Literary Name

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-03-2008
Literary Name
5
Thu, 07-03-2008 - 4:24pm
My wife and I are having a girl and we would like to have a literary name that is not popular like Emma, Emily, Elizabeth, etc.. One of my favorite authors when I was in my early twenties was William Saroyan who wrote The Human Comedy and The Time of your Life. His works were about optimism in times of hardships and I think having a name that repesents those ideals would be a nice legacy. How does the name Saroya (Sa-roy-a) sound?
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2007
Thu, 07-03-2008 - 4:38pm

I agree that those ideals make a very nice legacy, but Saroya doesn't seem at all like a "literary" name to me (just my opinion).

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-02-2008
Thu, 07-03-2008 - 5:15pm
I have to agree with the previous poster completely. It sounds more like a modern made up name than a literary reference. I'm sure there are tons of uncommon names in your favorite books if you take some time and scan through.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-03-2008
Thu, 07-03-2008 - 5:19pm

Thanks for your input.

Avatar for dr_kae
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 07-03-2008 - 9:16pm

Ummm...I'd say no and not entirely because of the name (which does make me think of Samoyeds or soya protein,) but because of the man. Time of Your Life is a great play, but I read a rather in-depth biography of William Saroyan a few years back and he was a dreadful man--I know that the stereotype is that all great authors are, but I've never liked that idea.

I'd be more apt to honor Saroyan's work than the man, myself. But I can't really come up with anything from any of his works that I'm familiar with that really work as a distinct name beyond Kitty from "Time of Your Life" or Esther from "My Heart's in the Highlands" and they might not convey the idea that you're going for.

I do like the idea of a distinct literary name...I just can't get behind this one.


G2K Blinkie
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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-25-2008
Fri, 07-04-2008 - 3:58am

Hi there,


While I like your idea of a literary name, I agree with the other posters about the name Saroya. It's a nice idea and a good legacy, but it's personally NMS.


Here are some other ideas (though I'm not sure if any are what you're looking for):


Charlotte (nn Charlie) after Charles Dickens


Jane (Jane Austen)


Emerson (Ralph Waldo Emerson)


Carol (Lewis Carroll)


Wilhelmina (a form of William - for William Saroyan)


Daphne (Daphne du Maurier)


Jessamyn (West)


Joanna (J.K. Rowling)


Louisa May (Alcott)


Virginia (Woolf)


Well that's all I could think of at the moment. For some inspiration, here is a link to the list of all Nobel Literature Prize Winners: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/


Hope this helps!


Elaine

Lainybug