The Best Names from Horror Movies

It's that time of year again. Nearly every doorstep is currently occupied by pumpkins, cobwebs and skeletons. Halloween is days away! You are no doubt finalizing your costume for the big party on Saturday or to take your little ones trick or treating. What about a horror movie marathon? Are you planning one of those?

There are many great horror films out there so I decided to browse through a few in search of great character names. Whether you would ever use one of these names for a child or not is up to you but surely you can appreciate these monikers and their counterparts.

Girls:
Addison (Saw II)
Blair (Blair Witch Project)
Carrie (Carrie)
Casey (Scream)
Dana (The Cabin in the Woods)
Elvira (Elvira: Mistress of the Dark)
Erin (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Gale (Scream)
Iris (30 Days of Night)
Jules (The Cabin in the Woods)
Katie (Paranormal Activity)
Laurie (Halloween)
Lila (Psycho)
Marion (Psycho)
Minnie (Rosemary's Baby)
Regan (The Exorcist)
Ripley (Alien)
Rosemary (Rosemary's Baby)
Samara (The Ring)
Sidney (Scream)
Stella (30 Days of Night)
Tatum (Scream)

Check out last year's list of spooky baby names for even more ideas!

Boys:
Ashley (The Evil Dead)
Chucky (Child's Play)
Dallas (Alien)
Damien (The Omen)
Eben (30 Days of Night)
Freddy (Nightmare on Elm Street)
Gage (Pet Sematary)
Guy (Rosemary's Baby)
Jack (The Shining)
Jason (Friday the 13th)
Kemper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
Marlow (30 Days of Night)
Michael (Halloween)
Morgan (Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Norman (Psycho)
Radford (Midnight Movie)
Rigg (Saw II)
Torrance (The Shining)
Xavier (Saw II)
Zeke (The Faculty)

What is your favorite horror flick? Which of these names do you like most? Can you think of any I missed?

Casper

I chose to feature the name Casper this week because of its well-known association with "the friendly ghost" who is an animated character that's actually been around since 1939. It felt appropriate since today is Halloween and ghosts are a spooky staple of the holiday.

Beyond the ghostly association, though, resides a really fabulous family of names.  Casper is the Dutch and Scandinavian form of the name Jasper which comes from the ancient Hebrew word Gizbar meaning "Treasurer". Gaspar was traditionally the name of one of the wise men who were said to have visited the newborn Jesus Christ.  Other related names include Caspar, Kasper, Jesper, Gaspard, Gaspare, and Gazsi.

Casper is not an unfamiliar name to the ear in the US. However, it isn't being used all that often. It has been consistently used since records began in 1880, but it has never been popular. It was once ranking in the bottom half of the Top 1000 chart, but it fell off of it in 1933. That means it hasn't been high on parents' radars in at least 80 years!

There were 89 baby boys named Casper in 2013 for a ranking of #1665. There were only 15 given the hardly-used spelling of Caspar. Jasper, on the other hand, has had quite a bit of popularity lately, ranking at #248 in 2013 with 1,443 births for the year.

Casper is rather popular overseas, though! It has recently ranked #49 in Sweden, #87 in Norway, #90 in the Netherlands and #346 in England/Wales. I think if old-man Jasper can be stylish again in the US, the cool Casper can be relevant too now that the ghostly image is beginning to fade with time.

What do you think of Casper? Do you like one of the variations better? What middle names would you pair with Casper? Here are a few random ideas that I came up with:

Sibling Name Ideas:

Sisters: Alice, Delilah, Iris, Lucy, Pearl, Sabrina, Zelda

Brothers: Atlas, Chauncey, Dempsey, Emmett, Linus, Porter, Watson

Middle Name Ideas:

Casper Blaine

Casper Edmund

Casper Louis

Casper Owen

As a Middle Name:

Ellis Casper

James Casper

Milo Casper

Nicholas Casper

Is the "friendly ghost" association too much still? Share your thoughts on this name in the comment section below!

Spooky Baby Names

If you are expecting a baby this week and you still aren't settled on the perfect name, perhaps one of these timely choices will jump at you. From the sweet and sugary candy names to the spooky, ghoulish and bewitched options, you're sure to love this list, especially if Halloween is your favorite holiday.

Some of these may not be very obviously tied to Halloween, but upon inspection of their meanings or their associations to certain legends or myths, it will all make sense. Some of these names may be a bit on the questionable side of things so I'd recommend doing your research before signing the birth certificate!

Girls:

Autumn

Blair
Buffy
Candy
Carrie
Cat
Circe
Coco
Elvira
Endora
Eve
Glinda
Harlow
Hazel
Hermione
Isis
Lilith
Lolly
Luna
Maeve
Morrigan
Morticia
October
Oriole
Persephone
Raven
Reese
Regan
Rosemary
Sabrina
Samantha
Selene
Tabitha
Tarot
Tempest
Trixie
Tootsie
Wanda
Wednesday
Wendy
Zena

Boys:
Addams
Bram
Casper
Chucky
Crane
Damien
Darth
Draco
Edgar
Frank
Freddy
Griffin
Hannibal
Horus
Ichabod
Igor
Jack
Jason
Jett
Leaf
Lucifer
Norman
Osiris
Phoenix
Poe
Rune
Salem
Storm
Treat
Victor
Wolf
Zephyr

I'm sure there are plenty more options that could be categorized as somewhat spooky. Can you think of any more that I missed?