Top Ten Character Names I Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a featured created by The Broke and the Bookish. Check out their website for weekly topics. This week's topic is Top Ten Character Names I Love or Top Ten Unusual Character Names. As someone with a slightly unusual and hard to pronounce name, I appreciate it when characters have unusual names. However, I don't like it when everyone has a really different name (unless we're in a totally new world) because it just doesn't feel authentic. I am also not a huge fan of traditional names with just really weird spellings.

1. Karou (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) - This is such a great name. It just sounds cool.

2. Aria (Under The Never Sky) - This is a really pretty name and I like that it actually has meaning to the character.

3. Cinder (Cinder) - Love this character and the name. There is actually a male character named Cinder in Under the Never Sky as well. I prefer it as a female name but it's good as a male name, too.

4. Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones) - There are a lot of vowels in this name! But Daenerys is such a strong character and I think I read somewhere that people are starting to name their kids after her. How cool is that?

5. Ismae (Grave Mercy) - Badass name for a badass character.

6. Colin (Romancing Mr. Bridgerton) - Colin is a solid boy's name and it's not around much anymore. The Colin in this book is also rakish and adorable, which is another reason to love it. I used to know a lot of Colins when I was a kid but I think it's gone out of style. Bring it back!

7. Vlad (Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Cat & Bones) - Such a traditional and slightly ominous name. A name like Vlad holds a lot of power.

8. Sam (Lord of the Rings) - There are a lot of Sams in literature. It's a really solid, dependable name. Someone named Sam is someone you can count on. It also works as a girl name though I can't think of any female Sams in books off the top of my head.

9. Dorian (Dorian Grey, Hostage To Pleasure) - This name has a slightly exotic and mysterious feel to me. It's not used too often but I really like it.

10. Gabriel (Storm, Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake) - I have always had a soft spot for Gabriels. I prefer the full name to the shortened Gabe but both are cute.

Honorable mentions for the worst character names

Renesmee (Twilight) - Seriously. There's no need to explain this, right?

Shadoe (Riding on Instinct) - It annoyed me throughout this whole book that this character had this unusual name with a strange spelling and not once did anyone mention it or make a comment about it. In my head is sounds like Shad-Ohhhhhhhhh.
Jasper (Twilight, I Hunt Killers) - OK I don't actually have an issue with the name Jasper, only the fact that they all seem to shorten it some some version of Jazz. Seriously - Jazz? It just makes me think of jazz hands.
Daemon (Obsidian) - What's with the extra "e" in there? I just never know how to pronounce it...

That's my list of character names I love (and don't love). Let me know what names are on your list by linking up below. Also, if any authors out there want to use Thuy in a book, please feel free. :)

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