If I'm reading a book and a character's name makes me laugh out loud, I can't continue.
Someone recommended a book to me the other day. But the main love interest's name was ...
...
wait for it ...
...
Brodan.
No, friends. Just no.
What are the worst names you guys have seen in books? (And yes, they have to be genuinely misplaced. Amberle is ok if your book is called Elfstones of Shannara, nowhere else.)
How dare you mock my future unborn child's name.
ReplyDeletelol! I heard once of a character named Needy. I mean, let's at least try to be a little realistic people!
ReplyDeleteI've never read the book Where the Heart is but I've seen the movie (and who hasn't since it's on tv almost daily). I have never liked the name of the that the main character winds up with. I mean, have you ever met a librarian named Forney (rhymes with...) ?
ReplyDeleteIn Haruki Murakami's After Dark the two sisters are Mari and Eri (pronounced Ari). I just found that ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteHi Ru! I'm in your campaign group for contemporary. And Sarah Dessen has some uber-preppy names for her characters: Auden, MacLean, Haven, Sumner, Clarke (for a girl)
ReplyDelete@JA - I think Needy was in Jennifer's Body, the meek best friend
@Abby - The names in Where the Heart Is actually grew on me. Sister Husband! I like the name Americus, though I wouldn't name my future children that.
There are a number of laugh-worthy names in the old Five Little Peppers series by Margaret Sidney (which isn't great writing, but a fascinating look at a bygone era). Examples include Livingston Bayley, King Fisher, Ingoldsby Dobbs, Algernon Rhys Dodge, and, best of all, a MAN named Roslyn May. I think the author had a seriously misinformed view of what kinds of names the average rich New Englander would've had in the late 19th century!
ReplyDeleteThe main character's name in a book I read recently (and really liked) was "Belly." It made me cringe every time.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't bring myself to buy a book where the main character's name was YoYo. I'm sorry, but please. What's that short for? Yolanda? Considering the one person I know named Yolanda is about 80, it's still not much better if we're talking contemporary YA!
ReplyDeleteP.S.- To anyone actually named Yolanda, I have nothing against the name. I just associate it with an 80 year old, and therefore can't imagine it tagged to a 17 year old. But the real enemy here is the name "YoYo."
I have a super-hard time with names. If the name is really weird, it stops me every time.
ReplyDeleteKatniss took me a long time to get used to. And Galbatorix from Eragon- what a mouthful. And Four from Divergent. Good book, but Four is not a name- it's a NUMBER.
I sort of had to work at liking Gale in The Hunger Games. I know he was a guy, but all I could think about was him and Oprah going on a cross-country joy ride.
ReplyDeleteI always giggle at JR Ward's names in her vampire books. Rhage. Rhevenge. Tohrment. It doesn't stop me from reading, but sometimes I'm like, rheally?
ReplyDeleteI generally shy away from names I can't pronounce. If it has too many consonants, I'm going to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteLeast favorite name: Renesmee. How did this name make it through editorial? I still wonder...
LOL! These comments are hilarious! I agree with a few posters. The Hunger Games had some weird ones. Katniss took a long time to get used to. I always kept thinking of Catnip. :P And Peeta reminded me of Pitas. I guess he did make bread...
ReplyDeleteEver. I can't handle that as a name. It's a word!
ReplyDeleteHaha, you guys are amazing - this list is incredible. Agreed on all fronts.
ReplyDelete