'I hate that people think I named my daughter after Twilight - this name came first'

A mum has vented her frustration after choosing to honour her grandmother by naming her daughter after her, only for people to think the name comes from a character.

Most parents put a lot of care and effort into . It’s an important decision, as names have to suit a person from infancy to adulthood but sometimes, even with careful considerations in place, names can have strong associations within pop culture.

This was the case for one parent who opted to name her daughter Esme, only to be faced with constant questions about how to pronounce it, and whether it was inspired by characters in .

The original best-selling Twilight was released annually from 2005 to 2008. It centres on the socially awkward and insecure Bella Swan, who moves to the small town of Forks in Washington, , where she crosses paths with Edward Cullen, a 104-year-old vampire.

The pair fall “unconditionally and irrevocably in love” with one another and face numerous obstacles on their journey to being together forever. The spawned starring and , and the series still boasts an active and dedicated fan base to this day.

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In the series, teenage Bella marries Edward and the couple goes on to have a human-vampire hybrid daughter. Bella notoriously combines her mother’s name - Renee - with Edward’s adoptive mother’s name - Esme - to name their daughter Renesmee Cullen.

Many Twilight fans mock this name mercilessly, and the character is often casually given humorous nicknames beginning with ‘R’, such as Re-name-me, in online forums and discussions on social media.

For one mum, the series’ popularity has meant that her decision to name her daughter Esme, a classic name of French origin, sparks confusion or regular association with Twilight. , the mum penned: “My daughter’s name is Esmé, and I either get people that have never heard it before, or people that think I named her after a Twilight character.

“I’ve never seen or read the franchise so it was news to me when I was first told, but now I’m just annoyed to hell and back by it. She’s named after my great grandmother ffs.”

Fellow Reddit users rushed to the comments section to share their thoughts. One person said: “I absolutely love this name and also hate that it gets such a bad rap, particularly with those familiar with Twilight.” To which, another asked: “Why is being associated with Twilight ‘a bad rap’?”

The person replied: “I’m not personally saying it is, I’m saying most people who associate it with Twilight make fun of it. I’ve seen it a lot on this exact sub. [Edited to add] Twilight is seen as cringey to a lot of people and that may be why.”

Someone else said: “Esme is a lovely name, and it's a pretty minor character in the series. But it's half of the infamous ‘Renesmee’ so I think people remember it for bad reasons unfortunately. But I don't think it'll be a huge problem for OP’s [original poster] kid. Teenagers are still reading and watching Twilight, but it won't be the first thing her daughter’s peers will think of when they meet her.”

Another added their own perspective of a similar experience: “My son is a Jasper and people sometimes mention Twilight when we first meet them. I laugh, take it with a grain of salt. People will always associate names with movies or media. Esmé is a beautiful name! Congratulations”.