SFT had Donna Davis briefly in the late 70's.

I think names are also at the mercy of the era. Just as some baby names rise and fall in popularity, so too do soap names.

Has there been another Vivian aside from DAYS?

15 hours ago, Dr Neil Curtis said:

It’s also interesting how Y&R had John Silva and John Abbott on at the same time. It’s really rare on Daytime. 

 

SOD did a blurb on this back in the day. I forget who they spoke with at Y&R, but they talked about how it wouldn't be uncommon for there to be more than one John among a small canvas of people and how John Silva was almost always referred to by his full name.

 

Reminds me of Harry Morton and Harry Vonzell on Burns and Allen.

30 minutes ago, DaytimeFan said:

Has there been another Vivian aside from DAYS?

 

AW/Texas had Vivien Gorrow, Iris' maid

 

AMC had Vivienne Taylor Roxbury, Taylor Roxbury Cannon's mother

 

GL had Vivian Grant

Edited July 22, 20187 yr by SFK

14 hours ago, All My Shadows said:

By the same token, I love when mom’s maiden name becomes the kid’s first name. Shayne Lewis comes to me right now, but there are others.

 

AMC had Vivienne Taylor Roxbury and daughter Taylor Roxbury Cannon and Mary Greenlee Smythe and daughter Greenlee Smythe.

 

Added to my previous list, Victor Jr. who would someday become Adam. I was in high school when Hope had him and thought Victor Jr. was overkill then.

47 minutes ago, DaytimeFan said:

Has there been another Vivian aside from DAYS?

Love of Life had Vivian Carlson for many years, Van's husbands mother in law.

10 hours ago, YRfan23 said:

Y&R had a character Named Selena in the 80s/90s...she was the female cop who helped Carl Williams with the Cassandra Rawlins case among others...

 

Thanks. More info I didn't know.  Maybe it's not that underused after all. 

Zach seems underused, I could be wrong

 

What about Greenlee LOL  That's probably one of the most original character names I've seen

 

 

19 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

The only "Donna" I can think of is AW's Donna Love.

 

Bobbie, Jill, Erica, Lisa, Iris, Dorian - all iconic signature character names. 

 

It's the men's names that are so repetitive with "Jack" being the worst offender. Every soap has one or two.

Didn't GH have 3 characters naked named Lucas, or derivative and 3 or 4 Michael characters all at once?!

18 minutes ago, SteelCity said:

Didn't GH have 3 characters naked named Lucas, or derivative and 3 or 4 Michael characters all at once?!

 

GH has had partially naked characters named Lucas, but never a Lucas with full-on nudity.

Edited July 22, 20187 yr by YurSoakinginit

4 hours ago, dragonflies said:

What about Greenlee LOL  That's probably one of the most original character names I've seen

Unusual in soap land and not particularly common in real life, yes, but not really original as there have been notable people with the surname and also a county in Arizona.

Another World had two of my favorite unique soap names in the late 60s/early 70s: Lenore and Lahoma.

Based on my age and the names that were common throughout my K-12 school years, daytime should be filled with characters named Brittany, Jessica, Ashley, Courtney, Megan, Seth, Shane, Joshua, Justin, Jordan, Tyler, and Taylor right now. I think the problem is that maybe soaps helped spark the popularity of some of those names, so the most popular characters with those names are actually older (re: Taylor, Joshua, Ashley, Shane).

Edited July 23, 20187 yr by All My Shadows

1 hour ago, YurSoakinginit said:

 

GH has had partially naked characters named Lucas, but never a Lucas with full-on nudity.

Seriously? For one, I obviously a typo. For two, I wouldn't want to see any of those characters nude anyway.

5 minutes ago, SteelCity said:

Seriously? For one, I obviously a typo. For two, I wouldn't want to see any of those characters nude anyway.

 

It was a joke.

2 minutes ago, YurSoakinginit said:

 

It was a joke.

My insides are sore. You didn't reply to my comment though.

I grew up in an era where it seemed every African-American girl at school was named Erica.  So, while the name hasn't been overused in soaps, I feel it's DEFINITELY been overused IRL.

 

Also...?  Just because you name her Erica, all mothers out there, that doesn't mean she's gonna be like Erica Kane.  Just as being named after a former NFL player obviously did not ensure I would have a career on the gridiron.

Edited July 23, 20187 yr by Khan