Names with strong cultural references

[dayonara]

Where would you draw the line about using a name with a strong cultural reference? My girls list has lots of names on it that I feel are strongly associated with one celebrity, film etc and I'm struggling to decide whether I should steer clear or whether I'm overthinking it. We tend to favour more common names for boys so our boys list doesn't have the same issue.

Celine (Dion)
Elsa (Frozen, or Born Free depending on the generation)
Lyra (Philip Pullman)
Adele (singer)
Juliet (& Romeo)
Delia (chef)
Miranda (comedian)

I feel like at this rate I'm going to talk my self out of every single name at this rate but feel I'd get irritated if when I introduced my child people were constantly saying " oh, like the singer" etc. But I do really love the names. Do you think the above are usable or best avoided and has anyone else had this issue?

It's a bit of a gamble regardless isn't it?

2 months after your baby, the sensibly named Susan,is born there might be a huge lunatic called Susan all over the media.

dd2 is named an LOTR inspired name, it's lovely, and anyway it's only an association to people you don't know very well, not someone in your circle.

I love the name Lyra an it would be my second favourite for a girl! I first heard it from His Dark Materials but I love it as a name on its own merits. DH won't let me name a boy Azrael though. My favourite girls name is Athena, which I first thought of using because of an awesome character from a game, it stuck in my head and now I just really like it as a name, I don't even think of the character really.

I’d draw the line at Adele. The fact that the singer doesn’t ever use her surname, and most people would struggle to say what it is, is a hint that she’s pretty much the only person of that name anyone has heard of (unless you’re a big Fred Astaire fan?) but the others are fine.

Very good friends have a 3 year old dd called Delia. But they arer Romanian so pronounce it Day-lia.

Very sweet name and child. Although i di still think of Delia Smith when i hear her name called.

Emile Sande's first name is Adele but she uses her middle name professionally because of the eponymous Adele.

We have a Harrison. No one has ever mentioned Mr Ford to us.

You’re over-thinking! Especially with Miranda and Delia. The problem is that any name you choose could be a popular or celeb name by the time the child is at school. There’s a little girl at my son’s nursery called Alexa, I suspect the parents might have thought twice if she had been born after the Amazon Alexa became so popular!

Elsa will always be the lion in.bBorn Free for me.

Re Harrison. I've taught many and never made the Harrison Ford link.

Overthinking, and actually a literary reference is rather lovely. My siblings and I have three literary names among us and love them, and one of my daughters is both a Shakespeare character and scientist. And my son is a sportsman. I love that they have “stories” behind their/our names, so if you like the name and the character go for it.

I have no idea who Miranda and delia are.

Totally overthinking. Elsa is the only one I would associate with a pop culture reference. I know people by all the other names and never think of the celebrity you have associated.

The only one with strings is Lyra - very much associated with the Philip Pullman novel. I can't think of any others.
Celine, Elsa, Adele, Juliet, Delia, Miranda are just "normal" names. I think you're overthinking it.

Lyra was a name Pullman picked from a pencil he was using. We used those pencils at school. Not one I fancy but each to her own. Everyone was called Tracy when I was at school, at least the kids have stand out names now!

Chose a name you love. I wouldn't worry about the connotations. Even if you chose a really unusual name, there is no guarantee that in a year or two or maybe longer, a character in a hugely popular programme might come along with the exact same name. E.g. If you'd called your child Peppa a few years ago (just as an example) then Peppa Pig came along, that child would forever be asked 'Like the pig?!'

I think there'll be a few Khaleesis or similar whose parents might regret their choice in a few years, but that's a very specific reference, all the ones you mention are not particularly tied to one person/thing.

I have a Heath and a couple of people said “oh like Heath Ledger?” And i say, yes. That’s it. End of conversation. We didn’t name him after Heath ledger, we just liked the name.
But actually very very few people have said this to me. So I wouldn’t worry about it at all if I were you and go with the name you love. Those famous people won’t be famous forever.

I think you'll be fine with all of them except possibly Elsa - people would probably spend a lot of time singing 'let it go' at her / you. Personally I love Juliet from your list and Lyra is lovely too.
I know what you mean though - sometimes you find people associate the oddest things with a name. I like the name Celeste and when I mentioned it to dh he said - "oh like Daphne and Celeste?!" (The shit girl band duo who sang 'ooh stick you!' in the early noughties or late nineties). It didn't end up on our shortlist for that reason!

Celine - fashion house. Prefer Selene.
Elsa - lioness or Frozen
Lyra (Philip Pullman) - constellation. Will date.
Adele - i know 2. Not keen on the name or the singer.
Juliet (& Romeo) - Shakespeare
Delia (chef) - it's fine.
Miranda (comedian) - Shakespeare again.

I think Elsa is fine actually, I think the Frozen obsession has pretty much passed by.

Delia is the one I would associate most strongly with a person.

Not just children, I named the cat after a popular soap character, now hated by everyone, including me. Poor puss.

I think that all of those names are fine, with the exception of Lyra, which was unheard of before the Pullman character. That said, Lyra is a still a nice name and if you like it, use it.

I would avoid already infamous names (Adolf/Myra spring to mind). and maybe where the celebrity is so famous they only use one name (Elvis/Madonna). Otherwise I think it is pot luck whether your child’s name may become associated with anyone. (I had never come across the name Isis before there were associations with the terrorism. now I know it is the name of an Egyptian goddess but that still won’t be my first thought if I meet someone with the name.)

Please, please don't lumber the child with any "famous" name - I've suffered from this all my life, not because the parents liked the name, but because Mother decided at the last minute that she disliked the family name other people had decided on. As she explained. "they couldn't argue about it in church, I just had to find another name beginning with S as people had been busy embroidering that on baby clothes" Thanks a lot Mum. I would have actually preferred the original.

My son is named after my fave superhero.

ANgeliki159 you named your baby Aquaman?? :O