(no subject)

[remindmeofthe]

Spoiler-free question for Torchwood: What is up with the names RTD thinks Americans in their thirties and forties have? Rex? Vera? Esther? My GRANDMOTHER is named Esther. Does RTD think we are still in the 1950s?

(Yes, I'm here, I aten't dead, etc etc, I think we have all accepted by now that I just suck at updating LJ. I wish I didn't, I kind of miss not having entries on the front page of my journal that are freaking eight months old.)

Comments

[bethan-b-bad.livejournal.com]

Eh, he thinks modern Welsh women are called Gwen and teenage English girls are called Martha, so he probably just likes old-fashioned names. I think the US can handle a little misrepresentation, anyway. ;)

[remindmeofthe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've always wondered about Martha (when I first heard of her, I assumed she'd be a companion from the past entirely because of her name), but I don't actually know anything about UK names. I think you're right, though - Rose and Donna are not exactly cutting-edge trendy, either.

[bethan-b-bad.livejournal.com]

Rose is not too unusual - I went to school with two Roses, and one of my best friends is named Amy-Rose - and Donna is about accurate for someone in Catherine Tate's age group, maybe a little too nineties if anything. But no-one younger than seventy is called Gwen, and there aren't too many Newport boys called Ianto either.

[remindmeofthe.livejournal.com]

It's almost opposite here - I wouldn't be surprised to run into a Gwen our age or older (it'd be unusual, but not weird), but a Donna under forty would be a little odd. My sixty-plus roommate is named Donna.

And it goes without saying that there are no Iantos here. I am embarrassed to admit that when I first heard chatter about the show, I thought Ianto must be an alien teammate.

[vivien]

I know a couple of Esthers who are younger than me (and American) so it happens!

I got nothin' for Rex and Vera, though.

If you look at baby name trends (which I doooo, it's a sickness), the past 10-15 years have been geared to "old fashioned" girls' names like Emma, Anna, etc. Those kids, sadly, are still only teenagers. So he's either ahead of the curve or behind it. Either way, off the mark!

(Also, hi from a fellow hermit!)

[temporal-tech.livejournal.com]

I have a cousin in law named Veronica that goes by Vera. So maybe its just her short name? I've got nothing for Rex and Esther though.