Disney Channel Names: Zora & Zeke
This week, Appellation Mountain’s Abby Sandel clicks us into the Disney Channel to check out their latest name possibilities.
First there was Bambi. Then came Ariel and Jasmine and the rest of the Disney princesses. I’ve yet to meet a baby Nemo, but Sebastian? I know three. The average animated Disney character has a pretty decent chance of making an encore appearance on birth certificates as well as a lunchboxes.
But what about all of those other Disney names? The Disney Channel debuted in 1983. The appellations from their original series and movies are no less inventive. The latest Disney flick is Prom, opening nationwide at the end of April.
Not every name is novel. Hannah had been in the US Top Ten for more than a decade before Hannah Montana arrived on the scene. Cody, from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, was fading fast when the show premiered in 2005, but is a reasonable choice for a character born in the early 1990s.
Other choices border on the outrageous, like High School Musical’s Sharpay or The Cheetah Girls’ Aquanette.
With millions of tweens and teens tuning in to watch the Disney Channel, chances are that some of these names will inspire future parents.
GIRLS
CeCe – A nickname for Cecelia on new show Shake It Up.
Charlie – Short for Charlotte, and the name that inspired the title Good Luck, Charlie.
Dorinda – Along with Galleria, Chanel, and Aquanette, one of The Cheetah Girls.
Juliet – A teenaged vampire on The Wizards of Waverly Place.
London – The Suite Life’s resident heiress.
Miley – Hannah Montana’s alter ego was originally called Chloe. The change happened after Miley Cyrus was cast as the lead.
Mitchie – Demi Lovato’s Cinderella-esque character in Camp Rock
Sonny – In Sonny with a Chance, main character Allison answers to this unexpected nickname.
Tru – Short for Trudy in 2002 original movie about an aspiring filmmaker
Veruca – A minor character from Lizzie McGuire. Her character is nothing like Roald Dahl’s spoiled bully from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Wednesday – From a new series called Madison High, slated for a 2012 debut.
BOYS
Harvey – Another name from not-yet-debuted Madison High.
Jonas – The Jonas Brothers actually answered to the surname Lucas on their Disney Channel show.
Milo – An adventurous, adolescent, animated fish.
Phineas – The other animated character to make it onto the list, Phineas Flynn’s full name is seriously stylish.
Skander
Troy – Zac Efron’s character from the wildly successful High School Musical franchise.
Wen – Short for Wendell, a character from new Disney Original Movie Lemonade Mouth.
Do you recognize some of the characters? Would you use – or avoid – a name because it has been on the Disney Channel?