Weird names in ASoIaF

[Prince Yourwetdream Aeryn]

Jorah Mormont - it reminds me Lannisters such as Joanna and Joffrey

Tysha - it reminds me Tyrion and Tywin 

Areo Hotah and Vargo Hoat - quite alike

 

[cgrav]

Aenys Frey

That is all.

[TheSeer27]

I don't know why, but I always liked the name Utherydes Wayn. Just sounds cool.

[Lollygag]

Illyrio has a lot of Lannister qualities: gold hair, gold coins, fat like Tytos, ambitious and greedy like Tywin...His name has "yrio" seen in Tyrion.

Also, "Ill" = bad or sick in English, "y" is and in Spanish, and "rio" is river in Spanish, so his name could be "bad/sick river". As soon as Tyrion leaves Illyrio, the Shrouded Lord and his grey kiss come up. What this means, if anything, I have no idea.

Also, Dickon Manwoody.

[cgrav]

18 minutes ago, Lollygag said:

 

Also, Dickon Manwoody.

I'll raise you a Dick Crabb

[Clegane'sPup]

First time I read the books I had many problems with names. They became umm and umh. Martin came up with a better way to keep track.

He had Olenna Redwyne, the Queen of Thorns, call her guards Arryk & Erryk Left & Right.

Ohhhhhh, the nicknames.  So many people have nicknames! I had to make a cheat sheet for the Umbers and the Greyjoys.

Dany’s story line was particularly difficult for me. I lost interest and I skimmed a lot. Skahaz mo Kandaq, otherwise known as the Shavepate and the Brazen Beasts made up of Shavepates.

Let me not forget my favorite mind fuck.  Jhaqo & Jhogo.

[Lollygag]

1 hour ago, cgrav said:

I'll raise you a Dick Crabb

Very nice. Uther Shett and the Shetts in general have terribly unfortunate names. Unless they turn out to be Utter Shett...

They changed Asha's name in the show I assume because it sounds so much like Osha. Asha always reminded me of Arya, and Yara is an anagram of Arya, so thinking the Asha/Arya name similarity is intentional.

Jon Snow/Jon Arryn gave me fits when I first started reading the books. I'd think I was reading about one Jon, and when something seemed off, I'd have to backtrack. Took me forever to get through the early AGOT chapters. Thought at first that GRRM was a bad writer for being so confusing on character names when first introducing them, but then I realized that he goes out of his way to avoid confusion for other characters: Bran/Brandon, Rickard/Rickon, Robb/Robert. Other forms of "Jon" are seen in the series, so guessing the Jon/Jon is intentional, too.

 

[Pink Fat Rast]

Missandei and Melisandre obviousley

[Daena the Defiant]

6 hours ago, cgrav said:

Aenys Frey

That is all.

I've always thought that was pronounced AY-neese.

[Daena the Defiant]

Well, there is always poor Dickon Manwoody, and pretty much anyone afflicted with the name 'Dickon.' 

I think that Jennalyn Fowler is a dreadful name. Let's not discuss the names of anyone in Slaver's Bay, since they are all named Harzoo (thanks, Ser Gerris!).

There are those odd names for the three fellows way back in aGoT who are named after the Three Stooges.

However, I will proudly stand by my assertion that 'Cersei' is an awful name in so far as it does not match the pseudo-Iberian (whatever) naming pattern of the Lannister family and it's obvious allusion to Circe the Sorceress sticks out like a sore thumb since GRRM didn't pepper the series with all that many Classical references, plus the 'ei' suffix is really uncommon in the whole series. He threw in an Amerei and marei later to make it less jarring, but I still think that name is terrible.

[Seams]

40 minutes ago, Daena the Defiant said:

However, I will proudly stand by my assertion that 'Cersei' is an awful name in so far as it does not match the pseudo-Iberian (whatever) naming pattern of the Lannister family and it's obvious allusion to Circe the Sorceress sticks out like a sore thumb since GRRM didn't pepper the series with all that many Classical references, plus the 'ei' suffix is really common in the whole series. He threw in an Amerei and marei later to make it less jarring, but I still think that name is terrible.

On the surface, I agree that Cersei doesn't fit the Lannister pattern, and that it is odd within the overall naming conventions in the books. But I take that as a challenge to figure out why GRRM chose it for such an important character. To be fair, the name Jaime is also unlike Lannister family names.

The Circe connection is one reason for Cersei's name - there is a whole Tyrion-as-Odysseus motif when he heads to Essos, so Cersei / Circe is a thing and Penny / Penelope is also a thing.

But within the universe of the books, I think GRRM needed a human being who embodies ICE. I don't know if he wants us to take it a step further and make her Ser Ice. I think Tywin is also supposed to connect to WINter.

In the end, we may discover that Lann the Clever and Brandon the Builder were siblings or came from the same family of First Men. Then we will point to those names and say, "Aha! He hid clues for us in the characters' names!"

The character names that puzzle me tend to be people like Hayhead, Alebelly or Pinkeye. I know the author chooses these names because they have symbolic meaning, but there are just so many of them! How are we supposed to sort them all out?

[mushroomshirt]

5 hours ago, Lollygag said:

Very nice. Uther Shett and the Shetts in general have terribly unfortunate names. Unless they turn out to be Utter Shett...

They changed Asha's name in the show I assume because it sounds so much like Osha. Asha always reminded me of Arya, and Yara is an anagram of Arya, so thinking the Asha/Arya name similarity is intentional.

Jon Snow/Jon Arryn gave me fits when I first started reading the books. I'd think I was reading about one Jon, and when something seemed off, I'd have to backtrack. Took me forever to get through the early AGOT chapters. Thought at first that GRRM was a bad writer for being so confusing on character names when first introducing them, but then I realized that he goes out of his way to avoid confusion for other characters: Bran/Brandon, Rickard/Rickon, Robb/Robert. Other forms of "Jon" are seen in the series, so guessing the Jon/Jon is intentional, too.

 

GRRM broke the writer's rule that no two main characters names can start with the same letter.  He tore that rule to smithereens by having some characters with the same exact names.  I remember reading that he did this on purpose because he wanted family names like Brandon to repeat through families and have characters named after others like Jon Snow / Jon Arryn and Robb Stark / Robert Baratheon.

[cgrav]

3 hours ago, Daena the Defiant said:

I've always thought that was pronounced AY-neese.

Only by prudish podcast hosts.

[Vaedys Targaryen]

15 hours ago, Lollygag said:

Illyrio has a lot of Lannister qualities: gold hair, gold coins, fat like Tytos, ambitious and greedy like Tywin...His name has "yrio" seen in Tyrion.

Also, "Ill" = bad or sick in English, "y" is and in Spanish, and "rio" is river in Spanish, so his name could be "bad/sick river". As soon as Tyrion leaves Illyrio, the Shrouded Lord and his grey kiss come up. What this means, if anything, I have no idea.

<snip>

*Whispers* Be careful, you might give a few crackpot and/or tinfoil conspirators fodder!

[Leo of House Cartel]

Rickard Karstark, don't know why, but I think it sounds awesome when said in a hearty Northern accent.

How about Grance, Guyard and Lester Morrigen for the unfortunate list? Also.....Ser Mortimer Boggs 

[Daena the Defiant]

On 4/11/2017 at 0:11 AM, cgrav said:

Only by prudish podcast hosts.

[Traverys]

Double entendres aside, I felt like some names always seemed out of place for the context... Cersei, being a prime example.  Obviously similar to Circe, the greek mythological/epic character. Perhaps that's the only reason it throws me off.

[Adam Yozza]

On 11/04/2017 at 2:52 AM, mushroomshirt said:

GRRM broke the writer's rule that no two main characters names can start with the same letter.  He tore that rule to smithereens by having some characters with the same exact names.  I remember reading that he did this on purpose because he wanted family names like Brandon to repeat through families and have characters named after others like Jon Snow / Jon Arryn and Robb Stark / Robert Baratheon.

As someone who's writing my own book at the moment, I also completely ignored that rule. Always felt way too artificial and unrealistic that in a group of characters no two would share the first letter of their names. 

As for unfortunate names, anyone named Aenys. Also Haegon Blackfyre; it really seems like Daemon Blackfyre just got lazy, couldn't think of a new name and said "Screw it, I have an Aegon already so let's put a 'H' in front of his name!"

[Therae]

On 4/10/2017 at 6:23 PM, Seams said:

The Circe connection is one reason for Cersei's name - there is a whole Tyrion-as-Odysseus motif when he heads to Essos, so Cersei / Circe is a thing and Penny / Penelope is also a thing.

This always makes me wonder if there is a Calypso in Tyrion's future who will try to keep him from going home.

[Therae]

Oh, and Elmo and Kermit Tully are my picks for the OP. Somehow the Freys seem more suited to Muppet-names than the Tullys.