"We named the dog Indiana..."

In the comments (Yay! Comments!) for my post on he-man heroes, Kimber said,

There ought to be a moratorium on heroes named (or nicknamed) Devil, Demon, Damien, Lucien, Lucifer, Luc, Lion, Lyon, Hawk, Raven, Rayne, or Wulf. These used to be what the hero's HORSE was called.

I heartily second that motion! And while I have the podium, I'd also like to call for a moratorium on creative spellings - especially gratuitous use of the letter "Y". (I'm looking at you, Rayven.)

Some authors seem to think it makes their characters "different", "edgy" or "wild". They think it makes their characters stand out from the crowd.

Yeah, that's what my friend Ginniphyr's mother told her.

If you want a name that's "different", why not pick a name that actually is different. From the Social Security list of popular baby names to Kate Monk's Onomastikon there are hundreds of sites on the web offering all sorts of names from around the world.

And as for all those "dark, dangerous, edgy" hero names like Demon, Hawk, Raven & Wulf, well, I always imagine that, like the great Indiana Jones, they merely lifted their monikers from the deceased family pet.