Top Ten Tuesday: Rewind

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish.

 

Many times I have looked at the great past topics for Top Ten Tuesday and been sad that I discovered blogging and the meme so late and never got to do them. But now Rewind week has come along! This week we can do any past topic we choose and I have chosen:

Top Ten Characters That I'd Name My Children After

I've always thought it would be so cool to be named after a book character and be able to read about the adventures of your namesake. So, of course, I would like to give that coolness to my own children.

10. Daenerys from A Game of Thrones

Do I want to give birth to the Mother of Dragons? Hell yes!

9. Brandon from Sense and Sensibility

It feels like the Mr Darcys and Mr Knightleys are the Austen men who get all the love. Of course, I've swooned over them like any red-blooded female, but if I had to choose only one Austen hero to have in my life, it would be the quietly supportive Colonel Brandon from Sense and Sensibility. 

8. Briony from Atonement and Chime

I love this name - it somehow sounds both soft and sharp. So it's fitting that it's been given to two of the most complex characters I've ever read about. OK, so I hope that no child of mine (or anyone I know) would make as big a mistake as Briony from Atonement does, but as a lover of books, I've always been intrigued by the central idea of Atonement - that stories can take the place of real life, in both good and bad ways. And Briony from Chime? Well, she's convinced she's wicked, but she's really a good egg underneath it all: Intelligent, witty, loyal and kind.

7. Alanna from Song of the Lioness

I've already pledged to give any daughter of mine this as at least a middle name. For what little girl wouldn't want to be Alanna, the fearless girl who competes against every noble boy in the kingdom and bests them all? I can imagine the child now, begging me for amour and a sword.

6. Lucy from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

I'm from a family of four: two boys and two girls and when we were kids, we thought it was so great that we matched up perfectly with Pevensie family, so The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was our favourite game to play together. As the youngest girl, I got to be Lucy. My siblings thought this was very fitting, as I would totally be the one to go exploring round an old house and find a magical wardrobe. So in a way, naming a daughter Lucy would be a cool way to name her after myself.

5. Nalia from The False Princess

Isn't this such a pretty name? But I can't reveal the meaning behind it without revealing the major twist of the book! I'll just say that it's a name that unites people.

4. Cassandra from I Capture the Castle

One of my favourite heroines of all time, I'm sure a daughter of mine would be honoured to bear the name of Cassanda Mortmain. I cannot promise her a castle, though.

3. Jude from Jude the Obscure

Jude is my favourite boy's name, with or without this Thomas Hardy novel. I wouldn't want a son of mine to have the life of unrelenting misery that most Hardy characters do, but I also can't help but love Hardy's protagonists and Jude Fawley is no different.

2. Éponine from Les Misérables

What is it with me and hopelessly tragic characters? But I adore Éponine with all my heart. She is just so headstrong and independent and brave and would do anything for the people she loves.

1. Matilda from Matilda

Matilda will always be such a special character for me, as she was the first one I ever recognised myself in, and it was in reading about her, that I discovered I could find a friend in books. I thought Matilda was just like me: a quiet, book-loving misfit and I can't even describe the jubilation I felt to see her become powerful and achieve all her dreams. My child will get a stack of Roald Dahl books to read and I hope that, like me, Matilda will be her favourite. If she manages to develop telekinetic abilities? Well, that could be useful.