Edward - A boys name for the Twilight - Name of the Month
Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 03:42PM When I suggested the name 'Edward' in my Interesting Boys Names post I hadn't read Twilight! I know... I am behind the times... but I just had a baby OK?! :)
Anyway, the lovely Kir pointed out that my assessment of Edward as fresh and unusual, might not be true for much longer given the popularity of the character in the books by Stephanie Meyer. She is probably right!
But it got me thinking, how come Edward will be so popular and cool soon? Is it because everyone wants to name their child after a fictional sexy vampire? Well maybe ... but I don't think this is quite right. I think it is because the name Edward is already cool.
And of course Edward is a cool name...my guess is the author picked it for that very reason.
Most parents name their children as young babies before they have developed a strong personality. The influence of a choice in name is a reflection of who the parents are and what their zeitgeist is not who the child is. The child takes time to grow up and bring their own character to the name. The little Edwards born in 2008 will take time to develop their own suave cool vampire-ish personalities.
But an author like Stephanie Meyer gets to name an Adult character. Basically authors can cheat when they name their characters. They don't name them names that were cool back when they should have been born. They name them names that are cool now!
It just so happens that the character Edward is 104 years old... born at the time of what we now consider to be 'cool' old-fashioned names, the time of our grandparents and great grandparents. We as parents are turning to those names in droves these days. Yes, there is a reason Edward isn't 47 and called Roy and a reason why he isn't 180 and called Cecil or much older and called Elthelbert. He is 104 and called Edward because names that are 100 years old are cool again now. :)
For the record, I think there is a reason that Bella is named as such as well. I don't think Bella was a popular name 17 years ago when the fictional Twilight character would have been named if she was real. But funnily enough it is a super popular name at the moment for little girls.
I think Bella has a 'modern' cool name to represent inexperience, freshness, youth and innocence and Edward has an 'old fashioned' cool name to represent maturity, strength, experience and knowledge.
Anyway... I just want to say for the record. I liked Edward way before I read Twilight. Ha!
Tara
I forgot to include some info about the name Edward.
The Oxford Dictionary of First Names says that Edward is a name derived from Old English - ead - meaning 'prosperity, riches' and weard - meaning 'guard'. Guardian of wealth perhaps? This name has long been the name of Kings of England.
Eduardo, Eduard and Edvard are variant spellings from across Europe.
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Reader Comments (4)
I have to say I never *loved* Edward before reading Twilight, but it definitely has a coolness to it now that resonates beyond what it had (for me) before. But I love Teddy for short!
Edward was always going to be the middle name for a boy if we have one. Not because of the book, but I suppose it matches into my "names from books" theme now!
I love the name Edward for the right person but it is not for me. There is a little boy at my play group and it fits him to a tea!
That said. I have three friends who are named Bella; two are nineteen and one is eighteen. So I don't think that it is as unpopular a name for girls of that age as you think it might be.