Top Ten character names

OK, I'm fairly new to book blogging and so here I am taking part in my first meme, how exciting.  It's Top Ten Tuesday which was created by The Broke and The Bookish and this week's list is......

Top Ten Character Names I Love/Unusual Character Names

Sigismond

in The Blessing by Nancy Mitford

I understand that this is probably quite a hard name to love for a lot of people, but I'm not one of those people.  I love unusual boys names in books that have some history behind them, rather than being recently made up, as I think that we have so many male characters with names like Michael, David, Max etc that it's nice to have something a little different.  Unfortunately the Sigismond in this book isn't the most lovely of characters, but he's not so terrible that it's put me off the name.

Penelope

in Penelope by Rebecca Harrington and in The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

Isn't it always the way, you wait forever for a Penelope in a book and then two come along at once.  I really used to hate the name Penelope (I honestly thought "why have you chosen that name Tina Fey?" when she had her second daughter) but thanks to Harrington's novel I don't mind it too much now.  I used to think it gave off quite a snooty vibe, but not so much anymore, and I guess that's the power of books, that a character can change your perception of a name.

Flora Poste

in Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

You don't hear the name Flora all that much so that's why it's such a great name for a character, literature isn't inundated with them. 

Mia Thermopolis

in The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Maybe it's because I loved the books so much but this name is just perfect.  If someone says the name "Mia" I automatically think of Mia Thermopolis and the character is just so alive to me.  Although I should probably be respectful of royalty and give her her full name, Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, Princess of Genovia.

Katniss/Peeta/Gale

in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

What I love about these names is that they're not a million miles away from real names that we have now (Kat, Peter, Gail) and so they give this impression of the world having changed from how we live now but not so much that it's totally and utterly unrecognisable, much like the books do.

Inigo

in The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

I'd never heard of this name before I'd read the book but Wikipedia tells me it's a proper, historical name and I love it.  I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not 100% sure how you say it (I think it's In-e-go) but it's so unusual that I'm sure I'll remember it.  Basically, I'm just a sucker for a boy's name that's a bit different.

Margo Pike

in The BabySitters Club books by Ann M. Martin

I'm afraid I don't really remember Margo Pike other than the fact that she was Mallory's sister and was called Margo but what I do remember was that this was the first time I'd ever seen the name Margo anywhere and I thought it was such an unusual name.  I couldn't believe it when my mum told me she'd heard of the name and it wasn't that odd.  The BabySitter Club books were probably some of the first American books I read and so the names in them were quite different to 12 year old me - Dawn, Claudia, Margo, Logan (I've still to meet a British Logan, actually)

Every name in Harry Potter

by JK Rowling

Harry Potter is choc-full of amazing names.  Rowena Ravenclaw (my favourite), Cornelius Fudge, Horace Slughorn, Severus Snape.  They're often names that would stick out like a sore thumb in the real world, but in the magical world of Hogwarts they all fit perfectly.

Scarlett O'Hara

in Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

I'm not sure that I can say anything new and exciting about the name Scarlett O'Hara.  It just fits the character so perfectly and that's what makes it such a good name.

The second Mrs de Winter

in Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

You only really realise how much power a name has once you take it away (I think Dumbledore said something similar but way more eloquent in one of the Harry Potters).  I spent the whole of Rebecca just thinking "Yes, but what is your name, Mrs de Winter?" and it still drives me mad that I don't know it now.  Similar characters have included Piggy from Lord of The Flies and The Saxophone teacher from The Rehearsal.