Daenerys

I love this, and am still seriously considering it... I have a lot of attachments to the nickname "Dan" and think it would be lovely for a little person. Daenerys' storyline was tragic and had a very sad ending, but I empathise with her character greatly. It's also far more usable than "Khaleesi" which is just a title anyways. A beautiful name!

It is a real name, just an unusual one.

It's nice compared to other names, such as Khaleesi and Renesmee. If you want to honor Game Of Thrones, I'd go with Arya.

*cough* See how the show ended...

Arya has been around for a long time.

I LOVE this name! When I heard it for the first time I thought it was beautiful! Daenerys will definitely be one of my future daughters names :) I also like the GOT charecter, she's fierce and beautiful which makes the name even more lovely to me. Of course, before using the name I will wait for the series ending. You never know how it's going to end...

I really love this name, and I think the combo Daenerys Josephine is absolutely stunning. I think that Khaleesi will end up sounding more dated and too linked to GOT, similar to how people view Renesmee. Daenerys, however, I think could end up being more of a Vanessa or Miranda. It's sound is similar to classics like Dolores, but seems spunkier with the nickname Dany. I would really love to see this become an established name!

I would hope people would at least wait until the books are done before naming your daughter this. What if the character turns out horribly?

I love the sound of Daenerys. It's sleek and swooshy, manages to seem grounded and regal while also projecting a dainty fairy-princess vibe. GRRM is definitely a great namer of characters! Plus I've always heard it as a smoosh of Danae, Nerys and Rhys, all names I really like.

Daenerys actually seems like a legit name that would work well IRL (sound-wise at least. would be hard to spell). I can see where the Game of Thrones character would appeal as a namesake to fans of the series and show. And I understand the perspective where all names were invented at one point or another- Jessica, Vanessa, Arwen- so why not use this one?

But I also strongly think that it's a very flash-trendy name that would date a child to the 2010s, and it would be a very hard name to pull off being so synonymous with the Mother of Dragons. IMO this name could be usable only if it's had more of a chance to prove its lasting power after thirty, forty years or so, in that it managed to transition out from the perception of "made-up fantasy name".

(For the longest time I thought that this name was spelled Danaerys, which I prefer a lot more although this Daenerys spelling is all right.)

or Imogen! And Vanessa was a created name also.

or Cordelia

Daenerys is a beautiful name and it's a thousand times better than Khaleesi.

Renesmee is a terrible name because it SOUNDS awful (and I would think so even if it wasn't made up for some terrible books). If I had NOT heard of "Daenerys" from the George R.R. Martin books first, I would STILL think it sounded nice, but I might've assumed that it was foreign which would explain why it sounded unfamiliar to me. A lot of people think Hermione sounds AWFUL regardless of the fact that they may have LOVED the character from the Harry Potter series and they might mistakenly think JK Rowling made up the name, which she obviously didn't. My point is, people do often consider how a name SOUNDS before they christen their child with that name and they don't just always think "Ooh the actress who portrays her on TV or in the movies sure is pretty. I should give my daughter her fictional name." As someone already mentioned earlier, the last two syllables of Daenerys already make up an existing girl's name in Wales anyway, so at least two of those syllables already sounded nice to some people out there.

Even though this originated in a fantasy series, I still think it has a beautiful ring to it. It just flows together nicely and this particular combination of vowels gives it an ethereal, feminine vibe. I also like how Dany is such an obvious nickname (if the kid turns out to be a tomboy or just initially wants an easier name to pronounce when she's still little).

I agree

Same! Why would you name your child after the stupid show Game of Thrones.

someone has to make up names where do you think they come from ???

What counts as a real name, does that mean miranda isn't a real name either, it was made up for a play.

Sansa was a name before the book though.

Beautiful name ! "Dae" is a korean name means "greatness", "Nerys" is a welsh name means "lady". Daenerys means "great lady" or "powerful lady" that's why George RR Martin created and used it in his books ^^ Really sweet name ;-)

Esme is a real name and i think its nice. But this name just sounds terrible on anyone not living in a mythical world. I like Lord of the Rings but i'm not about to name my son Frodo.

agreed. I think Daenerys is beautiful

OMG!! Just thinking of the name makes me imagine a blonde naked woman with dragons on her shoulders! :-(

this name literally looks like a baby slammed on a keyboard, there are better Game of Thrones related named out there!

People say its not a real name, neither was Olivia or Miranda before Shakespeare...

oh come now Rush1986...what constitutes a real name? You seem really opposed to using non-real names because this isn't the only place you've voiced that opinion. But, surely it is not uncommon to name a child after a literary character, whether it's an established name or a newly invented one. And if parents can name their child after a song that may have been playing when the child was conceived or a concert they attended the same night, then we really shouldn't pass judgement just for using fictional (and potentially "new") names.

That being said, depending on the particular choice of name, I agree with you that they may very well be embarrassed when they're old enough to know better. I'm not sure I'd want to own up to my parents being fans of tween novels or their subsequent sci-fi/fantasy movies. Then again, IMHO only, Esme on its own isn't half as bad as Rennesme or Renesmee (however you spell it...). So, the seriousness of the crime probably does depend on the name lol.

If you like this name but not the pop culture association, have a look at Damaris. It's a beautiful biblical name with a strong meaning (dominant woman) and has a similar sound to daenerys. If you want to be fancy you could also replace the I with an y.

Save these names for your pets, NOT your children.

This is not a real name. It's as bad as people using Renesmee and will embarrass a child just as much.

As far as literary names go, you could do a lot worse than the names from ASoIaF. Apart from names pulled directly from reality (Jon, Robb, Catelyn, etc.) you've got Sansa, Arya, Daenerys. They all sound pretty solid, maybe with Daenerys being the least "real-sounding". I would not personally name my child after this character since the books are not finished and the kid will have a really hard time spelling it to people all their lives. But it does come with the potential for cute nicknames, like Dany from the books.

I'm surprised my name hasn't come up as a similar name. Nerys