What's in a name?

[Chase Connors]

Not so much a game, as just an explanation, but there are two side to it.

Part 1: You, out of character, explain why you chose a certain character's name - it might just be because you like the name, because a random name generator picked it, because it's related to a character that celeb plays... The only characters this won't work very well with are the canon ones, but you could always explain their middle names... But, that leads on to:

Part 2: In character explanation - your character tells their views on what they think of their name. They might know why their parents called them after their great aunt, or because it fit a pattern with other siblings... anything! Have fun here. It's a chance to delve a little deeper into your characters mind.

So let's go folks! Spill the secrets behind the names you chose.

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

Abigail Taylor Frazier!

1) The play-by for Abigail is Taylor Jardine, who most often goes by the name of Tay. So there's really nothing original about her name in that sense. The Abigail part was picked off a list of randomly generated names I think, and her surname came from googling 'surnames' and looking a couple of hundred names down a list of 1000 popular surnames.
Because of the PB, the charrie goes by the name of Tay, rather than her actual first name, because... well... I went through a serious 'girl crush on tay jardine' moment while making her!

2) Tay says: My parents wanted pretty simple, everyday names for us, and I guess they just thought that Abigail went well with Jordan - my older brother. But even from a young age I never liked being called Abigail, and even the shortened version, Abi, didn't appeal to me. There wasn't a lot I could do about my name when I was younger, and my parents wouldn't listen when I said I didn't like being refered to as either Abigail or Abi. Eventually my dad started calling my Abz, but it still didn't fit right. The name just doesn't suit me at all.

Jordan was the first one to suggest that I use my middle name and he started calling me Taylor. Which, was alright, but still not a preference. Starting Hogwarts I ended up being called Frazi for a few years but I eventually outgrew that and settled on being called Tay. I like 'Tay'. It's short. It's simple. It suits me. So Tay I am and Tay I shall stay. My parents still try to call me by some variation of Abigail but they're slowly beginning to realize that it's a losing battle. So, all is ending well!

[lachlanparker]

Lachlan Alexander Parker

1) So, long story short, I liked this one guy for nearly 7 years. His name is Lachlan. We were best friends until he found out how I felt and we went kaaa-split! But that's okay. So that's why the name Lachlan was used haha. Alexander is from Alexander William Gaskarth, the play-by. and Parker? Peter Parker from Spider-man. There you go.

2) Lachlan says: Eh, my name's alright. I mean, Alexander was the name of my grandfather and my mum thought that Lachlan sounded like a really original name (I mean, come on, how many other Lachlans do you know born in the year 1960?). I don't mind it, really. I got to name my little sister, though! Melisa. I decided to use one s instead of two, because I'm original like that. (;

[talls]

1) Basicly, she was an open canon with no last name. I picked Hoggs so she would have more than on reason to be called Ferret.

2) Oh geeze! My mum named me Alice because it was was innocent and sweet and feminine. Hoggs is my dad's last name. I'm called Ferret because I am mischivious and sneaky. And if ANYONE calls me by my surname (other than the proffessors of course) they will be hex to the ceiling. And Alice is so common and girly and boring! Yuck! Call me Ferret, I answer to that.

[quof]

OOC: so the only part of her name I got to pick was her middle name. and I just looked up Greek mythology and picked one I thought sounded cool.

IC: Honestly, I have no idea why my parents named me Andromeda. I suppose after Bellatrix they decided to make Greek mythology and star constellations a theme. Andromeda was sacrificed by her parents to a sea monster and then Perseus rescued her on the condition that he be allowed to marry her, and he later turned her fiance into stone to do so. The muggles named there neighboring galaxy Andromeda, which may or may not count for something.

My middle name, Euadne, is the name of a princess who was seduced by Apollo, had a child, and abandoned her child to bees. She did, however, take him back at her fathers request, so perhaps it was a virtue of obedience that my parents hoped to instill in me with that name.

[yumeko]

1: I love Japanese names.. because they seem to have more direct meanings than English (and the like) names do. Her first and last name are comprised of two words each. Yume means dream and ko is a particle for child. It can mean young dream or dream child. Hebi means serpent and ki is energy or spirit. So she is essentially named the dream child with the spirit of the serpent. Oh, and... it's not common for Japanese to have middle names, so I didn't give her one.

2: My mother used to tell me of a dream she had when she was younger. She dreamed of a Sakura tree, like the ones that surrounded her home in Japan. At first, the tree was just like any other. It greened in the summer, browned in the fall, became bare in the winter, and it bloomed in the spring. It followed the rules of its kind just as it was expected. Then one year... the Sakura tree decided blindly following expectations was not enough. When the warmth of spring descended upon the land and the time for blossoming finally arrived, that one stubborn tree refused. With it's defiant refusal, it disappointed the one that kept it, but simple disappointment was not enough to coax the tree into blossoming with all the rest. Then, as all other trees were dropping their petals and growing new leaves to sustain them through the summer, the Sakura still remained bare - outright refusing to share any sort of beauty that others expected of it. It was only in the chill of that following winter, when all other sakura were fighting to keep their beautiful leaves, that at last a single blossom emerged from one the Sakura's branches. Though confused, the onlookers were overjoyed with pleasure that the Sakura was at last showing life again. They cheered and celebrated, but the praise was not enough for the Sakura. A single simple flower would not do. The very next day they awoke to find the Sakura fully blossomed in the most brilliantly colored flowers ever seen to man and were awestruck into silence. Now they had finally realized why the tree did not bloom even a leaf all year long. It was not because it was ill-fed and it was not because it was unworthy. It was not like any other tree. It was greater. It fought against expectations only to show that it had more to offer than simply following in line.

My mother told me this story many times as I grew, but it was only when she became pregnant again that she told me that it was the reason she chose my name. She told me she believed with all her heart that one day I would prove to be the Sakura in her dream. That I would one day prove to be even better than anything anyone expects me to be and that I will accomplish it all on my own. And, so... she named me her dream child.

[Chase Connors]

Chase Liam Connors

1) The actor's name is Chace Crawford, and thus, Chase Connors came to be. I guess I'm just not very original. At all. As for the Liam part? No idea. It was a random name that jumped to mind and I slapped it bang in the middle of his name. Done deal. *shrug*

2) "Come on, guys. Why do you think my parents called me Chase? They couldn't exactly call me Seek or Beat or Keep or something, could they? But Chase? As in... Chaser? They could get away with that. I guess it was my dad's doing. He's the quidditch player after all. He always wanted me to play quidditch myself but... it's not really my thing. I'll just keep the name he chose. As for my middle name, it was my grandfather's name. My mum's contribution to the naming of me. Simple, right?"

[lovelylayla]

[Part 1] I actually created Layla's father before I created her. He's one of my characters on ISS. I really just wanted to have fun with his name, so I called him James Edward Mustang IV. The explanation behind that is simple: I wanted him to be called Jay, but he was from a relatively pretentious family (hence the IV) so I settled on James. Also, I had been watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (an anime) before I made him, and that's where his middle and last name came from. (Edward Elric and Roy Mustang)

Anime was also an inspiration for Layla's name. I was watching a pretty good anime called NANA, and one of the characters was named Layla after the Eric Clapton song. I had already decided on a playby for her, and I decided that the name Layla worked so well with Rachel Bilson. Her middle name, Rose, was actually a reference to her father's playby John Barrowman. He played Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood and I wanted to pay homage to that. Then I remembered that even though I didn't really like her, Rose introduced him to the Doctor, plus I like the name.

[Part 2] Layla: I'd never asked my dad why he named me Layla, but a few years ago I became curious. He told me that even though I had seemed so fragile when he first saw me, he could still see (or did he say sense?) the strength I had. It always sounds so cheesy when he says it, but apparently he had this crush ― though he insists it was love ― during his days at Hogwarts. I can't remember her last name, but it feels kind of weird being named after someone that my dad was 'in love' with. But I guess I like the name anyway. I'm not sure where he got the name Rose, whenever I ask he always says that even though I was a beautiful baby, the strength he saw reminded him of a rose. Beautiful, but harmful for those who don't know how to handle them. Merlin, my dad is SO cheesy. I really hope I'm not like him when I'm older.

[bellatrix]

Bellatrix Druella Black

OOC: Bellatrix Black is obviously canon and I chose Druella (which my auto correct wants to keep changing to drool) because it's Bella's mothers name and also because I've just been watching all of Buffy and Angel and I love Drusilla! She's crazy and brilliant so considering Druella is close to Drusilla, I just had to go with it!

IC: I'm named after a star, like so many in my family. I am the female warrior, Bellatrix, star in the consolation of Orion. As for my middle name I'm named after my mother you pillock. Now stay the hell out of my business before I curse you into the next century.

[James Potter]

Part 1: Well, James is James, and he's canon, so there's not a lot of room for variation here. So, onto:

Part 2:Hey, Hi, Howdy! James Potter here! There's not a lot I have to say about my name to be honest with you. My family tends to repeat the same could of names over and over, with Charles, Harry, and James being a few of the popular ones over the last could of generations. There are others of course, and they change the further back up the family tree you look, but yeah, they's a bit of a pattern to them. As for the Potter part? Well that's the obvious part of my name, isn't it?

[daisy]

Daisy Marie Hookum

[Part 1] OOC: Daisy Hookum is her canon name and Marie just fits well! It's a classic and it's pretty as well as feminine, what's not to love about Daisy Marie?!

[Part 2] IC: Uhm, my mums favourite flowers are daisies and my dad gives her daisies on their anniversary because apparently he proposed in a field on a summers afternoon at a picnic he'd prepared especially for her and there were hundreds and hundreds of daisies all around them. It was very beautiful. Marie is my grandmothers middle name on my mothers side so I always figured it came from there. Plus I think both my names are quite pretty.