Twilight names Bella and Jacob, and Harry Potter may have been the hottest baby names inspired by books and movies over the past few years, but there are new character names in town.
Gatsby, as in F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel and the holiday season's hottest movie, is one of the Top Ten new character-based names parents are using for their babies. The others, based on nearly two million visits to the Nameberry name pages over the past three months, are drawn from classic literature and futuristic fantasy, Old Hollywood films and modern animation.
Here, the top ten hottest character names on Nameberry right now:
Atticus -- The names of author Harper Lee and all her characters in To Kill A Mockingbird -- Atticus, Scout, even Radley -- have been taken up by the baby-naming public. It doesn't hurt that Atticus -- it's an ancient Roman name meaning "from Athens" -- Finch was judged the Number 1 movie hero of all time by the American Film Institute.
Darcy- - Darcy, as in Mr., may be the ultimate Jane Austen hero name, but these days it's enjoying a new turn in the sun as a name for girls, following in Emma's footsteps as an Austen-inspired favorite.
Eloise -- The mischievous little girl who lives at The Plaza has been enjoying more widespread visibility since the death of author Kay Thompson, who had kept the books out of print. Eloise, along with many of its El sisters from Ella to Eleanor, is a newly-fashionable baby name combining the heroine's worldliness and insouciance.
Esme -- Esme enjoys not one but two literary fan clubs, those that remember it from the J.D. Salinger story "For Esme: With Love and Squalor" and a much larger more modern group of Twilight fans.
Gatsby -- The Great Gatsby has a new generation of fans who are taking up the antihero's last name Gatsby as a first, and attention to the name will only intensify once the new film version, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, and Isla Fisher, opens this December. The book's Jay Gatsby gussied up his name from Gatz, whose meaning is given variously as left-handed, cat, God, and person from Gat.
Holden -- The name of the alienated young hero of Catcher in the Rye, a favorite of teenage readers, is being taken up by this generation of baby namers. Not coincidentally, it's right in step with a trend for two-syllable boys' names that end in n and have a surname feel. It's Number 316 on the popularity list.
Kairi -- Kairi, which means "sea" in Japanese, is the name of the main female character in the popular animated fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts. Voiced by Hayden Panettiere in the main series, Kairi is one of the seven Princesses of the Heart and a new sweetheart of baby namers.
Katniss -- Katniss Everdeen is the heroine of the popular Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, whose name comes from the (very real) edible aquatic plant of the genus Sagittaria. Katniss's father tells her that if she "finds herself," she'll never go hungry, a sentiment modern parents may want to impart to their namesake babies.
Rhett -- Where Scarlett goes, can Rhett be far behind? Scarlett Johansson breathed new life into the literary moniker of Scarlett O'Hara, and now we see a dramatic rise in interest in the name of her Gone With The Wind companion Rhett, a variation of the (also newly popular) Welsh name Rhys.
Zuzu -- Today's parents grew up watching It's A Wonderful Life on television every Christmas, and the nickname of the little girl who tells dad Jimmy Stewart that every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings, is finding new favor along with other double names such as Coco and Lulu.
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I find it hard to believe there's a tidal wave of literary names coming along. People don't read any more, do they?
For the record, Katniss and Zuzu are both absolutely horrible! I wouldn't even name a pet that.