There are those who call me... Tim?

[rj_anderson]

It has been suggested to me that I change the name of my young hero from book two of FAERY REBELS (a.k.a. REBEL in the UK). I am told that for most British people, especially of the younger generation, the name "Timothy" is considered fairly radically uncool.

I don't mind Timothy's name being unpopular, because he was born to missionary parents and raised in Uganda, and him not fitting in with the cool kids in England is kind of the point. However, if it's going to make all my young readers in the UK gag and put the book down hastily the moment they see it (as I'd be tempted to do if the hero's name was, say, "Leslie") then I suppose I would be foolish not to take that into account.

So I'm doing a poll. The first question is specifically for UK readers, but for the second I'd be glad to hear from anybody.

[Poll #1398565]

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Comments

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

No need to flail! Honest opinions and input from people in the know is precisely what this discussion is for!

On an uncoolness/wimpiness level, would "Timothy" be on a par with, say, "Jeremy" or "Barnaby", or is it somehow more extreme than either of those? I get the uncoolness factor in the latter two names, though it doesn't strike me as fatal, more a sort of "Well, you're going to have to work to get over that" kind of thing.

[tybalt-quin.livejournal.com]

On an uncoolness/wimpiness level, would "Timothy" be on a par with, say, "Jeremy" or "Barnaby", or is it somehow more extreme than either of those?

It's about on a par with Jeremy and Barnaby (although Jeremy is more common a name in the UK than Barnaby is, but again that's with men over a certain age). Another comparator would be 'Nigel'.