Comments on: A note on being Hugo, one which contains a small Harry Potter spoiler

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:53:21 +0000

I haven’t read the books yet (I will, but I also don’t care about spoilers), but since Rowling said consistently that two major characters would get killed off, odds are pretty good of at least one couple of childbearing age surviving. It’s a very minor spoiler, if at all. Lots less than most of the book reviews I’ve seen and heard, frankly.

My only quibble about the names is that “unique” can go way too far. Creativity is not necessarily a benefit when one has to go through life with a name. I’d say avoiding the top fifty is a bit extreme: stay out of the top twenty and you’re largely out of fad and crowd territory.

But there are reasons to pick a name like that, sometimes: family traditions, mostly.

By: McKinley

McKinley — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:10:12 +0000

I’m sure as hell glad I finished Deathly Hallows before reading this. When no one was even sure that any of the major characters would survive, to say two lots of them married and had kids is a major spoiler.

By: ks

ks — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 16:17:16 +0000

My husband has a very uncommon name by American standards, although his last name is common enough in Sri Lanka (he was born there, but his first name was completely made up by his mother; as far as we know it is unique). I was the only person with my name growing up in my small hometown, but it isn’t terribly unusual. Our kids both have family names, given for sentimental reasons, but their first names have turned out to be fairly popular for kids their age. There’s always been at least one other of each in their pre-school/daycare classes every year. Their middle names are Randal (for my dad) and Devan (husband’s uncle–pronounced Theevan with a hard th), neither of which are terribly common around here. Although Devan (pronounced Devon) seems to be common among the African American teenagers where I work.

By: Hugo Schwyzer

Hugo Schwyzer — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 14:24:47 +0000

I just assumed, folks, that every Potter fan was done reading and that this did not constitute a spoiler. Sorry — all the folks I know who cared about Potter had finished the book by Saturday afternoon!

By: Stentor

Stentor — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:45:25 +0000

“Hugo” hits a good middle ground — it’s unusual enough that you won’t end up in a room with 4 other Hugos, but it’s common enough that people recognize it as a name. I’m quite attached to “Stentor,” but it does get annoying explaining to every new person I meet that I’m not “Spencer” or “Stanford” or “Stanley.” Yesterday I was calling an automated line to try to remove myself from a junk mail list, and the computer wouldn’t let me do it because it didn’t recognize “Stentor” as a name.

By: Susan H.

Susan H. — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:38:26 +0000

Good post, but — and I understand this is an honest mistake because you haven’t read the books — this is a spoiler and it should have been placed behind a cut.

By: theverycold

theverycold — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:13:05 +0000

firstly note, you should post a spoiler warning in the title-there are many harry potter fans out there. may we come in many shapes and sizes and colors-we are united in the love of a boy with a kickass scar (and a blogger who loves fuzzy rats).

second, having a not-too-popular name is also kickass, for the same reasons you mention. i’ve only meet two others with mine, and they’re at least 40 years old. plus, everybody remembers your name-i always have trouble with the katies, michaels, chris’, jessicas…but there’s usually only one josephine! sure it’s rough in the beginning, but it pays off when you’re older and rarer names are hip.

By: FuntFuntFunt

FuntFuntFunt — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 05:03:05 +0000

Don’t believe Hugo or me?

http://www.secretfunspot.com/virtual.htm

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 04:51:09 +0000

Noooooooo. Harry Potter spoilers. =( Anyway, good post; I think a lot of your readers can relate. I never liked being the Pink Power Ranger. But I’ll keep your entry in mind for the near-future.

By: Debra

Debra — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:06:26 +0000

I think you ought to try the books, Hugo. I think you’d find a lot in them. And yes, I admit, when I read about the child named Hugo, I thought of you.