The fact that my daughter has a normal name is nothing short of astounding.
When I was in my early 20s, I had some very odd ideas about what constituted good children’s names. I have to admit, I totally get names like Apple or Moxie Crimefighter. Had I had children sooner, it’s entirely possible that they would have had names that resulted in daily beatings on the playground.
Of the weird names I had for my imaginary children, my favorite names were the one I had chosen in the event I had twins. If I had had mixed gender fraternal twins, they would have been named Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali.
A Google search of the names? Turned up this dog picture. Who happens to be an Australian Shepherd. Too much of a coincidence to pass up, amirite?
I would have nicknamed them Zuba (boy) and Mali (girl) for short, of course. I’m not THAT heartless.
Apparently Mali has an anime form. This is totally what my kid would have looked like.
I discovered these names during a planetarium visit. They were discussing constellations and they mentioned the names of these twin stars in Libra. I immediately fell in love with them. So much so that after the presentation, I went to the presenter and asked him to write them down for me so I would remember them.
Luckily, I matured before having children. And I didn’t have twins. And since we’re not having any more (one and done, baby!), the world is safe from having this duo in their classrooms and offices. But being a writer, it’s a fair bet that they’ll turn up somewhere down the line for me. If I can’t name my real children Zubanelgenubi and Zubeneschamali, my virtual children will have to be stuck with those names.
How clever…I love the names! They remind me of the odd names in the Bible, such as “Tiglath-pilesar” and “Mahershalalhashbaz”. Check them out; you will find plenty of unusual names for your characters! Just stopping by from the Challenge…today is the end. Congrats for sticking it out until the end!
MakingTheWriteConnections
Thanks for stopping by! And yes, I love Bible names too. I once wanted to get a Shar-pei and name it Methuselah.
There you are, Ms Melonie!! Thanks. I was really being confused. Love the names because they are in my constellation…yes, I am a wishy-washy Libra!! Now I have to go back and read all of your A to Z posts. That’ll keep me out of trouble for a while!
Yay for Libras!
Well . . . I guess I can see where those names would appeal – especially since the shortened versions are downright catchy. Still, I’m glad you got over that idea.
Hahaha, I love these names!! I’m always on the lookout for good character names, too. If I ever have kids, I’ll probably give them normal names, though… I have enough firsthand experience of having to explain my name when introducing myself to not wish that upon my kids.
Me and my sister have some really strange names lined up for our kids. We fought over Damien and Gabriel, so she gets the former and I get the latter. Since watching Game of Thrones, my sister has decided she wants to name her daughter (if she has one) Daenerys. And now my mum’s joined in, and wants me to call my first boy Agamemnon!
We probably won’t use these names when the time comes, but it’s fun coming up with them now! Great post
Love Agamemnon. I was also a big fan of the name Aloysius.