Weekly Geeks 2009-6 What's in a Name?

I've been thinking about this and after following enough links found that anyone can jump on, so I'm jumpin' on.

This is the origin page. Here is copy of this week's assignment:

For this week's edition of Weekly Geeks, we're going to take a closer look at character names. What are some of your favorite character names?

Go to Google or a baby name site like this one or this one, and look up a favorite character's name. What does their name mean? Do you think the meaning fits the character? Why or why not?

If you'd like, look up your own name as well and share the meaning.

I'm jumpin' on this week because I loved this assignment so much. I am focusing on one of my favorite fantasy series by David Eddings. Why? Probably because I've actually considered using the first 2 male names for my children.

Garion (the main hero of the Belgaraid, and as previous mentioned, one of my fictional crushes): I first found a site that stated the meaning was "gelding," which so does not apply that I continued searching. Every other site said that it derived from French and means "to guard" or "guardian." That was more like it. That meaning fits and makes me happy. The other site needs to go jump in a lake. Garion has never been popular and is often counted in the single digits.

Gareth (another favorite character from the Belgaraid): "gentle" and "watchful." This is another good match for the character who had the assignment of watching certain families for generations to make sure nothing went wrong and that eventually the chosen children would be born. This name has historical been much more popular than Garion, even making it occasionally to the top 1,000.

I looked up several of the girl names from that series, like Polgara, Liselle, and Ce'Nedra, but I couldn't find anything and am fairly sure they were made up.

Fantasy Names that I Love for Which I Did Not Attempt to Find Meanings For:
Tasslehoff Burfoot
Panamon Creel
Lauralanthalassa
Galadriel
Gilthanas
Zandramas

Something I had fun pondering was how fun and convenient it is, as a writer, to pick a meaningful name for your character as opposed to when you name your children. A writer knows what the character will turn out to be - parents don't have that luxury!