Poll: Is it [wrong] to name a child after a [video game character]?

[SH4DOWSL4Y3R]

I kind of just came by the thread to Drop this if nobody else had.


Unless i had a momentary complete blackout as i scrolled past, i haven't been Ninja'd. woo!

in my personal opinion though, i'm a little neutral on the subject, depends a lot on the name in question.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

1. I don't think it's silly or stupid, no. People need more creative and unique names these days. Who wants to live with a boring as fuck name? As long as it isn't something like "Noobslayer" or shit, then I see no problem with it.

2. I'd say it's all one in the same.

3. I don't think so, no. Some villains are positively iconic, such as Darth Vader (Vader itself is a very cool name). I'd say you could use any characters name, regardless of who the character is, as long as it sounds okay (wouldn't want your kid to be made fun of their whole life for it, after all).

4. I don't think lines should be drawn between established and obscure, unless some names are copyrighted of course. I'd say the line should be drawn based upon how the name sounds or what it may mean. As I previously said, something along the lines of "Noobslayer" or a weird Argonian name in Elder Scrolls wouldn't be acceptable.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

If it's a video game name that isn't too out there, I don't see an issue with it.
Calling your daughter Lara is fine, Cortana, not so much.

If you name your other kids Durandal and Joyeuse, you might get away with it.

OT: As long as it's not an overly outlandish name or a pretentious snowflake spelling of a name, you can name your kid whatever you want in my world.

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

My best friend, Cameron, was named after Kirk Cameron for goodness sake! He would much rather be named after a fictional character. My friends name is "normal" and I only know who he was named after because he would only trust a friend with such embarrassing information. I think it would be preferable to give your child a reasonable name (that happens to be a video game characters name if that's what you want to do) and not have it make an obvious association, as others have said; make it "normal" enough so that they don't have to be stuck with that association if they don't want it. I see no problem with a not so normal character name that makes an obvious association, but you gotta be careful with that because of the possible consequences.

What if when your child learns about the character they were named after and doesn't like the idea of being named after a game character or just doesn't like that character? What if your kid goes to school and gets made fun of? What if when the kids first grade teacher asks why his/her parents gave them the name they get people questioning your ability as a parent due to an assumption of lack of maturity? Just gotta be careful with that, just because it may seem cool to you to have your spawn named after your favorite game character doesn't mean your kid is gonna share that feeling.

 

[Revolutionary]

For me it would largely depend on what character they wanted to name the child after. If it was a character from a jrpg that has some ridiculous name then I'd say you're being silly but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was abject.
I will leave this here as I find it generally an agreeable guideline.

 

[OneOfTheMichael's]

Not really considering most game characters have normal regular names.
Its probably weird if they name their kid Dovakhin, if its direct from the game, but hey, you can change your name later or just deal with it. But hell nothings wrong with it, I might name my kid something from one of my (or OUR) favorite game.s

 

[General Twinkletoes]

If it's an actual name, no. It obviously doesn't make any kind of difference.
If you name your kid something weird like Solaire or Link or god dam Zelda, then yeah, you're screwing them over because they will be made fun of mercilessly. Unless you hate your kids, don't give them weird names.

Zelda is the least stupid name you listed. It's a real name, Miyamoto chose it because he liked it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_(given_name)


Anyway, I agree with you, if it's a real name, go for it, but don't name them something stupid because it was from a video game. Those parents who named their kid Dovahkiin are assholes.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

Parents are naming their kids all sorts of crazy things these days and pulling inspiration from many different sources so I can't see why video games would be excluded.

 

[shrimpcel]

Naming a child after a video game character?! Absurd!


Now if you'll excuse me, I need to feed Daenerys Stormborn, of house Targaryen, Mother of Dragons and Queen of Meereen, Protector of the Realm, Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men.



OT: It completely depends on the name, just the same as with characters from novels or film. I voted 'no', because there's nothing inherently bad with a name like Gordon or Zelda, even if the choice is made for the videogame character.

(There is something wrong with naming a kid "King Bob Omb" or "Gargarensis", but it's all about where we draw the line).

Seeing an Age of Mythology reference just brings me back to the old days...

OT: As mostly everyone has said, if it's a name that's already common in your country then it makes absolutely no difference. If it's not then you should refrain from doing it.

 

[Something Amyss]

Is it wrong? Silly? Stupid? [even if its an established name like April and Nathan] Why?

I'm personally okay with it. It might get silly if it's extreme enough, I suppose ("Ah named mah kid Big Daddeh!"), and some names I might be concerned about the kid getting picked on, but that latter part's not particularly different from established names.

Is it worse than naming your child after a movie/tv show/book character? Why?

It's about the same, I suppose. Especially when you consider the way people will name their kids after Jersey Shore contestants or whatever they're called.

Does it matter if there is a positive background story behind it? (i.e the character stands by good morals that are inspiring/meaningful to you).

To an extent, but then I wonder the motivations for naming kids with names associated with bad things, period. Naming someone "Lilith" or "Cain" or whatever seems like it'd have negative connotations, but it happens.

Where should you draw the line? Between established and totally obscure. Does it matter?

I don't draw the line.

Any more added, I'll answer.

 

[Chemical Alia]

I wouldn't even name my dog after a video game. It's like the most ultimately tacky nerd thing to me. This is coming from someone whose mom came up with my middle name after reading freaking Dune (she's not even a fan of sci-fi). I'm not really bothered by it, but if she were, I think I somehow actually might be.

 

[Something Amyss]

It's like the most ultimately tacky nerd thing to me.

Don't lay down that gauntlet. I don't want to know how they one-up it. But I know they will.

 

[drummond13]

According to me? No.

According to my wife? Yes.

This has led to me realizing my firstborn son will not, in fact, receive the name "Link".

(Heavy sigh)

 

[Cpt. Lozan]

Not all video game characters have ridiculous names ya know. I'm naming my first born Issac, because Golden Sun was the best game ever forever.

 

[NinjaSniperAssassin]

It kind of depends on the name.
Something like Gordon, Isaac, Lara is perfectly fine. I'm even OK if you go a bit exotic with something like Valkenhayn, Mordecai, Asura or Zelda. Sometimes, however, the line can be drawn if you choose to name your child something like Dovahkiin.

Dude, Mordecai would be a freaking awesome name for a kid! And the best part is it's apparently (according to Wikipedia) a real, biblical name, so I might even be able to get away with it! I may have to steal that in approximately 8-10 years...

OT: Nope, nothing wrong with it at all. As long as the name isn't something ridiculous that he/she's gonna get ridiculed for there's no problem with it. Far too many Jessicas, Emilys, and Mikes around nowadays, the world could use a few more Leons and Liliths.

 

[Austin Manning]

I'm currently writing an article about this and wanted more opinions on this matter, so:

Is it wrong? Silly? Stupid? [even if its an established name like April and Nathan] Why?

Is it worse than naming your child after a movie/tv show/book character? Why?

Does it matter if there is a positive background story behind it? (i.e the character stands by good morals that are inspiring/meaningful to you).

Where should you draw the line? Between established and totally obscure. Does it matter?

Those are the only questions I can come up with now, but I might add some more later.

Please comment and vote, if you wish.

Just so long as the name is spelled correctly (i.e. Phoenix instead of Fenix) it's fine. As for morals, well my knowledge of naming history is not deep, to it seems that most people were named after someone in the hopes that they would channel some of that person's qualities. Hence all the pharaohs named Ramses.

 

[felbot]

It doesn't really matter where a name comes from but it should be a reasonable name. For example when I eventually find Mrs JoJo and settle down, naming any offspring a normal name after a character in a game like "James" or "Sarah" is fine, on the other hand poor little "Cloud" or "Subject Delta" aren't going to get an easy ride through school. So really, it depends on the name itself more than anything else.

you know your post reminded me of a web comic I used to read some time ago where one of the characters were actually called cloud, apparently his mother loved ff7 so much she just had to name him that.

Sandra and woo I think it was called.

anyway on topic, sure sounds good, like anybody would even know what game Caleb comes from.

actually if I ever get a child I am calling him Caleb and ill see how long it takes until someone gets where it comes from.

 

[LackofCertainty]

I've seen both ends of the spectrum on this.

One one hand, a friend of mine named his son Sephiroth. They call him "Seph." I suppose this could be mistaken for "Seth" in public. And, in school he has the defense of: "My parents named me after one of the most bad-ass video game villains of all time!"

On the other hand, I had a co-worker that named his son Neelix. The kooky, strange, comedy relief, alien chef from Star Trek: Voyager. This poor kid is going be picked on and bullied mercilessly for the rest of his life...

Nah, he won't. You can easily shorten Neelix into Neil, which is a "normal" name.

Also, I would never name my daughter Rinoa, because that just looks/sounds too much like rhino. Sure, kids can make any name into an insult, but "Rinoa the Rhino" is just serving it up to them.

 

[putowtin]

Naming your kid Dovahkiin (example taken from above) is dumb but I'm totally naming my first-born Brynjolf.

Didn?t someone name their kid Dovahkiin to win a contest?

OT there have been far stupider names for kids, up until the early 20th century kids were still christened Lettuce in England and in the 19th century Blue and Murder were popular names (yes there have been a couple of Blue Murder Smiths on the census) A friend of mine is called Churchill, after Winston Churchill, unfortunately there's now the nodding dog, car insurance Churchill!

I always said if I had a boy (and I?d have to want to have kids first!) middle name would be Garrus or Ezio!