Comics characters/Places Green Arrow, Superman, Batman, Damian Wayne, Nightwing, Robin, Harley Quinn + Poison Ivy, Selina Kyle, Arkham Asylum, Gotham City
Avery, Fern, Templeton, Charlotte - Charlotte's Web
Chester - after the cat Chester in Bunnicula series
Dorian - Dorian Gray
Hyzenthlay, Hazel, Dandelion, Strawberry, Blackavar, Efrafa - Watership Down
Edmund, Aslan, Narnia, Lucy, Charn, Jadis, Tumnus, Caspian, Hwin, Bree, Aravis, Shasta - Chronicles of Narnia

TV SHOWS:
Damon [unisex] - Damon from Vampire Diaries

MOVIES:
Amsterdam - after Gangs of New York character Amsterdam

ACTORS:
Bear - after Bear Grylls
Bale - after Christian Bale
Perkins - after Anthony Perkins
Beckham - after David Beckham
Balthazar - after Balthazar Getty
Tobias - after Tobey Maguire


MUSICIANS:
Michael - Michael Jackson

[vito208]

Rohan- a city in 'The Lord of the Rings'

[edenlyla13]

Forrest-from Forrest Gump
Hermione, Luna, Neville, Helena - from Harry Potter series
Cinnamon nn Min - the Gravesavers
Primrose, Finnick, Johanna, Cinna -the Hunger Games series
Magdalena nn Lena and Hana -Delirium series
Tobias- Divergent series
Alec and Isabelle-the Mortal Instruments
Finn and Sam - Glee
Aria and Ezra- Pretty Little Liars
Thalia - the Percy Jackson series

[lucialucentum]

Edmund- my grade 3 teacher read us The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and that was when I fell in love with Edmund.
Catharine- I did a project on Catharine Parr Traill in grade 12 Canadian history, and that's what solidified my preference with the spelling... though I'm not sure if she counts as a celebrity.
Cedric- Harry Potter, I can't lie.
Clara- Heidi
Ephraim- I first heard this on the WB show Everwood. They spelled it differently, but I love the name!
Evgeni- Evgeni Malkin, hahaha. I don't even like Pittsburgh, but Evgeni is an awesome name.
Ezra- uh, Tayor Hanson's kid made me take note of it.
Gaël- Gael García Bernal
Hortensia- I read a book by Hortense Powdermaker in 4th year and I took note of Hortensia because of it. While combing this Valencian names document I have, Hortènsia came up, and it sparked my interest.
Hyacinth- the character on "Keeping Up Appearances" hahaha
Iker- noticed because of Iker Casillas, kept on the list because I'm in love with the Basque Country.
Leonor- the Infanta of Spain. I don't care about the royal family but I do love this name!
Marius- I read a play in grade 10 French called "Fanny", and Marius really stuck out to me, especially in French. Love it!
Moira- Wendy Moira Angela Darling. Peter Pan is by far my favourite story ever.
Paget- I have a bit of a girl crush on Paget Brewster, lol.
Pastora- there's this flamenco singer named Pastora Pavón (La niña de los peines)
Rafael- Rafael Nadal, not gonna lie.
Romola- I went through a Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights phase a few years ago and the lead actress' name is Romola, I thought it was pretty.
Rosaline- pretty much the only thing I like about Romeo and Juliet.
Viola- I loooove Twelfth Night!

(this is from my long list, haha)