Today on Brit + Co I saw an article, 30 Baby Names Inspired By Literature. And while I FEEL pregnant (with a food baby) I’m not planning on having (or naming) a child any time soon. I do, however, keep a list of names I love as inspiration for future pets, characters (I write short stories sometimes), etc.
I’m not going to reveal all the names on my secret list, but I did want to talk about Phineas really quick.
Many people site The Catcher in the Rye as the definitive coming of age novel (with many close seconds out there) but for me it was definitely A Separate Peace. In short, it’s about an all-boys school during World War II. There are two main characters, Phineas and Gene, and while I connected personally with neither character (nor the plot) for some reason I loved that novel. (Okay, maybe I was kind of mousey and secretly wanted to be popular like Gene did).
When I got my first (and only) pet my last year of college, a beta fish, I named him Phineas (phinny for short…because he’s a fish…and had fins). It just made sense. Plus it’s an interesting and uncommon name but still hard to mispronounce.
While my beloved pet has long since passed away, my love of the name Phineas still stands. If I were having a child (which I’m not) or a pet, I would seriously consider naming him Phineas (or Francis or Julius).
(P.S. Is it sad that I don’t have a separate list of pet vs child names?)
HAPPY FRIDAY.
