top ten favorite (or unusual) character names

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, where we all get to exercise our OCD tendencies and come up with bookish lists.  If you’d like to play along, check out this post.

I have a great head for ridiculous facts, but names are a whole different ballgame.  I try to place them with faces, but half the time that doesn’t work.  When I’m reading, I don’t have the visual element to help out.  Even if I’m IN LOVE with a story, if I don’t reread it often, the names seem to go in and right back out.  So.  These are names I remember, from stories I love.

Top Ten Favorite (or Unusual) Character Names

1. Angharad Crewe, or Harry, in The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley – Harry is one of my most favorite characters ever, and she also has one of the most unique names… ever. I still am not sure how to pronounce the mouthful that is her proper moniker.  If anyone has an idea, let me know in the comments.

2. Suzy Turquoise-Blue in The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix – Suzy is an energy-filled ball of loyalty, mischief, and good (sometimes misguided!) fun.  And she has a pretty sweet surname.

3. Virginia, or Ginny, in The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle – I love this book, and I love the bravery and bullheadedness that Ginny displays.  Also, I love her name... it is my only sister’s as well.  And yes, she loves this book too.  I forced it on her many years ago.

4. Door in Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – What a lovely, brief, literal name!  Actually, one of the reasons I love Gaiman so much is his genius in naming his characters.  It always is JUST RIGHT for whatever purpose or world he fashions.

5. Akanesi Afa, or Canny, or Agnes Mochrie from Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox – The power of names and in knowing your heritage is one of the themes of this beautiful, layered fantasy, and main character Canny’s multiple identities are its best mystery.

6. Puddleglum in The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis – Well, I think I’ve waxed nostalgic about Puddleglum before, but it’s such an obvious, literal fit that it just works.

7. September in the Fairyland books by Catherynne M. Valente – Ah, September’s adventures in Fairyland wouldn’t be half the fun if she had an ordinary name, would they?  I do love the idea of naming a child something out of the ordinary – something that doesn’t have gender associations but is at the same time classic and easy-to-spell.

8. Marigold in Magic for Marigold by L.M. Montgomery – This peach of a book opens with an entire clan in uproar over the naming of a baby girl.  What shall she be called?!  In the end, she’s named after the doctor (a lady doctor, no less!), and she grows into the loveliness that is Marigold.

9. Elnora Comstock in A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter – This is one of my favorite books.  I have spent so much time with Elnora over the years, and shed many tears and smiled many smiles with her.  I can’t forget her in this roll call, especially when one of the pivotal scenes makes a play on her name!  Oh, she is magnificent.

10. Victoria Wright in The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire Legrand – Another name that seems to fit its character to a T.  Especially the last name.  Actually it might count as obvious.  But we’ve already established that I love obvious.  So: Victoria Wright doesn’t like messes or anything out of place, but she loves her friend, and NOTHING, not even dirt, will keep her from finding him.

What is one of your favorite character names from a book?

how my blog got its name, or, happy father’s day

I’ve gotten a couple of questions over time about my blog name. Queries such as: How did I come up with it? Does it have a story? If so, will I share? I’ve put off answering until now because I felt that such a special story deserved a special day.

First off, my real, full name IS Cecelia. My friends have called me a variety of nicknames over the years, but mostly I’ll answer to anything in the vicinity of my name, even on occasion to ‘Cynthia’ or ‘Sylvia.’ It’s lovely to have a special, old-fashioned name, but it is a bit difficult for remembering and orthography.

Secondly (for this story’s sake), I came by my love of reading via my family. My mom, though not a big reader herself, was very conscientious about reading aloud to my siblings and I every day. We went through dog books, horse books, Narnia books, adventures and fairy tales, and even a scary tale or three. She read aloud most mornings and some evenings, and on camping trips. I think that was absolutely fantastic, and part of the reason I’m such a bookworm today.

But there were also a couple very special moments in my childhood when I remember my dad reading aloud to me. It didn’t happen often, so that made it all the more memorable. My dad worked from 6am to 4pm every weekday so that he could be home with the family in the afternoons and take every other Friday off. He came home tired most days, but he was always kind, patient, and generous with his time.

You may have already guessed this, but the title ‘Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia,’ is adapted from the title of children’s book The Adventures of Amelia Bedelia, by Peggy Parish. That’s because I remember my dad reading the book aloud to me and substituting my name with Amelia’s every time. When the absurdly literal title character was mentioned, she became Cecelia Bedelia. I must have been six or seven years old, and I thought that that was the height of fun. My dad was telling me a silly story, he was reading it to ME, and for me. Those moments were so special that even now they make me tear up.

So this blog, in a way, is dedicated to my dad. He’s a great man, and a great father. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

on naming things (but especially book characters)

Don’t let the title of this post fool you. I am not writing a book. I sort of was for about half of National Novel Writing Month, but no more. This post is about names and likeability and originality. What that means in real world terms is that’s they’re actually just my random thoughts, but I want to let them out into the world, to see if any of you think the same things (sometimes).

I have an uncommon-ish sort of name: Cecelia. It doesn’t show up much in art or literature. Fanny Burney, a contemporary of Jane Austen, wrote a novel called Cecilia, which I own but have never read. Forgive me – it’s 1,200+ pages of romance, counter-romance and mystery. I tried that with Anna Karenina and failed miserably. But there’s also a Simon & Garfunkel song called Cecilia, and I’d estimate that half of the people I meet for the first time spontaneously serenade me with it – regardless of the strength or quality of their singing voices.

And on top of that, my sister is called Virginia, or Ginny for short. Very slightly more common than Cecelia, but still an old-fashioned name, and rare in literature. It’s really no surprise then that when we find a novel, not to mention a GOOD novel, with one of our names in it, that we get a little excited. I can think of three shining examples of this (though I’m sure there are more and I’m just forgetting them).

The first is Kristen D. Randle’s The Only Alien on the Planet. The main character is Virginia, but she goes by Ginny, just as my sister does. I simply loved that book, and would have done so regardless of what the character’s name was. But since her name was Ginny, I could read it, discover its merit, and then pass it on to my sister, all the while knowing that she wouldn’t be able to resist a good book AND a character with her name (this was at a point where she refused to read anything I’d read).

And the second case is Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword. The main character’s name in this novel is Harry – which is my dad’s name – and she’s a bit of a tomboy. But the book starts slowly, and I may have never gotten into the intense and adventurous bit if I hadn’t been caught by the mention of a ship called the Cecilia in the first couple pages. It’s the little things that keep you reading sometimes, and I’m very glad that I did read that book – it’s become a comfortable standard and McKinley one of my favorite authors of all time.

And the third example – another book that I haven’t read but have always meant to (as it was co-written by two seriously talented/favorite authors) is Sorcery and Cecelia, by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede. I’ve always wanted to cross-examine these authors, and ask how they came up with Cecelia – I mean, the name with my less-common spelling and everything! And also why I was unlucky enough at age 9 to have my mother find that book in my library stack and disapprove of it on sight. May have had something to do with ‘Sorcery’ in the title…but still. No excuse for why I haven’t read it since!

So – I have a few questions. Have you ever seen your name in a book? Did it make an impression? Were you more willing to like the book? If you haven’t found your name in a book yet, which genre will it most likely be found in?

Tell me your name and character stories!