Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Character Names

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

It’s Top Ten Tuesday time again!  This week’s topic is character names.  What makes a name appealing?  The way it sounds?  Its meaning?  The image/feeling it conjures when you hear it?  For me it is a combination of these factors.  I’m partial to names that sound old and strong.  I tried to find book covers that featured the character, but this didn’t work out for everyone on my list.

Arwen-The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien-Such a beautiful name!  I couldn’t find a book cover with Arwen, but this cover is lovely.

33

Aragorn-The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien-A very strong name.

601137

Thorin Oakenshield-The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien-Another powerful name.  Again, I couldn’t find a book cover with Thorin on it, but I like this design.

13512170

Smaug-The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien-What a great name for a dragon!

604516

 

Damon Salvatore-The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith-I love this name!  However, I must confess I’ve only watched the show and never read the books, which is rare for me.  Usually it is the other way around.

6573776

As the murders were never solved, the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine viagra uk opacc.cv historical research, folklore, and pseudo history. ED (Erectile Dysfunction) cuts the erection process by causing pressure in a man’s muscles thus developing the person to have no intention sample free cialis of engagement for sexual moments and period. This is given by the attendance to functional wholesale viagra india web-based preparation programs. It multiplies the light transmission and promotes online cialis sale better hormones needed for a healthy sex drive. Marius-The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice-I think this name has a noble sound about it.

481559

Eric Northman-The Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris-Eric has always been one of my favorite names.

8073282

Sydney Sage-The Bloodlines Series by Richelle Mead-I like how this rolls off the tongue.

8709524

Adrian Ivashkov-The Bloodlines Series by Richelle Mead-I really like how this name sounds.

8709528

Mercedes (Mercy) Thompson-Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs-I’m not sure how I feel about the name Mercedes, but Mercy is an awesome way to shorten it.

30687916

 

Do you like any of the names on my list?  What makes a name appealing to you?

 

Comments

  1. Great list! There are some brilliant names on Tolkien’s books and I really need to get on the Mercy Thompson series. I don’t read much urban fantasy but when I do read it I tend to blast through three or four books one after the other, so I might have to finally start this series over the summer.

    • Poinsettia says

      I’m glad you enjoyed my list! I do highly recommend the Mercy Thompson series, and I do think it would be easy to read several books one right after another. Thanks for visiting!

  2. I totally love Smaug and Aragorn! Really creative names.

  3. I love the name Marius! It’s such a strong name.

    • Poinsettia says

      I’ve always been partial to it as well. I just really like the way it sounds. Thank you for visiting!

  4. Great list! I love Damon Salvatore but like you I’ve never read the books – I’ve heard they’re quite different to the books! ??

  5. I love Adrian from the series. Great list of names!

    Top Ten Tuesday

  6. Wow, your list looks great! I think i love every book featured and the names are great too! I really like Eric Northman too….him and his name. lol.

  7. Those are some great names. I’ve read some of the Vampire Diaries books, and see the first couple seasons of the show at least, and the show is way different than the books. Like night and day difference. I’m pretty sure the only thing the show really took from the books was the character names and that some of them are vampires.

    Have a great week.

  8. There’s so many great names on your list! Tolkien’s names are awesome and I love the name Mercy.

    • Poinsettia says

      I’m so glad you enjoyed my list! Tolkien did come up with some great names. Thanks for visiting. 🙂

  9. I really like the name Arwen as well. Great list!

  10. I like Arwen too. And Aragorn, and Thorin Oakenshield is a great one!!

    Sydney Sage is nice as well!

    • Poinsettia says

      I’m glad you enjoyed my list! Tolkien definitely came up with some great names.

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

  11. One day I really want to read the LOTR/The Hobbit books!! I love so many of the names!! Great list and thank you for reading my post! 🙂

  12. One of my author friends named her daughter Arwen, I really like that name.

    • Poinsettia says

      How neat that she used the name Arwen. If I’d have had a girl, I was strongly considering it as a middle name. Thanks for visiting!

  13. Sydney Sage is a really cool name!! My dad’s cat name is Arwen, so I definitely like that one too.

  14. I like short, powerful names. The longer ones.. Not really.
    Damon and Thorin are my favorites off your list, I think. But.. Like.. They’re gorgeous men either way so that might be influencing me on this one, haha.

    Names like Noah, Fynn and Jace are some of my favorites. 🙂

    • Poinsettia says

      Yes, the actors who play Damon and Thorin are definitely gorgeous! 🙂

      I really like the name Jace! Thanks for visiting!

  15. Oh I forgot but the name Arwen is so beautiful! Many LotR names are so pretty actually. I love Damon too!

    • Poinsettia says

      Yes, Tolkien did pick some really beautiful names, and Damon is a cool name too. Thanks for visiting. 🙂

  16. I like Aragorn, for sure.And I want to read Charlaine Harris!! Nice list!!

  17. The names in Lord of the Rings are amazing, I don’t think there’s a single one that I don’t like.

  18. Tolkien has some great ones, doesn’t he? Thorin Oakenshield just has a really sturdy, dwarfy sound to it.

  19. I was so close to adding Arwen to my list, but three other LOTR names did make it.

    I really liked The Vampire Diaries tv show, I read the first book – did not like it, but they did a great job with the series.

    • Poinsettia says

      The names in LOTR are awesome.

      I agree they did a great job with The Vampire Diaries show. I’m sort of hesitant to read the books because I did like the show so much. Also, I know several people who didn’t really care for the books much.

      Thanks for visiting! 🙂

  20. Tolkien definitely comes up with great names 🙂 Thorin Oakenshield is one of them, I should have named him as well on my list 😀

    • Poinsettia says

      Yes, Tolkien came up with great names! I definitely could have put more on my list. Thanks for commenting. 🙂

  21. I find fantasy name fascinating, because I usually have no idea how to say them. I was so excited when Sydney and Adrian happened, and would love Mead to do a spinoff with an aged up Declan, so we could catch up with all these characters.

  22. Arwen @ I Love A Good Book says

    Seeing as I’m named after Arwen from LOTR I do like that your list leans heavily that way 🙂

    My list this week focused on Best Female Character Names. Check iot out here: http://books.thetechchef.net/top-ten-tuesday-40-best-female-character-names/

    • Poinsettia says

      That’s so awesome you’re named after Arwen! If I’d have had a girl, I was heavily considering it for at least a middle name. Thanks for visiting. 🙂

  23. I love how unique all these names are!!

  24. I thought about adding more Tolkien names, after I completed my list.;) He has so many excellent names in his stories!

  25. Tolkien has created some really brilliant names for sure! Arwen is actually something I would consider naming child, I love it that much. And I’ve always liked Damon’s name too, but like you have only watched the show. I started reading one of the books several years back, but couldn’t really get into it.

    • Poinsettia says

      Yes, I think Arwen would be a great name for a daughter. I’ve heard from several people who never could get into the Vampire Diaries books.

      Thank you so much for visiting. 🙂

  26. I do love Mercy, too. It’s a great nickname. And fits her well 🙂

  27. Sydney and Mercedes are two favorites. Wish I thought of Sydney as that’s been a favorite for quite a while now. Maybe in the next favorite character names round up I can feature a character with the name. 🙂

    Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland!!

    • Poinsettia says

      You’re welcome!

      Yes, you can always feature those names next time. I could definitely come up with enough names for another list! Thanks for visiting. 🙂

  28. I’ve always really liked Thorin. <3

Speak Your Mind

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.