Game Of Thrones’ i mmense popularity in the United States of America has seen 146 baby girls named Khaleesi.
George R.R. Martin, the author of the series, made up the name, which means “queen” in the Dothraki language, and it is one of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryan’s titles.
Laura Wattenberg, a baby name expert, has been discussing its popularity, stating, “Plenty of authors dating back to Shakespeare have invented names that caught on with parents. You can even find names from imagined fantasy worlds that have been used on real-world babies.”
She then added, “But a name taken from words that are not a name, from an imagined language? I can’t think of a precedent.”
The name has dramatically increased over 450 percent since 2011, which isn’t a surprise because it was completely unknown in 2010.
Weeks ago it was announced that Arya, another character from Game Of Thrones, was revealed as the fastest-growing baby name in the United States last year. In 2011 it was ranked 711th, whilst in 2012 it leapt up to 413th.
According to Dohtraki language creator, David J. Peterson, the way to pronounce the name is “KHAH-lay-see,” rather than the way that most people say it, “ka-LEE-see.”
Clarke has shot to fame since playing the character, and her popularity has lead to her playing Holly Golightly in Breakfast At Tiffany’s on Broadway.
Clarke recently talked about starring in the show, admitting , “I had never heard of the books. And so I spent 48 frantic hours Wikipedia-ing … This is going to sound odd or bizarre. But just from those few lines I felt I understood the character. She’s a young girl trying to do good and to realize her own capabilities.”
She also talked about her first day on set, stating, “It was on a horse! It was petrifying. It was so scary. I can ride, I’ve done some riding before because I grew up in the countryside. But riding on camera is just something totally different.”
Which Game Of Thrones character would you name your child after?