TV Baby Names: Quirky new girl names from the new shows
By Linda Rosenkrantz
Every TV season brings its own few unique character names, some that make interesting baby names, some that are just weird curiosities. Lately we’ve had the Game of Thrones crew, and from the futuristic The Handmaid’s Tale, Offred, Ofglen, Ofsamuel and Oferic stepped from the pages of Margaret Atwood’s novel onto the small screen.
With 450+ original series in production in 2017, (and, it seems, almost as many network, cable and streaming platforms), each show with a full cast of new characters, it’s almost impossible to keep up. But here are some of the quirkiest girl names we found.
Amara De Escalones– on Get Shorty, she’s the casino boss, and Amara is also an immortal character on The Vampire Diaries. Stylish Amara is a multi-cultural name now ranked at #300 nationally and 11 on Nameberry, making it one of the most usable names on this list.
Bey is a 4-year-old on HBO’s Ballers. Don’t they know there’s just one Bey?
Boo-In the British comedy Fleabag, Boo is the protagonist’s (yes, she’s called Fleabag) dead but still present best friend. A male character name in To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo is also the adorable little girl in Monsters, Inc.
ColandreaConners, aka Coco, is one of a group of African-American students on Dear White People. Colandrea is an interesting extension of Andrea; Coco is growing in popularity as a stand-alone name, used for their daughters by Courtney Cox, Sting, Kim Gordon, Diane Farr and Tony Kanal, ranking at #402 on Nameberry.
Creek Lovell is the name of a waitress on Midnight, Texas. Now this is one water name we’ve never considered.
Crimson Fox is a superhero on the show Powerless, a comic book import. More distinctive than Scarlett, Crimson is occasionally used in Alabama because of the Alabama Crimson Tide connection.
Duke– In Better Things, all the female characters have boyish names: Sam, Max, Frankie and Duke (The cast list also includes a Trieste and a Sorrow). Duke is one of the rising noble names for boys–now at #557—used by Diane Keaton, Justine Bateman and Giuliana Rancic for their sons.
Eleven—(shown) A preteen with psychokinetic powers who plays a big part in Stranger Things, she was born with the name Jane, and is usually known as El. Could she usher in a trend for number names, which we haven’t heard since Six on Blossom, Seven on Married with Children and on Seinfeld, and Erykah Badu’s real-life son Seven.
Fiji Cavanaugh is a quirky witch character on Midnight, Texas. An undiscovered place name with pleasant beachy associations.
Larin Inamdar— In the new Naomi Watts series Gypsy, this character is another New York therapist. Larin is a Latin name associated with laurel leaves.
Lenny Busker is Aubrey Plaza’s lead character name in Legion. Possible homage to Lena Dunham, whose nickname this is? And that’s not all—Uma Thurman plays badass Lenny Cohen in Bravo’s The Imposters.
Lucca Quinn—In the Good Wife spinoff The Good Fight, this character is a smart bond lawyer. Lucca is a place-name variant of Luca, a popular Italian boys’ name.
Madonna Reed is a fierce character on Midnight, Texas. Madonna became virtually a one-person name in the 1980s.
Monte Porter—the principal of a charter school on The Fosters and a newly gender-bended option.
Niecy Patterson—the young adult niece of Mary Jane on the BET show Being Mary Jane; obviously inspired by Niecy Nash (born Carol Denise).
Mallandra Morris is the sister-in-law of the female star of Catastrophe. A distant name smoosh/cousin of Melanie, Melissa and Sandra.
Soledad Temple is the character played by Sonia Braga on Luke Cage. A strong and classic Spanish name known here via broadcaster Soledad O’Brien
Tahani Al–Jamil–In the fantasy-comedy The Good Place, Tahini Al–Jami is a deceased, wealthy philanthropist now in the heaven-like Good Place.
Tulip O’Hare, played by rising star Ruth Negga on the AMC series Preacher, is based on a comic book character. Tulip could be a flower name waiting to blossom; Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell used it as a middle for their twin daughter.
Winter—a young biracial woman on Taboo. This freshest sounding season name has now risen to #506, chosen by actress Gretchen Mol.
Xylda, a ghostly grandmother character on Midnight, Texas.
Zilpha Geary. Period drama Taboo features several colorful character names, including this one, played by Oona Chaplin— an actress with a historic and colorful name herself. Zilpha is a vintage name yet to be reclaimed.
If you liked this, check out the boys’ edition!