Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Top Ten Unusual Character Names We've Encountered In Books


To learn more about Top Ten Tuesday or see the future topics, click here!

This week was all about character names -- top ten character names I LOVE or top ten most unusual character names! Feel free to come up with your own twist on the character names if this doesn't work exactly for you!

Jamie says:

1. Katniss from The Hunger Games: I can't help but want to call her catnip. SORRY K!
2. Renesmee from Breaking Dawn: Look, I understand wanting to honor people in your life by maybe naming your child after them but you can't just smoosh 2 names together! STOP TRYING TO MAKE FETCH HAPPEN. It's awkward to say and no me gusta.
3. Echo from Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry: I don't think I've ever heard of anybody named Echo!


Jana says:

4. Cassia from Matched by Ally Condie
5. Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas


Paula says:

6. Coraline from Coraline by Neil Gaiman. He actually talks about how it originally came from a misspelling. And there is a running joke in the book where people keep calling her Caroline.

Julia says:
7. Pretty much any Kathleen E. Woodiwiss heroine. Here is a list for you of the ones I find strange, and you can judge for yourself: Erienne, Shanna, Lierin, Cerynise, Abrielle, Synnovea, Raelynn, and Shemaine.

Jen says

8. Rhine from The Chemical Garden trilogy by Lauren DeStefano. It's just an odd name but it really fit with the book.

Daisy says:
9. Belly from the Summer series by Jenny Han: I feel like I keep going on about this, but that name is just odd, I'm fine with Bella, Belle, pretty much anything other than Belly. That's the body part that holds your food.

10. Kvothe from The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss: I know there's pronunciation guide somewhere on the internet, but I still can't manage to wrap my head around it.

Have any unusual names that could top ours?? Do you have any of these on your list if you chose to do this particular topic?

77 comments:

  1. Nice list! If my list had been straight up strange names, Katniss definitely would have made the cut!

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  2. Belly is a good one!! Rhine is so unusual too, but fits the book so well. We have Renesmee in common :)

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  3. Oh Echo is super pretty! I loved this topic since my hubby and I are totally in the middle of trying to figure out a name for our forthcoming babe. Seriously names are so hard when there's a real person I love book names and he totally doesn't

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  4. HAHA I spent the entirety of Name of the Wind trying out different pronunciations for Kvothe in my head :)
    I can't believe I didn't think of Katniss! That is a weird name. And Pressia is odd too, but it's really pretty.

    - Kritika @ Snowflakes & Spider silk

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  5. Renesmee is an awkward name. lol. I know someone named Echo so it's not unusual for me. But if it's my first time hearing that name I would think that it's a sexy name. :D

    Celaena Sardothien is odd. It sounds medieval and old. But she's a kick-ass heroine, isn't she?
    Great picks! :))

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    1. I don't like it either, and I wonder why Stephanie Meyer would do something like that. Was she trying to be unusual? If so, she succeeded.

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  6. Belly? Ah I couldn't keep a straight face reading a book with a character called Belly!

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  7. Belly! What a strange name. It's not so bad as a nickname but a real name?! Great list!

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  8. Reneesme is a good one. I had forgotten how much that one weirded me out. Haha.

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  9. I completely forgot about Renesmee and Katniss.. :)

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  10. Great list! Renesmee... I remember reading that and being like what?! And yes I called Katniss catnip until I decided how much I like her.

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  11. My wirehaired dachshund is called Echo ;)

    I like Coraline, it's pretty!

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  12. I totally agree with your thoughts on Belly! I've never been a fan of that name!

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  13. I love Coraline, and I love that it wasn't intended to be that- I can't believe I forgot to add it to my list! I haven't read/watched the series, but there are some pretty wonderful names in Game of Thrones- Daenerys, Arya, Sansa... I love those three!

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  14. Belly?! OH... no. Just no. I can't even look at it.

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  15. And I'm the strange one who liked Belly as a nickname (for Isabelle)

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  16. Heh, I forgot about Coraline. It's a pretty cool name :)

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  17. Renesmee is definitely unusual! Echo is on my list too!

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  18. I think Raelynn is actually a really pretty name! I love the story about Coraline!

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  19. Haha, excellent, I had to copy Renesmee just to be able to comment on how impossible that name is ;-) <3 Kvothe though, it helped me immensely when I listened to Rothfuss talk about the books, since he obviously says it quite easily :D

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  20. I'd completely forgotten about Coraline! I love that name! It's interesting that it came from a misspelling. :)

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  21. I definitely vote for Renesmee and Coraline, but I like Coraline.

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  22. I forgot about Renesmee! That one should definitely have been on the list!!

    Here's my TTT!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  23. I just linked up my post! This is my first T10T, and I'm super excited to be a part of it!

    http://plantsandpages.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-unusual-character-names/

    ~Kris

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  24. In regards to the name Echo.. I do business with another company & their sales rep that I have to call is named Echo. The only time I'd heard that name before was from LOST, ha.

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  25. I forgot about Renesmee. Yep, that was is out there. I know someone named Echo, but it is unusual. There should be rules against using body parts as names, but then, celebrities name their kids some wacky names, too.

    Here's mine: http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-character-names.html

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  26. I did a Top Ten Names I Love list, but I also have Katniss at mine, because I like flower-ish names :o)

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  27. I wasn't a fan of Belly either. Isabel is a lovely name with quite a few nickname options - why choose Belly?!

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  28. I did a Top Ten of the Names I Love, and Katniss is pretty high on mine, though you're right, it does sound like catnip

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  29. Coraline is such a great name for a character, as are Cassia and Katniss. I'm not a big fan of the name Belly, and I kept thinking of food the entire book. I think I liked the story behind her nickname more than her actual nickname.

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  30. Belly is just odd. I'm not sure who would actually want to be called that. Also Renesmee I've always despised. I actually like that they kind of made fun of it in the movie.

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  31. I agree with Jaime about Renesmee. They could have given her one name as her first, and one as her middle, but trying to smush them together into one name? Weird.

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  32. Renesmee just sounds silly. I agree that Belly doesn't work. And Kvothe made my list, both for its unusualness and because I love the name -- and all the other names he accumulates.

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  33. Wow #214 I def. posted late.

    Belly is a strange one. Was it a nickname?


    Ashley
    http://books-4-review.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-ten-character-names-i-love-or-top.html

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  34. I didn't even think of Katniss. That is a great one!

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  35. Thanks for hosting this. I'm participating for the first time, although I've read many posts in the past.

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  36. When they named her Renesme I face palmed haha

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  37. Oh, Twilight! I thought of that when I was mentally compiling my list but forgot to include it. Renesmee is a weird one, for sure! I actually quite like the rest of the names in the novels, though! :) Excellent lists, ladies!

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  38. Rhine is a great one I totally didn't think of! Great list.

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  39. Really enjoyed this one, it was fun looking up old favorite character names, trying to find the most interesting. :)

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  40. There's one character called "Sandinista" but I can't remember the book :-(

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  41. My name is Echo and I just finished Pushing the Limits last night. It was a little strange to read a book that had my name in it. Lol.

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    1. A real live Echo!! It's a very pretty name...just very uncommon/unusual! Must be nice because you knew there would never be like 5 Echo's in your class!!

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  42. Coraline is a pretty common name in French! ;)

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  43. I agree with you on Renesme--I have always hated that name and my girls and I have a great time matching up names and laughing about it. About the name Echo. I do know of a girl named Echo. She was born in Echo canyon during the pioneer migration to Utah, her parents thought it fitting that she should be named after the place she was born in.

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  44. Yes! I mean, yes on the no, for Renesmee! But then, I get how an author falls in love with a name (been there), so I guess reader-wise I say "no"; author-wise I say "sure". ;) Also, I haven't read some of these yet... and now the names are making me quite curious! *goes off to add them to my TBR pile*

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  45. Interesting topic. The first names came to mind were all Dickens characters. But I did come up with a few other unusual ones.

    Marianne from Let's Read

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  46. This was SO much fun. Most of the character names I came up with, I also happen to love as characters. Thanks for hosting! :)

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  47. This sounds great!

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  48. Oh my gosh...you mentioned Belly. I AGREE. I haven't been able to bring myself to read those books because I canNOT look past her name. Which should never have been made a name. EVER. LOL ;)

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  49. Okay, I'm just going to completely lower the tone now but 'Katniss' - I always think 'Cat piss'. Sorry but there it is! You might want to delete this. And seriously Belly - just no - yes to what Sierra says above. It's a body part! What next, bum, thigh, earlobe?
    Plus Renesmee is the worst mash up in the history of mash ups. In fact I'll do my own mash up from my mum's, dad's and my name - Brimaglyn (yes, that's right - that's exactly what I called my daughter. Not) - why would you do that!
    Lynn :D

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  50. Katniss made my list, and I forgot Coraline, but that's a good one. Sci fi and high fantasy books are all good for special names--aliens and elves, and other beings that seem to favor at least five syllables in a name!

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  51. My name is one of Kathleen Woodiwiss's heroines (Shanna). I have only met a handful of other Shanna's in my life, and there are several different pronunciations of the ones I've met!

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  52. I kind of like Echo and Rhine, but I'm with you on Belly and Reneesme. Also, Shiobhan from A Curious Incident of the Dog in Nighttime. I never know how to pronounce it. I don't like saying things incorrectly, even in books, so it bugs me when names are complicated and hard to pronounce.

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  53. I wonder how many people have Renesmee on their list! haha, I love this topic it's fun to read what other people think about the names you love (or loathe) :D

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  54. Just linked to Top Ten Tuesdays with my blog, I've been doing them for a little while now but I guess my link never went through :/

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  55. I've only heard of two of the names on the list, and none of them made it onto my list- which is up and linked at last!

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  56. I love this!! This is my first top ten! Crazy! :)
    http://diamondlovestoread.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-unusual.html#comment-form

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  57. Great list! I Love the names Katniss and Coraline. Here is mine...
    http://bookbitereviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-ten-character-names-i-love.html

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  58. My sister named her first doll Cassia at age 2. She was trying to say Jessica, the name of my doll, but Cassia is what came out and Cassia is what stuck. Besides that doll, I never heard the name until Matched. I love it.

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  59. My first time doing a Top Ten Tuesday! This was a lot of fun!

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  60. Daisy and Jamie picked some great ones! Fantasy and extremely modern tend to get unusual.

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  61. omg, i am so with you on Renesmee... that has got to be the stupidest name in the history of, ever. as for Echo though, wasn't that the name of that charcter in Dollhouse (the tv show)? ^_- and lol at Kvothe too, i keep having to remind myself how to pronounce it.

    as for me, i don't really have any. i read mostly fantasy, so names are always weird in fantasy and i feel that you can't say they're weird, since they come from another world!

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  62. Great list! Katniss is in my list as well! ^^

    My Top Ten Tuesday

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  63. Haha, I love Jamie's explanation of Renesmee (I don't even think I spelled that right). She nailed it perfectly!

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  64. I also have Celaena's name on mine. Great list, btw!

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  65. I am pretty sure Renesmee sounds weird and so does Katniss.

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  66. I totally love the name Jace or Will for a boy and if it's a girl Tessa or Caroline.

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  67. Any of Derek Landy's 'Skulduggery Pleasant' characters.

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  68. Any of Derek Landy's 'Skulduggery Pleasant' characters.

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