What's In a Name?

I’ve come to discover that bus rides are my prime random thinking time. Unlike trains and planes I get a little carsick when I read on buses, so that’s out of the question. So, if I don’t have an audiobook to listen to, I now pop in the headphones with my ‘quiet/writing/sleeping playlist’ on repeat and start thinking. Last week’s discovery: when my name pops up in books, I’m a fairy!

Laurel the Fairy! Check out Laurel the Woodfairy (with a corresponding doll) or Wings by Aprilynn Pike. Anyone who knows me knows how thrilled this makes me. I love having a unique (but not weird!) name that feels special. And being a fictional fairy is pretty cool, too! I guess the two go hand in hand; since my name refers to a flower, it’s natural connection to think about nature, being one with nature, fairies and other fantastical nature-based creatures.

And that got me thinking…are other names stereotyped enough or have a strong enough connection that fictional characters who share that name also share a characteristic? This, of course, won’t work if you have a common name like Sarah or Katie or Megan. There are just too many characters with names like that…but what about Harriet or Veronica or Rochelle? My sister, Amy, always related to the Amy Loves the Sun/Rain/Wind/Snow books. And I remember my friend, Heather, once complaining how so many fictional characters who share her name are snotty vacant girls like in the movie Heathers.

Luckily for Heather, she’s nothing like her fictional counterparts. Unluckily for me, I’m not a fairy. How does your name pop up in the fictional world?