Kayla’s Top Ten Characters She’d Name her Children After

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was created out of a love of lists, and since I also love lists, I’ve decided to follow the trend. This is my first Top 10 Tuesday post, and I’ve decided to focus on this theme: Top Ten Characters (and Literary Figures) That I’d Name My Children After.

Oh, y’all about to find out what a weirdo I am because most of the names on this list were suggested by me to my husband when we had our children. He vetoed all but one of the following names:

#10: Huckleberry Finn (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)

You read that right. I know this book is taboo today, but it’s only taboo because people haven’t actually read it. Huck is a character who is raised by racists in a racist society, but he is a strong enough character that his conscience overcomes his upbringing to the point that he becomes our first literary anti-racist. Anyway, it’s clear why my hubby vetoed this name, but in my defense, I wanted to name our child “Finn” not “Huckleberry.”

#9: Odysseus (The Odyssey)

When I was in high school, I took a parenting course in which I was issued a creepy demon babydoll. I named it Odysseus and called it “Odd” for short. I passed that course. I’m not sure how.

#8: Atticus (To Kill a Mocking Bird)

Everybody has this name on their list, right? Because you should. You really should.

#7: Theoden (The Lord of the Rings)

There’s going to be at least one more name listed from this trilogy, and I won’t apologize for it. Theoden was a great character, he even made a comeback after being manipulated. I kind of wanted to marry a man who’s last name was King just so our child would be named Theoden King. It sounded like a good idea at the time.

#6: Howl (Howl’s Moving Castle)

This is one of my favorite novels of all time, and Howl is the absolute best wizard ever. I love him more than Gandalf and Harry.

#5: Sophie (Howl’s Moving Castle)

The only reason neither of my daughters are named Sophie is because it has become an absurdly popular baby name in recent years. I was one of the three Kayla’s in my class all through school, and I would like for my children’s names to be a little more unique.

#4: Granuaile (Hounded)

Granuaile is one of the main characters in Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles, and she is the ultimate urban fantasy warrior lady I strive to be. Honestly, I could have comprised this entire list from the names in that series and not regretted it.

#3: Elanalue “Alue” Windthorn (Liars and Thieves)

I’m reading this book right now, and is that not the best most musical name you’ve ever seen? It’s absolutely lovely. I’m only a few pages in, but so far, I like the character as much as I like the name.

#2: Arya (Game of Thrones)

Do I want my daughter to become a butt-kicking assassin? Not really. But nobody who’s read the books can deny her resilience throughout her journey.

#1: Eowyn (The Lord of the Rings)

This is number one because it almost happened. My husband and I were planning to name our youngest child Eowyn after the human girl who defeated the dark lord herself. However, strong southern accents aren’t made to pronounce Tolkien names, and Eowyn sounds shockingly less beautiful when pronounced “A-Owwwen.”

There’s my list of names! What do you think?