Film Names: The French New Wave

Bonjour, mes amis!

I write and queue posts about a week in advance, so it was only a couple days ago when I heard the news about Paris (as well as Beirut, Lebanon, etc). It's hard to know how to react at a time like this. A favorite name blogger of mine, Abby Sandel, has a poignant message in her recent Sunday Summary.

Pursue your passions, pursue acceptance and understanding, but most of all, pursue love.

Today's Film Names series post will focus on names found in the films of the Nouvelle Vague, or the New Wave in 1950's and 60's French cinema.

The names are differentiated by role, but there's been definite crossover, so don't consider this list to be perfect!

Directors

Claude Chabrol - Le Beau Serge (1958), Les Biches (1968), La Femme infidèle (1969)

Jean-Luc Godard - Breathless (1960), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Breathless is excellent, if you want to get a great general sense of the New Wave. 

Jacques Rivette - Le divertissement (1952), Paris Belongs to Us (1961)

Éric Rohmer - My Night at Maud's (1969), Claire's Knee (1970)

François Truffaut - Les quatre cents coups (1959), Shoot the Pianist (1960), Jules et Jim (1962)

Alain Resnais - Night and Fog (1955), Hiroshima mon amour (1959), Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
Hiroshima mon amour is a personal favorite film, and many of Resnais' films are taught in Film Studies classes at UC Berkeley. 

Agnès Varda - Cleo de 5 à 7 (1962), Le Bonheur (1965)
Agnès is a beautiful retro name, and Cleo too! Inès is another European variation. 

Writers

Marguerite Duras - Hiroshima mon amour (1959), Seven Days... Seven Nights (1960)
One of my favorite writers of all time, and part of the reason I love the name Marguerite. Other works by Duras include "The Lover" and "Emily L". 

Paul Gégauff - Plein soleil (1960), Salle no 8 (1967), More (1969)

Marilù Parolini - L'amour fou (1969), Strategio del Ragno (1970)
A rare first name! Marilu is absolutely adorable - and sounds a bit like Desilu?

Actors

Anouk Aimée - La dolce vita (1960), Lola (1961), 8 1/2 (1963)
Another name crush! Anouk (or Anouck) is just fantastic!

Brigitte Bardot - Et Dieu crea la femme (1956), Le mépris (1963), Viva Maria! (1965)

Jean-Paul Belmondo - Breathless (1960),  Seven Days... Seven Nights (1960), Pierrot le Fou (1965)

Catherine Deneuve - L'homme à femmes (1960), Belle de Jour (1967), Le Dernier métro (1980)

Jean Seberg - Bonjour tristesse (1958), Breathless (1960), La récréation (1961)

Jean-Pierre Léaud - Les quatre cents coups (1959), Masculin Féminin (1966), Baisers volés (1968)

À bientôt!

Saturday Jams - Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

"Sally's Song", sung by Catherine O'Hara, composed by Danny Elfman, 1993

"Johanna", sung by Jamie Campbell Bower, composed by Stephen Sondheim, 2007

"Frederick's Soliloquy", sung by Roger Bart, composed by Mel Brooks, 2007

"Then Came Jonny", sung by Richard Roland, composed by Dana P. Rowe & John Dempsey, 1993

"Whatever Lola Wants", sung by Gwen Verdon, composed by Richard Adler & Jerry Ross, 1955

Film Names: Scary Movies

I was raised by Halloween parents.

Those of you who also had Halloween parents will know what I mean. For those of you who didn't - imagine your childhood, but with a lot more costumes, fake blood, and scary movies.

Halloween was our family's big holiday, and we went all-out with decorations, costumes, pumpkin-carving, and more. My sister and I, as a result, are now huge fans of scary movies - to the chagrin of friends and more distant relatives.

Today's post will be about cool names found in Halloween classics - or at least, my favorite classics.

Frankenstein, directed by James Whale, 1931
An indisputable classic, and a personal favorite, the original Frankenstein has influenced countless films over the years. Characters include classic names like Henry, Elizabeth, and Victor, all excellent and established choices. Actor names include the rarer Mae, Boris, Dwight, and Lionel - while Mae and Lionel have reentered the list, are Dwight and Boris too dated?

Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, 1931
I couldn't include Boris Karloff without Bela Lugosi! An early vampire film that of course led to later iterations, Dracula is timeless - and still creepy. Bela for a boy is unusual today, and might be confused with feminine Bella - the boy's version means "white", the girls' comes from Elizabeth, "pledged to God". Mina, a main character's name, is recently starting to rise back up the girls' list.

The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, 1973
With eerie effects - including green slime - little actress Linda Blair shot into the spotlight in this religious ride through demonic possession. I find it interesting that the two main female characters are Chris and Regan, with gender-neutral names. Actor names include Ellen, Lee, Max, Jack, and Jason - nothing too unfamiliar.

Halloween, directed by John Carpenter, 1978
The beginning of Jamie Lee Curtis' career, Halloween spawned a series of sequels and remakes, with scary killer Michael Myers lurking through them all. A lot of the character names are nicknames - Laurie, Annie, Tommy, Richie - probably because of their young ages. Among the actresses, two have stereotypically male names: Jamie Lee and Kyle.

Poltergeist, directed by Tobe Hooper, 1982
This movie triggers all sorts of relatable fears - clowns, shadows, ghosts, and more. The actors and actresses who played the central family have an interesting mix of names - Scottish Craig, combo JoBeth, French Dominique, classic Oliver, and flower-power Heather. I hadn't seen the director's name before, either; it's pronounced like Toby.

The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick, 1993
One of my favorite movies of all time, this animated film can be watched at Halloween, Christmas - or any other time of year. Main characters Jack and Sally are my favorite fictional couple, hands down, with timeless names to match. In related name trivia, creator Tim Burton and ex-partner Helena Bonham Carter have a daughter Nell, which continues the matrilineal tradition on Helena's side - Hélène, Elena, Helena, Nell.

Scream, directed by Wes Craven, 1996
The best first 15 minutes of any scary movie, in my opinion. This 90's mashup of real terror and meta-comedy keeps you on the edge of your seat. Again, the female characters have gender-neutral names (why is this?) - Casey, Sidney, Gale, and Tatum. Star Neve Campbell's name means "snow", and it's climbing in the UK along with Gaelic spelling Niamh.

The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999
The movie that started the "found footage" trend, it's a bit less scary than before the copycats followed - but only a bit. The actors share the names of their characters - Heather, Josh and Mike - which prompted the rumor to be spread that the actors had actually died.

What are your favorite scary movies?

Happy Halloween! Stay costumed and safe this weekend :)

Halloween Costume Names, Part Two

Let's continue with Day 2 of costume names!

Check out Part 1 here.

Tell me in the comments what costumes you're planning. My boyfriend and I will be going as Cosmo and Wanda from the Fairly Oddparents this year!

Devil

"Devil" - Teivel, Diablo, Velna, Deuce

"Terrible" - Ugra, Uther, Bhima

"Sharp" - Shamir, Berach, Jasna, Min, Asika, Acucio

"Red" - Ruby, Rowan, Garnet, Edom, Flannery, Rufus, Shani

Famous devils and demons - Damien, Lucifer, Mephistopheles



Witch

"Magic" - Taika, Jinx

"Purple" - Lavender, Violet, Ianthe, Porfirio, Amethyst

Witch names - Grimhild, Armida, Sabrina, Kiki, Wanda, Hermione, Ginevra, Glinda, Tarba, Cassandra, Circe, Morgan, Jenny, Hecate, Moll, Alice, Agnes, Entjen, Märet, Minnie, Elphaba, Jadis, Bellatrix, Melisandre, Medea, Ursula, Wendy




Superhero

"Hero/Heroine" - Bertille, Conlan, Finley, Sweeney, Valda, Vero

"Super" - Aristotle, Naren, Adi, Prasert

"Savior" - Messiah, Salvador, Björg

"Strong" - André, Brian, Ethan, Evander, Melisande, Valencia

Famous heroes/heroines - Natasha, Selina, Clark, Bruce, Peter, Tony 



Cowboy

Horse-related names - Phillip, Destry, Baylor, Xanthippe, Ahearne, Eachna, Eowyn, Marshall, Rider, Chevy

"Free" - Amadi, Charles, Fanya, Franklin, Kermit, Liberato

"Country" - Fielder, Paine, Gladys

Famous cowboys and cowgirls - Annie, Jane, John, Bill, Jack, Frank




Frankenstein

"Reborn" - Renata, René, Anastasia, Tassia

"Alive" - Vito, Viva, Aisha, Idir, Tural, Živa

"Large" - Grant, Brady, Titania

Names from characters/actors in the original Frankenstein - Henry, Elizabeth, Victor, Colin, Mae, Boris, Edward, Frederick, Dwight, Fritz, Lionel



I'll see you tomorrow to continue the celebration!

Halloween Costume Names, Part One

Happy Halloween week, friends!

And happy birthday to my wonderful mom, Nancy Kay. I love you and I hope you enjoy your holiday birthday!

Today's post is more fun than particularly insightful. I've taken some of the top Halloween costumes worn every year (pop culture costumes aside) and found names that match each of them. While I normally stick with Latin/Greek/Hebrew based names, I'm including names from other cultures to round things out.

Here's the list I'm using, but you can find other lists and continue the game!

Top ten Halloween costumes of all time, by Christina Caldwell

Ghost

"Ghost" - Drogo, Lilith, Aparicia

"Spirit" - Dusana, Dušan, Enid, Anima, Kokoro, Esprit, Janan, Kamali

"Soul" - Alma, Linh, Psyche, Duska

"White" - Alba, Bain, Bianca, Fiona, Ivory

Famous ghosts - Casper, Jacob, Mary, Clytemnestra, Myrtle



Zombie

"Death" - Morana, Mot, Thanatos, Chiwa, Lefu, Anubis

"Eternal" - Khalid, Amari, Niran, Eilam, Nitya, Samad

"Return" - Ayda, Shevi, Yashuv

"Green" - Emerald, Oran, Peridot, Verdi, Zelenka

Famous zombies - Ash, Ed, Michael, Kat



Vampire

"Blood" - Muhjah, Djimon, Eztli

"Bat" - Adan, Stellaluna (couldn't resist)

"Fang" - Niv

"Pale" - Chloris, Gauri, Paley, Blasco

Famous vampires - Vlad, Edward, Claudia, Lestat, Angel



Cat

"Cat" - Faline, Felinus, Bastet, Leander, Numair, Fahd

"Omen" - Lakshmi, Ugur, Dalili, Sisay, Lakshman

"Domestic" - Damiana, Damario, Damon, Laka

"Black" - Caliban, Ebony, Ciaran, Melanie, Nigel, Kali, Sable

Famous black cats - Salem, Jiji, Felix, Berlioz, Figaro, Lucifer



Pumpkin

"Vegetable" - Fennel, Masamba, Kazuna, Moena, Topwe

"Round" - Cade, Knox, Dudda, Viên, Ballard, Maru

"Smile" - Basma, Hande, Ibtisam, Erendira, Susmita

"Orange" - Cam, Sienna, Alani, Amber, Nerola, Azahar

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown names - Charlie, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Sally, Violet, Frieda, Patty


Check out more costume names tomorrow - Halloween Costume Names, Part Two

Literary Names: Stardust

Welcome to Day One of Halloween week!

To celebrate my favorite holiday, each post this week will have a Halloween connection. For today's Literary Names installment, I'll be focusing on Neil Gaiman's fantasy novel (complete with witches), Stardust!

The book is an adventure story through a magical land, complete with action, romance and humor. The film version - made in 2007 - is also a great family film.

Rather than reimagine the names of the characters, I'll be focusing on the already-excellent names in the book (and a few from the movie).

Let's begin!

Yvaine
The origin of this name may very well be from the novel Stardust! While Yvain was used in Chrétien de Troyes' medieval texts as a form of Eugene ("well-born"), Yvaine is listed in a few places as meaning "evening star", from Neil Gaiman's book. It's a lovely combination of Yvonne and Elaine, and not too far from boys' favorite Evan. The character in the story is a strong and stunning - not a bad namesake for any child.

Tristan
The name Tristan of course calls to mind the doomed romance of Tristan and Isolde, but our protagonist in the fantasy novel has a different fate. The name came into use in the US in the 1970's, and is currently ranked at #101 - not uncommon by any means. However, the nice sound and similarity to favorite Christian will probably continue the popularity trend. The meaning is "sorrowful", but Tristan, to me, connotes a hero.

Dunstan
Meaning "dark stone", Dunstan sounds like a cool combination of retro Duncan and trendy Austin - classic but modern, in a way. The character in the book is a supportive and loving father, wishing his love Una would come back to him. If you like Dustin, but think it's a little passé, try Dunstan!

Una
A personal name crush, Una fits in with the rest of the old-fashioned three-letter names returning to the charts - Ava, Ivy, Ida. Depending on its origin, it can mean "one" or "lamb" - either is cute. In Stardust, Una is the name of Tristan's mother, held captive by an evil witch. It also has an unusual first initial, if you're looking for some uniqueness - and sister spelling Oona isn't bad either.

Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, Quintus, Sextus, Septimus
These are the names of the princes, alive and dead, who are vying for the crown in Stardust. I'm grouping them together since each is a "number name". Names like these are more personal - some have favorite or lucky numbers, so using one of these names would be a great honorific. But I'd suggest staying away from Sextus. Check out this Nameberry article for more number names!

The Witches - Lamia, Mormo and Empusa
The book version of Stardust doesn't give names to these characters, but the film does - and only Lamia has etymology information online. She was a monstrous figure in Greek mythology. I wouldn't suggest any of these for children, but if you're looking for character name inspiration, these are really fun to play around with.

I didn't include every name from the book - any favorites that I missed? Or are fantasy names not strong enough to stand up to a real-life attendance sheet? Tell me what you think in the comments!

Film Names: The Musical

I can't help it, theater runs in my veins - my dad is an amateur actor, my aunt is a singer, and my cousin is a soon-to-be Broadway star. So I'm happily familiar with musicals from the 1930s onward!

Today, I'll be focusing on the names of actors in the film versions, instead of the names of characters (though that would be a fun post). Let me know who I missed in the comments!

Let's check out some unusual names from the 1930's-1960's musicals!

Female Names

Cyd Charisse - Singin' in the Rain (1952), Brigadoon (1954)

I've actually met someone who named her daughter Charisse after the actress!

Shirley Jones - Oklahoma (1955), The Music Man (1962), Carousel (1956)

Hermione Gingold - The Music Man (1962), Gigi (1958)

Mitzi Gaynor - South Pacific (1958)

A cute nickname, and underused today. 

Juanita Hall - South Pacific (1958), Flower Drum Song (1961)

France Nuyen - South Pacific (1958)

Fay Bainter - State Fair (1945)

Claramae Turner - Carousel (1956)

With the popularity of Clara and Mae in 2014, this combination sounds modern. 

Marjorie Main - Meet Me In St Louis (1944)

Billie Burke - The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Isobel Elsom - My Fair Lady (1964)

Charmian Carr - The Sound of Music (1965)

Portia Nelson - The Sound of Music (1965)

Glynis Johns - Mary Poppins (1964)

Male Names

Russ Tamblyn - West Side Story (1961), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Tucker Smith - West Side Story (1961)

Yul Brynner - The King and I (1956)
First name Yul comes from the Mongolian for "on the horizon" - Youl or Yuli.  

Rossano Brazzi - South Pacific (1958)

Jacques D'Amboise - Carousel (1956), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Chill Wills - Meet Me in St Louis (1944)

Rex Harrison - My Fair Lady (1964)
Rex could fit in well with Max, Dax and Pax. 

Wilfrid Hyde-White - My Fair Lady (1964)

Gert Fröbe - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

Vassili Lambrinos - The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)

Film Names #2: Film Noir

This is part two of my semester-long series profiling names in film. Check out last week's post: Film Names #1 - Early Cinema. As for this week....

Film Noir!

Since there are dozens of films to choose from, I'll only be focusing on names that aren't heard as often today. But who's to say Fred and Barbara can't make a comeback?

Femme Fatales

Marlene Dietrich - Blonde Venus (1932), Desire (1936)

Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce (1945), Sudden Fear (1952)

Gene Tierney - Laura (1944), Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Ingrid Bergman - The Big Sleep (1946), Casablanca (1942)

Ida Lupino - High Sierra (1941), Road House (1948)

More common names: Lauren Bacall, Rita Hayworth, Barbara Stanwyck, Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Veronica Lake


Private Dicks

Humphrey Bogart - The Big Sleep (1946), The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Sterling Hayden - The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Killing (1956)

Elisha Cook - Phantom Lady (1944), The Maltese Falcon (1941)

Orson Welles - The Stranger (1946), The Third Man (1949)

Dana Andrews - Laura (1944), Fallen Angel (1945)

More common names: James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Mitchum, Raymond Burr, Fred MacMurray

Film Names #1 - Early Cinema

I grew up watching tons and tons of old black-and-white movies with my dad. The memories have stayed, and so has the film addiction! I consider myself a huge movie and television buff, but I lack a formal education in film. So I'm taking an Intro to Film class for fun at my local community college!

I'll be collecting names throughout the semester and posting them, along with their related movies. Maybe you'll find a new favorite flick or a new favorite name! Keep checking in :)

Male

Nicéphore Niépce - credited inventor of photography
Nicéphore means "carrying victory".

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre - inventor of the daguerrotype

Eadweard Muybridge - pioneer in the study of recorded motion
He was born Edward, but believed Eadweard to be the Anglo-Saxon spelling. 

Amasa Leland Stanford - American industrialist
Though he went by Leland, his given name Amasa means "burden" in Hebrew. 

Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière - one of the first filmmakers in history

Georges Méliès - A Trip to the Moon (1902), The Impossible Voyage (1904)

Edwin Porter - The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Prisoner of Zenda (1913)
Zenda is a Persian name meaning "sacred". 

Oscar Devereaux Micheaux - first major African-American filmmaker, Body and Soul (1925)
Devereaux means "riverbank". 

Sergei Eisentstein - Battleship Potemkin (1925)

More common names: Thomas Edison, Samuel Morse, William Dickson, George Eastman, Louis Lumière, Robert Wiene

Female

Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger - The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Lotte pioneered animation over a decade prior to Walt Disney. 

More common names: Alice Guy-Blanche