She might be Welsh. She might be French. She’s a little bit of a nature name, and even brings to mind the famous Harry Potter.
Thanks to Nessa for suggesting the lovely Lunette as Name of the Day.
I’ve written about Luna previously, a Harry Potter name racing up the popularity charts in the US. Lunette shares much of Luna’s appeal, but she’s no mere variant.
Lunette looks French, but there’s an argument for her as Welsh mythological moniker. Eluned or Luned is one of the Lady of the Lake’s handmaidens in the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales. She also appears in Arthurian legend; Chrétien de Troyes describes her as charming and clever. Indeed, she has a few adventures of her own and, in some accounts, ends up becoming the Lady’s most trusted friend.
The common Anglicization of Eluned is either Lunet or Lunete. The -ette ending feels undeniably français. Or maybe franglais, because while Luna charts in the French Top 100, Lunette is nowhere to be found.
That’s probably because any French dictionary will tell you that lunette translates to eyeglasses, as in Luna porte des lunettes. You wouldn’t call your boy Spectacles McGee, would you?
If you recall Ben Franklin’s eyeglasses, you’ll see the connection. In Paris, the moon is still la lune. Since the 1500s, lunette meant little moon – or objects that resembled a crescent moon. Horse shoes were once called lunettes; the half-moon shape in the arch over a doorway is still known as a lunette. Even though eyeglasses are no longer limited to the crescent shape, the name stuck.
In the US, Lunette won’t suffer from the same association. While she’s never ranked in the Top 1000, I’ve found her in use. (In fact, I’m following a new blog called Wee Cookery, written by Lunette Fleming.)
Odds are that you know someone with a name that ends in -ette. They gained in popularity from the late nineteenth century until the 1950s, when Mouseketeer Annette Funicello propelled her first name into the US Top 100.
A long list of -ette names have risen and fallen, including:
- Feminizations of male monikers – Paulette, Claudette, Bernadette, Danette, Josette;
- Feminizations of French masculine names – Jeanette, Yvette, Antoinette;
- Diminutives like Nanette, Colette and Suzette.
By the 1970s, the -ette girls were fading. But they’re back today, with Violet and Scarlet leading the pack. So Lunette, with her similarity to Luna and French flair, might just emerge as a fashionable option.
Just hope she decides to study abroad in Berlin instead of Marseille.
Lunette is the name of one of my sister’s characters!
Wow, thank you for the long and insightful answer! Yes, I’m thinking of Pomeline as answering to Lena (which would also clear up pronounciation issues!). And as for your second question, the story is COMPLETE fantasy, which is handy for me as I can give them any names I please!
Thanks very much, I’ll try! And of course I’ll credit you when the book is published (ha! I wish).
Now, I’m off to wrestle with writer’s block. Thanks again!
i’m so sad everyone hates this name! i think it’s so cute, little moon. the whole spectacles thing is what bothers me about it. I think it’s a sweet, pretty name. I like it much better than Luna, Luna feels incomplete. Ultimately, I wouldn’t use any of the Lun- names because I’d be afraid she’d be called “Loony”, or actually end up being crazy.
Though Loony isn’t holding Luna back!
BTW, my husband reacted favorably to this one for the same reason you gave – little moon.
I’m not a big fan of Lunette, though I love Luna and names like Nanette and Colette.
I think it’s because there was a clown on a TV show named Loonette. The show was “Big Comfy Couch” I think.
Though a little graceful, Lunette will always seem clownish and made-up sounding.
I’m very sorry about this, you must get sick of it, but yet again I am to post something completely off-topic! If it’s all right, I’d love to get some feedback on it!
So the thing is, I am TRYING to write a children’s book based around two sisters, and I would love for their names to have a ‘red’ theme, even if no one realises it but myself! So, one sister already has what I think of as a red moniker; Penelope, nickname Poppy (see what I did there? Poppies are red! Genius! haha). So, I was thinking Pomeline for the other sister. To me, it screams red, if only because it makes me think of apples, which are often red.
My question is, does anyone also think of Pomeline as red? And are Penelope and Pomeline a good match?
Wow, if I spent as much time writing the thing as I did pondering over character names, maybe I would get somewhere!
LOL, Emma!
I think Penelope and Pomeline sound like a natural match, but if Penelope is called Poppy, wouldn’t Pomeline answer to something shorter, too?
I’m no novelist, but the one piece of advice that sticks in my head is this: ask yourself why the parents would’ve chosen the names. If you’re not using fairly mainstream names, or creating a whole alternate world a la Harry Potter, you have to know WHY the parents didn’t just go with Amanda and Melissa.
But I like the vibe of the pair, and I think that a story about girls with those names sounds very sweet. And I do get a subtle red vibe from them, so it works. (Plus I firmly believe that even when we don’t examine characters’ names, all those little hidden meanings work on some part of our brains.)
Now back to that blank sheet of paper, and please be published by the time Clio is up to the “I want another story” stage. 🙂
I’m with Cat. I don’t like it either. Too frilly and it reminds me too much of the Big Comfy Couch tv show that used to be on PBS. My little sister used to watch it when she was little.
Luna is alot better, but still not something I’d name my child. Besides, one of my buddies has a cat named Luna and that one also reminds me of the black cat from the anime/manga series Sailor Moon. Yes I know, I’m an anime/manga addict. Lmfao!
Actually, Cat – funny you said that. Lunette is a maker of feminine products. I think they’re based in Finland.
I don’t like Lunette. To be perfectly honest, it sounds like a brand of feminine hygiene products to me. “Lunette pads: For the busy woman.” See? =/ I’m not too fond of ettes anyway, so I suppose it’s no big loss to me!
I’m not much of a fan of -ette, and Lunette’s no exception. She’s pretty but far to frilly for me. I like Over the top, yes but not the super frilly. Eluned is more my style (Of that -ette list, Antoinette is the only one that really appeals), elegant and lovely Eluned is. Simple Luna is lovely too and while I’d potentially call a little Luna, Lunette as a nickname, that about as far as I’d go using it. Lunette’s pretty though, I’d probably not mind her on someone else’s girl/ 🙂
“Eyeglasses” I proclaimed when I saw today’s NotD! Not that I would have remembered had you asked me 5 minutes earlier, but I recognized it. For that reason alone, I would not use it nor recommend it. I much prefer Luna.