What was Joyce thinking???

[grrarg]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe it's ever mentioned in the series WHERE Joyce got the name "Buffy". I can think of a hundred reasons why Joss would give a slayer such a name, but Joyce doesn't really seem the type of woman that would name her daughter something so... obscure. Perhaps it is a family name? Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[Joyce Summers]

It was actually a really popular name in the early 80s- I knew two Buffys in my first elementary school. It has a fluffy sound to it, yeah, which is obviously why Joss chose it like you said, but to have Joyce pick it isn't that odd; in theory she's just picked what was a popular, yet pleasant sounding, name at the time. And since we saw in Band Candy that she was as just as much a pop culture teen as her daughter is, it follows that as an adult she'd pick the popular name.

 

[grrarg]

It was actually a really popular name in the early 80s- I knew two Buffys in my first elementary school. It has a fluffy sound to it, yeah, which is obviously why Joss chose it like you said, but to have Joyce pick it isn't that odd; in theory she's just picked what was a popular, yet pleasant sounding, name at the time. And since we saw in Band Candy that she was as just as much a pop culture teen as her daughter is, it follows that as an adult she'd pick the popular name.

That's bizarre. I suppose it just struck me as odd because I'd never heard of the name prior and still haven't met or heard of another Buffy (except some old doll I always see on eBay). If it were such a popular name, where did all the Buffy's go? Were they, too, subjected to a swift, harsh life? Haha. Calling all Buffys! Does anyone here KNOW a real Buffy?

 

[Joyce Summers]

That's bizarre. I suppose it just struck me as odd because I'd never heard of the name prior and still haven't met or heard of another Buffy (except some old doll I always see on eBay). If it were such a popular name, where did all the Buffy's go? Were they, too, subjected to a swift, harsh life? Haha. Calling all Buffys! Does anyone here KNOW a real Buffy?

Good point; I mean I knew Buffys when I was little but I don't know them anymore really.....weird! I do know a Cordelia though. Two in fact. So which is weirder; no longer knowing any Buffys or knowing two Cordelias? Haha.

 

[Lindsey McDonald]

It was actually a really popular name in the early 80s- I knew two Buffys in my first elementary school. It has a fluffy sound to it, yeah, which is obviously why Joss chose it like you said, but to have Joyce pick it isn't that odd; in theory she's just picked what was a popular, yet pleasant sounding, name at the time. And since we saw in Band Candy that she was as just as much a pop culture teen as her daughter is, it follows that as an adult she'd pick the popular name.

Thinking of Joyce choosing the name Buffy in the context of Band Candy has suddenly made me absolutely love the name! It's perfect!

 

[Lyri]

I know a girl called Buffy...or rather Buffie. Al knows her too, if he can cast his mind back that far to the beginning of CoA, but she lives near me, and I've met her a few times. She's a big Angel fan, not so much BtVS, but I know she's always had to put up with a lot of stick about her name.

 

[Revolver]

Nope. I can't say I've ever known anyone named Buffy. I do know people with even stranger names though.

 

[fly on the wall]

Thinking of Joyce choosing the name Buffy in the context of Band Candy has suddenly made me absolutely love the name! It's perfect!

Exactly. The Joyce we know might not have picked the name Buffy, but Band Candy Joyce definitely would have. I think we're supposed to be under the impression that when Joyce had Buffy, she was still kind of reliving her glory days, but by the time Dawn was "born", she had mellowed out.
I always thought Dawn's name was far too common, since Buffy's was so weird. But I guess that explanation ^ works. 🙂

 

[Joyce Summers]

Exactly. The Joyce we know might not have picked the name Buffy, but Band Candy Joyce definitely would have. I think we're supposed to be under the impression that when Joyce had Buffy, she was still kind of reliving her glory days, but by the time Dawn was "born", she had mellowed out.

I like that point- and meddling monks (hee hee, alliteration) aside- it makes sense that there'd be more normal chooseage for Dawn's name since she would have been around 30 then, but when Buffy was born...I think (I'm going off a vague memory of the birth dates on the gravestone here so I may be wrong) she would have only been about 23.

 

[Five]

My friend knows a Drusilla. I WIN!

 

[itsxpaperdoll]

In the context of Band Candy, Buffy might have made more sense. Cool Joyce would have definitely prefered a cool, different name. To be honest, I have never, ever heard of someone called Buffy, born in the 80s or not. But hey, I don't live in an Anglo-Saxon country, the most popular girls names in the 80s over here were Femke, and Inge, and Ellen, and Marieke (Hey! That's my mum! My gran was avant-garde ^^), and Marloes and other silly names like that.

 

[IdiotJed]

You know, I've never given it much thought. I mean, these days you don't see any Buffys as heads of state or lawyers or anything. None that I've seen anyway. Maybe they're hiding for fear people will point and laugh. 😀

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe it's ever mentioned in the series WHERE Joyce got the name "Buffy". I can think of a hundred reasons why Joss would give a slayer such a name, but Joyce doesn't really seem the type of woman that would name her daughter something so... obscure. Perhaps it is a family name? Anyone have any thoughts?

Well, like pretty much everything else on the show, her name is sopposed to be ironic. "Buffy" and "Summers" are both light, cheery, names. While of course, Buffy's life is not like that at all - it's full of death and darkness and all that.

Also, according to Babynames.com, "Buffy" is a nickame for Elizabeth.

Maybe Joyce just thought Buffy was cute. It is kind of an "L.A." name, and the family did live there for a long time. I think it's mentioned somewhere that Buffy grew up there, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe it's ever mentioned in the series WHERE Joyce got the name "Buffy". I can think of a hundred reasons why Joss would give a slayer such a name, but Joyce doesn't really seem the type of woman that would name her daughter something so... obscure. Perhaps it is a family name? Anyone have any thoughts?

Well, like pretty much everything else on the show, her name is sopposed to be ironic. "Buffy" and "Summers" are both light, cheery, names. While of course, Buffy's life is not like that at all - it's full of death and darkness and all that.

Also, according to Babynames.com, "Buffy" is a nickame for Elizabeth.

Maybe Joyce just thought Buffy was cute. It is kind of an "L.A." name, and the family did live there for a long time. I think it's mentioned somewhere that Buffy grew up there, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[InsaneMystic]

Also, according to Babynames.com, "Buffy" is a nickame for Elizabeth.

Am I the only one who now starts to weigh "Lisa/Lizzie/Betty the Vampire Slayer" in their mind and is glad that we got "Buffy" instead?

Just imagine the style of dress befitting "Betty the Vampire Slayer". Would have made Richard Wilkins proud, I guess.

(Funny how names conjure up a stereotypical image, isn't it?)

 

[UlaGan]

Yeah, I've also read Buffy's nickname for Elizabeth. It's still weird though for me, a bit unusual - here where I live people use lots of nicknames but in their natal documents and passports and licences are only their Full names used. Noone would be named Buffy here when born - it would be Elizabeth and people just would use 'Buffy' in common speech, yet not on gravestone or school record.
Weird.
Though, I do get this cultural difference - I've gone places. 🙂

 

[Professor Walsh]

Perhaps Joyce was a fan of Buffy Sainte-Marie?

the most popular girls names in the 80s over here were Femke, and Inge, and Ellen, and Marieke (Hey! That's my mum! My gran was avant-garde ^^), and Marloes and other silly names like that.

I've always adored the name Marijke, but since it's less-than-pronouncable for most Norwegians, I'd never dream of actually using the name for a daughter.

 

[InsaneMystic]

Slightly off topic, but still:

I've always adored the name Marijke, but since it's less-than-pronouncable for most Norwegians, I'd never dream of actually using the name for a daughter.

What's hard about that to pronounce for Norwegians? ???
I mean, after all, both Dutch and Norwegian are Germanic languages... and if it's the spelling that's bothering you, you could always go for the German spelling variant of the name (Mareike), pronounced pretty much the same.

 

[Professor Walsh]

It's the spelling, yeah. To me that's is part of what makes it so cool, because in Norwegian "i" and "j" are not put together like that. I've never thought of spelling it differently, but Mareike is nice, too. My husband would never approve, though - not to mention that it would sound a bit strange on one of our sons. :silly: And since I liked the name so much, the kitten I got when I was thirteen was named Marijke. So I think everyone who knew me as a teenager would believe that the child was named after the cat. So, no Marijke for me, but I still adore the name.

 

[Edmund Blackadder]

I would imagine, had any of us gone to the Playboy Mansion 10 years ago there would have been a host of Buffys, Sindys, Brittanys and even Kerrys.

In fact in 2000 there was a Centrefol Playmate called Buffy Tyler.

I think we know where all the Buffys have gone!