The curious name Eragon first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2006:
- 2008: 7 baby boys named Eragon
- 2007: 12 baby boys named Eragon
- 2006: 5 baby boys named Eragon [debut]
- 2005: unlisted
- 2004: unlisted
Where did it come from?
The epic fantasy film Eragon, which opened in theaters in December of that year.
The main character of the movie, Eragon (played by Edward Speleers), was a farm boy who lived in a kingdom ruled by an evil monarch.
One day, Eragon came across a strange-looking egg, which hatched to reveal a blue-colored baby dragon.
Eragon eventually realized that he was destined to become a Dragon Rider, and — after figuring out how to ride his dragon, and being trained to sword-fight and wield magic — set out to overthrow the king.
When Eragon discovered that he could communicate with his dragon telepathically, he also learned that she had a name:
“You can hear my thoughts!”
“I have waited a thousand years to hear your thoughts. And now you can hear mine. I am Saphira, and you are my rider.”
(Saphira was voiced by Rachel Weisz.)
Thanks to the movie, the baby name Saphira saw a significant increase in usage in 2007:
- 2009: 125 baby girls named Saphira
- 2008: 145 baby girls named Saphira
- 2007: 130 baby girls named Saphira
- 2006: 9 baby girls named Saphira
- 2005: 6 baby girls named Saphira
And the rare name Roran, which belonged to Eragon’s cousin Roran (played by Christopher Egan), also popped up in the data that year:
- 2009: 9 baby boys named Roran
- 2008: 7 baby boys named Roran
- 2007: 7 baby boys named Roran [debut]
- 2006: unlisted
- 2005: unlisted
A fourth character, the elf-princess Arya (played by Sienna Guillory), may have had an influence on baby names as well, but it’s hard to tell — the name Arya was already on the rise around that time.
The movie Eragon was based on the 2002 novel of the same name by Christopher Paolini, who’d started working on the book in the late 1990s (when he just was fifteen years old).
Eragon’s name was created by changing the first letter of the word “dragon.” (Paolini liked that “Eragon” echoed the words “era” and “gone” — as in, “an era gone by.”) Saphira’s name was based on the word “sapphire.”
Sources:
- Eragon (film) – Wikipedia
- List of the Inheritance Cycle characters – Wikipedia
- Questions and Answers From Christopher Paolini’s Europe Murtagh Tour (Part Two of Two) – Reddit
- SSA
Images: Screenshots of Eragon
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