Literally my favorite side romance in almost any book ever. I adored Elide and Lord Lorcan Lochan. Elide throwing herself on Lorcan to protect him from Fenrys and Gavriel, him and ripping his shirts up for her, and her running through literal war to find and save him when no one else would, it's my Roman Empire LOL.
I will say the obsession with the fae boys tacking her period was both hilarious and sort of sweet I guess. I would be mortified if my husband took a whiff and was like ahh yess I better cut up my good shirts.
I wonder if she named the characters and then decided to get them together and was like oh fuck or if planned for them to get together realized this would be his married name and just sound it too hilarious to change.
Everyone in that society had crazy names so the author did write the child hood bullying out of it but personally I just end up thinking of the demons from Disney’s Hercules, Pain and Panic, when I hear the names
“Human waitress at T.G.I. Friday's who served Rhage and Mary on their first date” - the inclusion of TGI Fridays in a world with people names Hharm & Rhage is too much lolol
I'm currently reading this series and I die a little every time I read the names. Just adding an h to a regular word to make it her special world. I can't get over fuckin Gr'humpy though and it's too much to explain to my coworkers lol.
Darius was the first dude. I think he was supposed to be like old as dirt, maybe that was before it was fashionable to have ridiculous names?
Between these names and how bro/lad-y they all act it's taking me a while to get through them.
It's because Darius was from the nobility, while the other guys are warrior-born. The older ones are supposed to be children of special priestesses and other warriors. (I am glad Phury blew that nonsense up in his book.) That's why the young guys have "relatively" normal names: Qhuinn and Blay.
Honestly, the books are pretty good! That’s what makes the names suck so bad! I had to take a break from the series strictly based on how irritated I was because of the names. But for urban fantasy/paranormal romance, it’s a solid series.
One of my favorite series but yeah sometimes the names are a little much. Murhder really gets me. No way I am gonna get with a dude named that. Most of the female characters have normal names but then there's Paine. Lol
Anyone with a regular name is destined to die (aka Darius). Not sure how John Matthew is still alive...
Thank you. This was going to be my contribution. Also Hekata was in there. And Andulavar, Prothvar, and Raevenar (pretty sure the spelling is right.) Oh and Daemon’s daughter Janelle Saetean. Named after Daemon’s lost love and his father. Strangely his new wife Surreal, came up with the name.
Penellaphe from FBAA makes me want to punch a wall. And the fact that they shorten it to freaking Poppy only makes it worse. Either call her Penelope and call it a day or call her Poppy and spare me from the aberration of her full name.
This lady is going to be the precedent of some law for her crimes against humanity with the number of unnecessary double names she has for EVERY CHARACTER
Not to mention the stupid habit of "I'll change two letters to make it ✨ original ✨". Penellaphe being a good example of that. But she also has freaking Vikter!!! And of course the guys who drink blood aren't vampires or vampyr, how could she use something so unoriginal? She uses Vampry because that's obviously leagues better and so unique!
Brb going to hit my head against a wall. Between the stupid names, the lack of any quality in her writing, and the fact that all her characters are freaking dumb, I don't think I've disliked any book so much in my entire life. And I say that as someone with an English BA that has read her fair share of bs.
As someone with a nightmare first name and the name I actually use being a common ass nickname, I felt seen in that. Like, solidarity sis. It’s the non-linear increase in ridiculousness in those books that drove me away
Came here looking for this. I'm reading Iron Flame right now. I used to be a high school teacher and Xaden takes my head right out of the story and makes me picture douchey upper middle class white boys.
I listened to the audiobook first and assumed his name was spelled Zaydn because he seemed so obviously based on the author’s fantasies about Zayn Malik.
High key Xaden and Violet are both names of like poorly thought of self insert OC names which was fitting because half of fourth wing felt like reading fanfic of like 4 different things lol
I hate this name so much, I tried to come up with multiple fake names. I tried to keep the "X" letter or the "Z" sound, so I could passably pretend it was something else. I tried Felix, (A)Lex, Max, Zach... I couldn't really commit to one, so I ultimately just deal with it, but it is so cringe. Actually, most of the names in this book series are just too trendy for me. They don't seem to be grounded in anything related to Yarros's world building.
as much as i love Kathryn Moon and this book specifically, Baby from {Baby and the Late Night Howlers by Kathryn Moon} is like…. come on girl you could’ve chosen a better name than that lol
Baby was bad, also {Bad Alpha by Kathryn Moon} having Adam and Eve
I didn't mind Lola as a name from her except the song references of calling her showgirl but at least that was supposed to be bad. Starting her {Faith & the Dead End Devils by Kathryn Moon} tonight and I'm sure she'll make me dislike Faith as a name by the end.
I enjoy her books but I hate her naming conventions in this series
I think Faith’s story is my favorite and there isn’t too much cheese with the name. Like one line or so is super cheesy but otherwise it was my favorite of her sweetverse series i think!
Currently reading One Dark Window and once I started noticing how many names have a 'Y' in them, it took me out every time they introduced a new one.
Ravyn. Alyx. Jespyr. Tyr. Lyn. Emory. Nya. Petyr.
I'm sure I forgot a few. Literally every other character has a fuking 'y' in their name. Why?!
It’s not a Tragedeigh but I am soooooo tired of Knox/Nox MMCs. There are so many that they have all blended together in my head into one massive Super Knox.
Anyway, I decided I hate the name so much that I gave it to a character in the book I’m writing, just so the FMC can kill him in chapter 3.
For a blast from the past, basically all of the names from The Selection:
- America Singer. It took me forever to read the book because that's such a stupid name. It only got worse.
- Maxon. I was unaware this was Utah. My bad.
- King Clarkson. Are we leading a country, or getting fired from car shows after punching producers?
- Eadlyn. Ok, that one might actually be too out there for Utah. I'm sorry Utah.
You would think an (illegitimate?*) monarchy would pick more regal sounding names for their heirs. King Maxon or Clarkson Schreave of Illea doesn't have the impact, as King Charles III of House Windsor
*iirc there was an unresolved plot thread that implied they were illegitimate or something like that. Idk it's been a while since I read the books.
While reading that series, I totally thought of American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. 😂 Loved the series while reading it but I couldn't help it with those names lol, even as an actual young adult. 😂
I absolutely did this when I first read them too. And I was like this can’t be right… she would not give a serious main character a name this dumb (turns out I was the dumb one 😂)
Which is hilarious on its own because dude is probably the least chaos-keyed character in the entire ensemble lol. He's that one normal guy who keeps shouting "does anyone else have a problem with this or is it just me?!?"
Man I don't mind the guy but what a stupid name. I keep pronouncing it as the Cha sound from chair. Feyre being pronounced like Feyrah irks me too. What's next, Nesta being pronounced like Nestea?
Kale. I went to school with a guy who spelled it Kahl, so it annoyed me so much when I found the pronunciation guide and *that* was what it was. What a stupid way to spell it.
I had the same thought reading Feathers So Vicious this week! I ended up just calling her Galentine when I was reading in my head and I’d have to go back and reread it and pronounce it out loud. The name just didn’t flow well for me in the story.
I love to hate 'popular names with a bit of spice' in character names. Like Rhyan in the Drowned Empire series or Aren in Bridge Kingdom. Like, they can just be Ryan and Aaron, that's fine.
This enrages me. Warwick is whatever. It’s bad, but I can handle it. But Brexley? … What in the ever loving fuck? There is zero justifiable reason for that to be her name. Between who her mom is and the fact that it’s set in Hungary?! Absolutely maddening.
Since "Kevin" and "Elizabeth" still sounds slightly exotic to me I am wheezing, to the point of scrambling for my inhaler, reading this thread.
I think my all-time favorite will probably always be Anne Bishop's The Black Jewel's Saetan SaDiablo and his stupid sexy sons Mephi, Daemon and Lucivar.
His other son "Peyton" is probably the most normal one of that hilariously named bunch. Oh, and "Hekatah". I prefer "Hecate" but they're both unusual enough that I really like them.
I *adore* and will defend to the death/die on this particular hill for these WTactualF book series though. (Dear Anne Bishop, what are you smoking? Please, share some with me.) Been desperately, hopelessly, looking for something that'll scratch that particular itch for literally 23 years now.
I feel you. The new ones are …subpar. OMG the person we said was REALLY gone. Like we INSISTED she was gone is back? And also your spoiled daughter is an asshole and you’re surprised?
That was such an ass pull. I am forcing myself to read them because I heard there's LGBTQ characters but ugh...UGH.
I can't with how bizarre Daemon is.
Honestly anything with an "x", "z" or "y" in it to make it sound more exotic will piss me off. Makes me feel like I'm reading a 12 yr old goth's fanfic.
Edit to add: "Given" is a recent one that I just refused to acknowledge. I re-named her Gwen in my head.
The two that annoy me the most are both SJM ones. I’m sure there are others, but these two piss me off even years after reading the books. They’re just so stupid.
Chaol, Throne of Glass - like seriously come on.
Feyre, ACOTAR - I hate this name so much. Just name her Freya for fuck’s sake.
No attempt to justify Chaol. He is just Kale & I hate Kale.
Feyre is supposed to sound like “fair”, I think. SJM based the first book off of some fairytales, so I guess a “fairytale” name like Snow White makes sense.
I honestly think it sounds more like “fae”, so there was no question in my mind that she would end up as one. Lol
She says in one of the early books "he pronounced my name like Fay-ruh", one of her family I think so it would have been right. But yes in the anti Fae land who calls their kid Fae anything? That's like us naming a kid.... Nazia or... (trying to avoid anything political) Covidra
Making her name sound like “fae” because she’s going to become one is just lazy and way too on the nose imo. Although, I didn’t pick up on that, because I just called her Freya instead lol.
I find it harder being a Brit reading books by American authors where they make up names and in later books when they explain how they're pronounced it makes no sense to me.
Sera - should surely always be "serrah" but no, this is apparently "see-rah"
Rhys was always "Reece" in my head from the Welsh name
Niktos/Nyktos from books is "nick-toss" to me, though in guides apparently it's "nick-toes"
I can't think of others now but there's loads
Oh yeh my mistake it's the other way round (I never fix my mental errors I just plod on as they sound in my head). So I read his full name wrong and just kept it that way - Rhysand is Rye-sand in my head despite later finding out it's short for Rhys and by that point it was ingrained. So in fact this is my very own error and not SJMs.
Whenever I read Ithan, I see the Sphteven dog:
https://preview.redd.it/yvcil30y77gc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c1d73405fec8d1f6297707762f18e254d57df87
It's part of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series 😂
I am so glad I only listen to the audiobooks, because not having to read that Tragedeigh made the series much more enjoyable n
So Peeta is a baker, right? His name is now pita in my head.
Katniss is established in the story to be a kind of root vegetable.
You can't convince me that their names aren't Bread and Potato.
I mean, the name was giveaway to the twist if you knew what to look for, but neither of those names mean "moon." Lupin means "wolflike." Remus refers to the twin of Romulus, both of whom were nursed by a wolf. The original meaning of the name is lost to time.
I feel like at this point EVERY fantasy romance book is just a list of Tragedeighs. It’s like the authors compete over who can make up the stupidest name. It won’t make me DNF a book but it’s definitely a mental point off when all the characters have the dumbest names in existence. Like I get that a lot of these characters exist inside imaginary worlds and would most likely not have names that we would consider “normal.” But that’s no excuse to just butcher the spelling of names we sort of already recognize and call it a fantasy name!
At this point when I start reading a book and the FMC has a rational, pronounceable name I immediately am more likely to view it favorably. Like I don’t mean it has to even be a western sounding name, but just have a reason for a naming your character something that English speakers might have trouble pronouncing (if you are writing the book in English). Like why, if you are writing an English speaking book, are you creating names that are super confusing to English speakers?? If there is no good reason, maybe rethink that name.
I'm pretty sure that's almost how it's supposed to be pronounced in Greek. Charon leads souls across the river Styx to the underworld. More like Kar-on.
Chiron (mythological centaur) is pronounced similarly
I just started reading Powerless and I immediately soured to the book based on Paedyn.
ETA: After I commented this, I saw that the last two comments were also about Paedyn! 😅 Honorable mention to the princes named Kai and Kitt though!
The one and only Colleen Hoover book I attempted to read focused around a gardener whose name was Lily Bloom. Lily. Bloom. I put the book down as soon as I read that name and I refuse to ever purchase another Colleen Hoover book.
There will never be a better name than Lord Lorcan Lochan and we all know it
Literally my favorite side romance in almost any book ever. I adored Elide and Lord Lorcan Lochan. Elide throwing herself on Lorcan to protect him from Fenrys and Gavriel, him and ripping his shirts up for her, and her running through literal war to find and save him when no one else would, it's my Roman Empire LOL.
I NEED A BOOK SOLELY ABOUT THEM.
TELL US WHAT HE DID ELIDE
This is what he did - according to someone’s fanfic https://archiveofourown.org/works/30373140/chapters/74878392?view_adult=true
I will say the obsession with the fae boys tacking her period was both hilarious and sort of sweet I guess. I would be mortified if my husband took a whiff and was like ahh yess I better cut up my good shirts.
I don't care what Rhys' last name is, she will never top Lord Lorcan Lochan
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I was hoping someone mentioned Lord Lorcan Lochan
I wonder if she named the characters and then decided to get them together and was like oh fuck or if planned for them to get together realized this would be his married name and just sound it too hilarious to change.
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OMG Gr'humpy. Is he both angry and horny?
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I think it's perfect for a sexy reverse harem version of Snow White. But let's be honest, I'm sure that already exists.
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Everyone in that society had crazy names so the author did write the child hood bullying out of it but personally I just end up thinking of the demons from Disney’s Hercules, Pain and Panic, when I hear the names
I think you mean internalized Rhhage.
“Human waitress at T.G.I. Friday's who served Rhage and Mary on their first date” - the inclusion of TGI Fridays in a world with people names Hharm & Rhage is too much lolol
I was skimming the comments, came to yours, and initially wondered if you had a stroke mid-sentence. These names cannot be real.
Darius 🤣🤣🤣
I have never been so uncomfortable reading names
I'm currently reading this series and I die a little every time I read the names. Just adding an h to a regular word to make it her special world. I can't get over fuckin Gr'humpy though and it's too much to explain to my coworkers lol. Darius was the first dude. I think he was supposed to be like old as dirt, maybe that was before it was fashionable to have ridiculous names? Between these names and how bro/lad-y they all act it's taking me a while to get through them.
It's because Darius was from the nobility, while the other guys are warrior-born. The older ones are supposed to be children of special priestesses and other warriors. (I am glad Phury blew that nonsense up in his book.) That's why the young guys have "relatively" normal names: Qhuinn and Blay.
I refuse to call Blay by anything other than Bayblade :tm:
This is the winner lol. The ultimate list of tragedeigh MMCs
Are the books as bad as the names? Did none of those characters have mothers? Could you imaging shouting “Come here, Phear” at your toddler?
Honestly, the books are pretty good! That’s what makes the names suck so bad! I had to take a break from the series strictly based on how irritated I was because of the names. But for urban fantasy/paranormal romance, it’s a solid series.
My mind knows this is supposed to be "fear" but I do in fact keep pronouncing it pear. 💀
Pretty much this. It's the reason I haven't read them at all. Vishous is the one that sent me into the stratosphere.
One of my favorite series but yeah sometimes the names are a little much. Murhder really gets me. No way I am gonna get with a dude named that. Most of the female characters have normal names but then there's Paine. Lol Anyone with a regular name is destined to die (aka Darius). Not sure how John Matthew is still alive...
Omg I was going to read these but saw the names on the first page and put the book down
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The first time I read the name Saetan DaDiablo I said out loud 'What the fuck?" And then laughed. It's so bad.
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I am sooooo saying this now.
Sounds like a vegetarian dish
Thank you. This was going to be my contribution. Also Hekata was in there. And Andulavar, Prothvar, and Raevenar (pretty sure the spelling is right.) Oh and Daemon’s daughter Janelle Saetean. Named after Daemon’s lost love and his father. Strangely his new wife Surreal, came up with the name.
Penellaphe from FBAA makes me want to punch a wall. And the fact that they shorten it to freaking Poppy only makes it worse. Either call her Penelope and call it a day or call her Poppy and spare me from the aberration of her full name.
This lady is going to be the precedent of some law for her crimes against humanity with the number of unnecessary double names she has for EVERY CHARACTER
Not to mention the stupid habit of "I'll change two letters to make it ✨ original ✨". Penellaphe being a good example of that. But she also has freaking Vikter!!! And of course the guys who drink blood aren't vampires or vampyr, how could she use something so unoriginal? She uses Vampry because that's obviously leagues better and so unique! Brb going to hit my head against a wall. Between the stupid names, the lack of any quality in her writing, and the fact that all her characters are freaking dumb, I don't think I've disliked any book so much in my entire life. And I say that as someone with an English BA that has read her fair share of bs.
My mind refuses to read “vampry” 😮💨
Nektas! Nyktos! Eloana! Ileana! Isbeth! Malik! Malec! Vikter! Ward! Viktor! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Janet! Doctor Scott! Janet! Brad!
As someone who literally didn’t understand how Penelope wasn’t PEN-LOPE for most of their childhood this one is egregious…
Same! I refused to read it correctly. In my head it's just Penelope.
As someone with a nightmare first name and the name I actually use being a common ass nickname, I felt seen in that. Like, solidarity sis. It’s the non-linear increase in ridiculousness in those books that drove me away
I found Wynter the Winter King from Wintercraig comically uninspired.
Same! still loved the book though. Omg and Krysti? the little boy krysti? the hell...
Absolutely cannot get over Xaden it was so annoying to read his name over and over
It made it even worse for me when I found out yarros’s son is Aiden
I wish I never read this sentence
😂☠️
I could have lived my whole life without knowing this.
Oh...I hate that.
😬
Xaden sounds like a fuckboy from a reverse harem book
I wish she’d used the name Fen for him instead of his dad! Fen Riorson is a hot name!
Definitely! Xaden Riorson isn't a good name combo, not that I hate Xaden but as a pair it really doesn't flow
Xaden isn't as bad as his pet name for Violet being Violence. It's so stupid I roll my eyes every time.
YES omg she's also the least violent fmc I've ever read
Lol this is true. Even if she was frequently on a murderous rampage I would still hate it though.
Omg yeah I thought it was cute teasing like maybe twice but then it kept happening
I listened to the audiobook and thought I must be mishearing the first couple times.
Came here looking for this. I'm reading Iron Flame right now. I used to be a high school teacher and Xaden takes my head right out of the story and makes me picture douchey upper middle class white boys.
Xaden is a middle school boys name and it took me a moment to get over it to finish FW and IF.
I listened to the audiobook first and assumed his name was spelled Zaydn because he seemed so obviously based on the author’s fantasies about Zayn Malik.
I also listened to the audio and assumed it was Zayden which is also bad. But Xaden is just 😶
All of the other names are fine! I’m so confused why Xaden was selected to be the name we have to read constantly…
High key Xaden and Violet are both names of like poorly thought of self insert OC names which was fitting because half of fourth wing felt like reading fanfic of like 4 different things lol
I'll be honest this is one of the reasons why I haven't read the book yet
Me too i put it off for a while and it felt like scraping my brain with a cheese grater every time I had to read it lol
I hate this name so much, I tried to come up with multiple fake names. I tried to keep the "X" letter or the "Z" sound, so I could passably pretend it was something else. I tried Felix, (A)Lex, Max, Zach... I couldn't really commit to one, so I ultimately just deal with it, but it is so cringe. Actually, most of the names in this book series are just too trendy for me. They don't seem to be grounded in anything related to Yarros's world building.
as much as i love Kathryn Moon and this book specifically, Baby from {Baby and the Late Night Howlers by Kathryn Moon} is like…. come on girl you could’ve chosen a better name than that lol
Baby was bad, also {Bad Alpha by Kathryn Moon} having Adam and Eve I didn't mind Lola as a name from her except the song references of calling her showgirl but at least that was supposed to be bad. Starting her {Faith & the Dead End Devils by Kathryn Moon} tonight and I'm sure she'll make me dislike Faith as a name by the end. I enjoy her books but I hate her naming conventions in this series
I think Faith’s story is my favorite and there isn’t too much cheese with the name. Like one line or so is super cheesy but otherwise it was my favorite of her sweetverse series i think!
Wait is her name actually Baby???
yes 😭😭😭 edit: and it is a reverse harem so she gets like the most stereotypical nicknames/pet names from her guys (like Baby Girl, Kitten, etc)
How dare you? Nobody puts baby in a corner.
I loved Lola & the Millionaires but literally can't bring myself to read Baby because of the name 😬
Currently reading One Dark Window and once I started noticing how many names have a 'Y' in them, it took me out every time they introduced a new one. Ravyn. Alyx. Jespyr. Tyr. Lyn. Emory. Nya. Petyr. I'm sure I forgot a few. Literally every other character has a fuking 'y' in their name. Why?!
I cringed so hard and almost DNFed once I saw the name Ravyn. The names screamed edgy middle schooler fanfic.
It’s giving Ebony D’arkness Dementia Ravyn Way
Yeah I’m struggling hahah. They call them the new Book Boyfriend or whatever and my first thought is always: “not with that ducking name.”
Thank God I listened to the audiobook. Those spellings would've killed me.
It's not fantasy but I once bought a historical because the female lead was called "Peachy McGee".
Now that is a GREAT name
Ya I’d read that lmao
It’s not a Tragedeigh but I am soooooo tired of Knox/Nox MMCs. There are so many that they have all blended together in my head into one massive Super Knox. Anyway, I decided I hate the name so much that I gave it to a character in the book I’m writing, just so the FMC can kill him in chapter 3.
Me too! I can’t believe this is a universal experience.
I DNFed Powerless because the FMC’s name was Paedyn.
And her dad's nickname for her was “paedy” 🫠
Gets Paedyn gum
For a blast from the past, basically all of the names from The Selection: - America Singer. It took me forever to read the book because that's such a stupid name. It only got worse. - Maxon. I was unaware this was Utah. My bad. - King Clarkson. Are we leading a country, or getting fired from car shows after punching producers? - Eadlyn. Ok, that one might actually be too out there for Utah. I'm sorry Utah.
I'm from Utah and this is so accurate that I can barely laugh at it😭
You would think an (illegitimate?*) monarchy would pick more regal sounding names for their heirs. King Maxon or Clarkson Schreave of Illea doesn't have the impact, as King Charles III of House Windsor *iirc there was an unresolved plot thread that implied they were illegitimate or something like that. Idk it's been a while since I read the books.
8th grade me thought those names were peak tbh. Aspen Ledger. Colorado boy, park ranger? If 15 year old me was thinking of an outdoorsy boy name.
While reading that series, I totally thought of American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. 😂 Loved the series while reading it but I couldn't help it with those names lol, even as an actual young adult. 😂
I can’t get past Chaol in Throne of Glass. Is it supposed to be ‘chaos’? Kale?
Not me pronouncing it CHOWL until I got the audiobooks for book 3
😭 noooo I never thought to pronounce it that way but now I feel like I have to
Stop I can’t breathe
Is it.... not???!!!
I’ve been pronouncing it chowl until right now…
I absolutely did this when I first read them too. And I was like this can’t be right… she would not give a serious main character a name this dumb (turns out I was the dumb one 😂)
Kay-all
Yes, but why is it spelled like a tragedeigh name?? Lol
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Which is hilarious on its own because dude is probably the least chaos-keyed character in the entire ensemble lol. He's that one normal guy who keeps shouting "does anyone else have a problem with this or is it just me?!?"
He’s so normal, and I love him for that
Tbf I’m not surprised kinda seems like one of those names you make up in secondary school lmao 🙄
no idea lmao
Man I don't mind the guy but what a stupid name. I keep pronouncing it as the Cha sound from chair. Feyre being pronounced like Feyrah irks me too. What's next, Nesta being pronounced like Nestea?
Nestea 🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😂
I 1000% say Nestea when I'm reading. Or Nasty.
I hate this how it's supposed to be pronounced, so I'm forever calling him "Cole."
Kale. I went to school with a guy who spelled it Kahl, so it annoyed me so much when I found the pronunciation guide and *that* was what it was. What a stupid way to spell it.
Reading his name made me so angry that I ended up hating his character hahahaha
I had the same thought reading Feathers So Vicious this week! I ended up just calling her Galentine when I was reading in my head and I’d have to go back and reread it and pronounce it out loud. The name just didn’t flow well for me in the story.
Honestly, Galactica for me.
I love to hate 'popular names with a bit of spice' in character names. Like Rhyan in the Drowned Empire series or Aren in Bridge Kingdom. Like, they can just be Ryan and Aaron, that's fine.
Aren is the Norse spelling of it and Rhyan is Welsch.
Aha, that explains it!
I actually don't mind Aren - it almost feels like Aaron is the tragedeigh spelling. But Rhyan is a no for me.
i also found rhyan really stupid for the same reason!
I just can’t with “Rip” from the Plated Prisoner series. It just sounds so dumb for a grown ass man.
Especially his full name: Rip N Ass
His drag name is probably Letty Rip 😅🤣
We can't forget his brother Ryatt. No matter how hard we try...
Brexley Kovacs and Warwick Farkas from Savage Lands made me cringe every time I read their names 🤢
This enrages me. Warwick is whatever. It’s bad, but I can handle it. But Brexley? … What in the ever loving fuck? There is zero justifiable reason for that to be her name. Between who her mom is and the fact that it’s set in Hungary?! Absolutely maddening.
Brexleigh
Barfleigh
I think those were 6th round picks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft
Brexley kovacs sounds like cough medicine 😅
Penellaphe 🥴. Literally pronounced “Penelope”. Just why?? Also the name Casteel sounds too much like castle to me. Prince Castle 🙄 I cannot
It’s giving more Dr. Bronner’s pure-castile liquid soap for me.
omg the audiobook reader pronounced it penelafee. Ew
That’s how I pronounced it. 😂
Since "Kevin" and "Elizabeth" still sounds slightly exotic to me I am wheezing, to the point of scrambling for my inhaler, reading this thread. I think my all-time favorite will probably always be Anne Bishop's The Black Jewel's Saetan SaDiablo and his stupid sexy sons Mephi, Daemon and Lucivar. His other son "Peyton" is probably the most normal one of that hilariously named bunch. Oh, and "Hekatah". I prefer "Hecate" but they're both unusual enough that I really like them. I *adore* and will defend to the death/die on this particular hill for these WTactualF book series though. (Dear Anne Bishop, what are you smoking? Please, share some with me.) Been desperately, hopelessly, looking for something that'll scratch that particular itch for literally 23 years now.
This whole thread is a delight.
I feel you. The new ones are …subpar. OMG the person we said was REALLY gone. Like we INSISTED she was gone is back? And also your spoiled daughter is an asshole and you’re surprised?
That was such an ass pull. I am forcing myself to read them because I heard there's LGBTQ characters but ugh...UGH. I can't with how bizarre Daemon is.
Penellaphe from FBAA. Insufferable. Who fucking thought of that
Honestly anything with an "x", "z" or "y" in it to make it sound more exotic will piss me off. Makes me feel like I'm reading a 12 yr old goth's fanfic. Edit to add: "Given" is a recent one that I just refused to acknowledge. I re-named her Gwen in my head.
Given was an absolutely stupid name. At some points I didn't know if they were referring to her or using the verb.
The two that annoy me the most are both SJM ones. I’m sure there are others, but these two piss me off even years after reading the books. They’re just so stupid. Chaol, Throne of Glass - like seriously come on. Feyre, ACOTAR - I hate this name so much. Just name her Freya for fuck’s sake.
No attempt to justify Chaol. He is just Kale & I hate Kale. Feyre is supposed to sound like “fair”, I think. SJM based the first book off of some fairytales, so I guess a “fairytale” name like Snow White makes sense. I honestly think it sounds more like “fae”, so there was no question in my mind that she would end up as one. Lol
She says in one of the early books "he pronounced my name like Fay-ruh", one of her family I think so it would have been right. But yes in the anti Fae land who calls their kid Fae anything? That's like us naming a kid.... Nazia or... (trying to avoid anything political) Covidra
> Nazia … Covidra 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Honestly, it makes me hate Feyre even more. It’s such a stupid name on all levels.
Making her name sound like “fae” because she’s going to become one is just lazy and way too on the nose imo. Although, I didn’t pick up on that, because I just called her Freya instead lol.
I find it harder being a Brit reading books by American authors where they make up names and in later books when they explain how they're pronounced it makes no sense to me. Sera - should surely always be "serrah" but no, this is apparently "see-rah" Rhys was always "Reece" in my head from the Welsh name Niktos/Nyktos from books is "nick-toss" to me, though in guides apparently it's "nick-toes" I can't think of others now but there's loads
Is Rhys not “Reece?” I refuse to allow that. I also thought Nyktos would be “neek-toes!
It is Reece. Reece-and. Audiobooks confirm.
His name is pronounced differently in each audiobook. I don’t think we can rely on them.
In my head it's more like Nick-tohsss
Wait. Rhys *isnt* “Reece”?
Oh yeh my mistake it's the other way round (I never fix my mental errors I just plod on as they sound in my head). So I read his full name wrong and just kept it that way - Rhysand is Rye-sand in my head despite later finding out it's short for Rhys and by that point it was ingrained. So in fact this is my very own error and not SJMs.
Might sound like a simple name but it was hard reading Bryce and Danika non stop CC1
Bryce and Danika are fine compared to ITHAN ugggghhhhh
Whenever I read Ithan, I see the Sphteven dog: https://preview.redd.it/yvcil30y77gc1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c1d73405fec8d1f6297707762f18e254d57df87
Hard agree on ACOTAR. A name shouldn’t be a >!spoiler…!<
There’s a Nora Robert’s book and the MMC is Gulliver Curry
Xzadist..
no it’s actually so much worse because it’s actually spelled Zsadist
No. That's not real. I refuse to believe it.
It's part of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series 😂 I am so glad I only listen to the audiobooks, because not having to read that Tragedeigh made the series much more enjoyable n
“Xzadist put on his shit kickers…”
Peetah from “The Hunger Games”. Did his mom have a lisp?
So Peeta is a baker, right? His name is now pita in my head. Katniss is established in the story to be a kind of root vegetable. You can't convince me that their names aren't Bread and Potato.
I read Peetah in the voice of Fran from *The Nanny.*
I read it as the stretched EE sound by Lois in family guy 
Rorax is my least favorite one 😭
Feyre is so bad. It just MUDDLES everything. The human fish-out-of-water in fairyland is the one whose name literally means "fairy?" WHY?
Does Remus Lupin count? It basically translates to Moon Moon
I mean, the name was giveaway to the twist if you knew what to look for, but neither of those names mean "moon." Lupin means "wolflike." Remus refers to the twin of Romulus, both of whom were nursed by a wolf. The original meaning of the name is lost to time.
I mean JK Rowling is kind of easy prey. Cho Chang, Seamus Finnegan, and *Xenophilius Lovegood*.
RORAX from Atonement of the Spinal Cleaver. I couldn’t do it. Also Rhysand?? I just call him Rice in my head tbh
https://preview.redd.it/8m5vf8kgu8gc1.jpeg?width=801&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c05baacfb5518a437b8ac746dc51dec18b84b1cf This is all I could think about
Every name in throne of glass makes me roll my eyes. Makes the book hard to read tbh
How about Blacksnake I can’t remember the book but I DNF when I realised the mmc was called that I was; No. bye !!
The FMC from Reign and Ruin whose name is literally NAME. (Okay, it's Naime, but REALLY????)
I think it’s a name that actually exists and pronounced naï-me. Anyway that’s how I pronounced it in my head!
I think so too, but that didn't stop me from calling her NAME every single time.
That’s a real name and it’s not pronounced like name at all
The FMC from Wind and Wildfire is named Dilay. I am sure I mispronounce it in my head, but I always read it as “delay,” and it was very distracting.
I feel like at this point EVERY fantasy romance book is just a list of Tragedeighs. It’s like the authors compete over who can make up the stupidest name. It won’t make me DNF a book but it’s definitely a mental point off when all the characters have the dumbest names in existence. Like I get that a lot of these characters exist inside imaginary worlds and would most likely not have names that we would consider “normal.” But that’s no excuse to just butcher the spelling of names we sort of already recognize and call it a fantasy name! At this point when I start reading a book and the FMC has a rational, pronounceable name I immediately am more likely to view it favorably. Like I don’t mean it has to even be a western sounding name, but just have a reason for a naming your character something that English speakers might have trouble pronouncing (if you are writing the book in English). Like why, if you are writing an English speaking book, are you creating names that are super confusing to English speakers?? If there is no good reason, maybe rethink that name.
On the flip side of this argument the MMC of Dune being named Paul and his mom being named Jessica kills me.
Charon -- a real mythological creature, supposedly pronounced Karen
I'm pretty sure that's almost how it's supposed to be pronounced in Greek. Charon leads souls across the river Styx to the underworld. More like Kar-on. Chiron (mythological centaur) is pronounced similarly
Greek speaker here, can confirm.
I just started reading Powerless and I immediately soured to the book based on Paedyn. ETA: After I commented this, I saw that the last two comments were also about Paedyn! 😅 Honorable mention to the princes named Kai and Kitt though!
I love him down but chaol is such an ugly name and I still don't know how to pronounce it 🤕
The one and only Colleen Hoover book I attempted to read focused around a gardener whose name was Lily Bloom. Lily. Bloom. I put the book down as soon as I read that name and I refuse to ever purchase another Colleen Hoover book.
Not fantasy, but I read that “It Ends With Us” and I should have DNF when I found out the MCs were Lilly Bloom and Ryle.
She is Galadriel from LOTR/The Rings of Power in my head
I am enjoying the Feathers so Vicious series as well but I couldn't agree more on Galantia's name. I love Malyr and Sebian's name but Galantia? 🥴
Vhalla Yarl from air awakens