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The AfterEllen.com Huddle: Awesome Character Names

Some characters just fit their names so well they live on forever. They’re that unforgettable. A good character name is as important as the casting. Jennifer Beals as Bette Porter, for example. Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes. Their fictional names just fit so well, while others sail out into the ether.

So, team, what’s your fave oh-so-fitting character name and why do you love it so much?

Dana Piccoli: I kind of love that Callie Tores’s full first name is Calliope. It’s so fitting when Arizona uses it. Also, Paige McCullers has about the most perfect teenage lesbian jock name ever.

Punky Starshine: Daenerys Stromborm of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, and Mother of Dragons. Bow down, bitches.

Grace Chu: Orange Is The New Black is a grab bag of awesome names: Pennsatucky, Taystee, Crazy Eyes, Big Boo, Yoga Jones, Pornstache. The list goes on.

Anna Pulley: Crazy Eyes gets my vote. Because it’s so literal it becomes symbolic.

Dara Nai: From The L Word: Ivan Aycock: the perfect drag king name; Dawn Denbo: for its alliteration, and Lover Cindy: for its simplicity; Baby Portard: the big, gay, ‘mo; Stacey Merkin: because merkin. Apparently, this show was a pot luck of hilarious. Who knew?

Marcie Bianco: I agree with Dara, cuz nothing beats Jenny shouting, “Fuck you, Stacey Merkin, you fucking vagina wig!”

Ali Davis: Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. Somehow so much about her comes through in her name and nickname, including the toughness and the swoon factor.

Heather Hogan: Bellatrix Lestrange, man. All House of Black names have astronomical significance, of course. Sirius (the star) is in the Canis Major constellation, and Sirus (the wizard) is an Animagus dog. But Bellatrix is especially great because Bellatrix is the third brightest star in Orion constellation (and Bella was the third brightest Death Eater). Plus also “Bellatrix” means “female warrior” in Latin. And! Roger L’Estrange was a real-life Pure Blood maniac. A staunch defender of Royalists. (Runner up: Luna Lovegood.)

Lucy Hallowell: Idgie Threadgood and CJ Cregg. Both were given kind of frilly names (Imogene Louise and Claudia Jean) that didn’t fit nearly as well as their nicknames. Bad ass ladies who take no shit from anyone. This might be my most favorite of all the CJ scenes.

Kim Hoffman: Graham Eaton, Clea Duvall‘s mysteriously charming character in But I’m a Cheerleader and maybe one of the first reason’s I made excuses to continuously rent any movie from Blockbuster over and over again. Graham is a pretty bad ass name. It said “Fuck you, go ahead and make me sleep in a pink canopy bed with a matching pink bedskirt, my name’s still gender neutral.”

Trish Bendix: If someone’s name is Lisbeth Salander, you know not to fuck with them. She might sound kind of sweet, like she’s got a hidden soft side, but that is easily destroyed when you hear that bad ass last name, like “I’ma slander you, an that won’t be the worst of it.”

What’s your favorite fictional character’s name?

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