For the past few weeks, bedtime for my five-year-old has meant My Father's Dragon time. Ruth Stiles Gannett's trilogy follows the adventures of a boy, Elmer, and a dragon, known simply as "the dragon" until the final volume reveals:
"Boris! Is that your name?"It is an admirably silly roster of names for dragons, making my daughter giggle as intended -- even though the book was written back in 1951.
"Yes, said Boris uncomfortably. "I was embarrassed to tell you before."
"It's no worse than Elmer," said Elmer.
"I suppose not, and it's certainly not so bad as some in my family. I might as well tell you the rest. My sisters are Ingeborg, Eustacia, Gertrude, Bertha, Mildred and Hildegarde. And my brothers are Emil, Horatio, Conrad, Jerome, Wilhelm, Dagobert and Egmont. Can you imagine!"
The passage of time usually blunts the impact of names in fiction. Authors fret over character names, trying to project just the right social cues, but a few generations later the subtlety is wasted on us. Yet names in children's books tend to hold up remarkably well, especially when the intent is on the silly side. A similar example from Virginia Kahl's marvelous 1955 rhymer, The Duchess Bakes a Cake:
A long time ago there lived over the watersPerhaps the reason these names still work is that their social cues aren't subtle. Names like Egmont and Willibald are the name equivalents of a pie in the face. Yet it's not all Egmonts. Anybody could slap together a collection of ridiculous names, but these authors are better than that. It's the counterpoint of "Jane and Clothilde" that makes all the difference.
A Duchess, a Duke and their family of daughters --
Madeleine, Gwendolyn, Jane and Clothilde,
Caroline, Genevieve, Maude and Mathilde,
Willibald, Guinevere, Joan and Brunhilde,
And the youngest of all was the baby, Gunhilde.
Looking closer, each name list includes 3 general types as seen from the 1950s: the exotica (Dagobert, Gunhilde), the recently fallen fashion victims (Mildred, Maude), and the mundanely common (Conrad, Joan). From today's perspective, the recently fallen are no longer recent and the mundane are now fallen. But the three types still contrast cleanly and leave the whole group off-kilter. It's a robust formula that updates easily. Try it yourself. Imagine, say, a band of mischievous elves named:
Ethelbert, Erlafrid, Ludolph and Duane,It's also worth noting a type of name the authors didn't use: trendy new hits. That's the name terrain with the most uncertain footing. Back when Gannett and Kahl were writing, the names Rhonda, Melanie and Jennifer were all at the same level of newness and popularity. As it turned out, Rhonda peaked in the '60s and quickly fizzled. Melanie became a quiet, steady new classic. And Jennifer exploded into the defining name of a generation. Looking to the future, authors just can't project what will happen to new hit names. (Neither, for that matter, can parents.)
Regimbald, Fymbert, Jim, Kevin, Gawain.
For some types of fiction, timelessness is beside the point. If a writer's goal is to capture an instantly recognizable "now," girls named Madison and Sydney may be just the ticket. But children's books tend to take place outside of regular space and time, in a self-contained world where cats wear hats and bunnies are tucked to sleep in great green rooms. On that plane a trendy name can be a jarring intruder, grounding the book in the fleeting real world. The silly may stay silly, but the new never stay new.
Comments
this was lovely. random web walking found me here tonight and how can I not comment when I savored several Virginia Kahl books when I was a girl and my own daughter delights in the My Father's Dragon trio. names are a fascinating subject, a favorite of mine to be sure. I trust I'll be reading you often!
Names in fiction are interesting...I like how the boy in the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books is named Klaus- a very German name, in with the trend in the late 19th/early 20th century, to add to the late-Victorian "feel" of the books (and the kid who plays him in the movie is named Liam...)
I'm not a big Harry Potter buff, but I notice a similar name pattern in the Potter books--exotic, fanciful names (Hermione and Draco) next to ordinary, mundane names (Harry and Ron) and moldy, way-out-of-vogue names (Dudley and Petunia). I know the books probably wouldn't be the same if the main character was Aidan Potter.
A lot of children's book use classics, like Alice and Charlie, that will never be out of date.
Justine-I am fairly sure that Harry Potter's name was specifically chosen to be "common," though I can't say about the others. I heard a rumor that the name "Draco Malfoy" was J.K. Rowling's creation, though.
Being a big Harry Potter fan, i know that the characters & words created & named by JK Rowling are mostly taken from Latin, Greek & old English words, as the meanings describe the personality of the character.Draco=a large serpent, dragon (in Latin); tyrannical Athenian lawgiver; one of Acteon’s hounds (they tore apart their own master).& we all know Draco is as awful as that!
I love the choice of 'Ron' for Harry Potter's best friend. It's such an unstylish, hand-me-down choice, yet still conveys an old-fashioned good heart. Just like the Weasley family are supposed to be (in fact all their names are a bit like this - Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and the girl Ginny). I think it's perfect for him.
Harry is so neutral, boy-next-door, not fashionable but not particularly un-fashionable - a strong, solid, classy choice. It fits him well.
And yes, Draco means dragon - just the right kind of pretentiously agressive name one would expect from the Malfoys!
And Dudley ("Dudders"!) and Petunia are just pure comedy choices, I adore the names in Harry Potter, all so well-chosen!
please ruth please can you write a poetry of a book that you wrote called my father's dragon pls.............
ruth please can you have a sex with david beckham then you will get $300,000,000 each year to get the money you have to come to new mexico
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