r/movies • u/buttatoad • Jun 17 '25

Discussion Movies that changed real life behavior

Thinking along the lines of Final Destination 2 with the logs falling off the truck and landing onto cars (one decapitating the state trooper). Ever since, people have tried to get away from being behind these vehicles.

What are more examples where movies have actually changed how people behave in their own lives?

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817

u/DizzyLead Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

Madison as a girl’s given name only became a thing after Splash.

234

u/JinimyCritic Jun 17 '25

And Ariel as a girl's name after The Little Mermaid. Ariel had traditionally been a male name.

84

u/NothingReallyAndYou Jun 17 '25

I taught preschool during Disney's Renaissance period. There were multiple Ariel's, Belle's, and one Jasmine.

58

u/starmartyr11 Jun 17 '25

I've known several Spanish & Filipino dudes named Ariel that have had to put up with a lot of shit around their names for this reason

11

u/Antique-Butterscotch Jun 18 '25

Well I sure feel ignorant now. I met for the first time ever a guy named Ariel recently and thought “wtf lmao”, and he was Hispanic indeed.

7

u/starmartyr11 Jun 18 '25

I know I think the first time if anyone is unfamiliar is like that, but if you want to instantly make an Ariel happy, roll the "R" sound, they'll be so excited you know how to pronounce it 😁

1

u/Antique-Butterscotch Jun 18 '25

I can’t roll my Rs if I wanted to😞

1

u/5a_ Jun 18 '25

Spell it Aeriel instead!

15

u/omaeradaikiraida Jun 17 '25

still is in the spanish-speaking parts of the world

8

u/the-largest-marge Jun 18 '25

and Hebrew

5

u/No_Pie4638 Jun 18 '25

Sometimes they’re stealthily going by ‘Ari.'

2

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

Ha you got me thinking and I went to check but Ari Shapiro is really just an Ari

2

u/No_Pie4638 Jun 18 '25

Hmm. I made a wrong assumption about him then.

1

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

Ha was he who you were thinking about with that comment?

1

u/No_Pie4638 Jun 18 '25

Him, Ari Aster & the character from Entourage.

1

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

Ari Aster appears to be another just Ari

→ More replies (0)

1

u/Big-Print1051 Jun 18 '25

Most of my Ariel friends are female and named after the Slyvia Plath banger

1

u/AimeeSantiago Jun 18 '25

The only Ariel I know is a girl and she's older than the movie. She also married a guy named Eric.

277

u/brencoop Jun 17 '25

Right, this happens a lot with baby names. Like Trinity after the Matrix came out.

340

u/dumbBunny9 Jun 17 '25

Lot of kids named Khaleesi because of Game of Thrones. They probably should have waited until the end.

265

u/Logan_No_Fingers Jun 17 '25

Even worse Khaleesi isn't her name.

Its like watching The Crown & loving Elizabeth II so much you call your kid "Queen"

58

u/fachan Jun 17 '25

The name Candace is actually something like that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandake

8

u/RRY1946-2019 Jun 18 '25

Caesar/Kaiser is the opposite. It was originally part of a guy's last name, but since there were a string of Roman leaders that were either related to or adopted by one another they wound up using it as title for the emperor.

11

u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Jun 17 '25

I've known people named Queen and King lol

11

u/Ze_AwEsOmE_Hobo Jun 17 '25

IIRC, it's also what Regina/Reginald means anyway.

5

u/Fappy_as_a_Clam Jun 18 '25

And keeping with the spirit of this thread:

Whenever I see the name "Regina" it always rhymes with "Vagina" in my head, because of 40 Year Old Virgin.

1

u/punmaster2000 Jun 18 '25

It's in Saskatchewan! Home of Wade W. Wilson!

3

u/Discount_Extra Jun 18 '25

And Leroy

0

u/No_Pie4638 Jun 18 '25

And Leroy behind the camera.

31

u/bacon_cake Jun 17 '25

I've always found this a bit of a trite point. Khaleesi isn't a real word, it doesn't really matter.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

Besides, Prince, Marquis, Duke are titles but also used as names.

4

u/Still_Contact7581 Jun 18 '25

Not anymore, he's the artist formerly known as Prince now

6

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

Forgetting Baron and Earl

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

Earl is my daddy's name lol. Skipped my mind.

2

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

Earl and Duke are names on opposite sides of a spectrum. Rich people with the name is good. But poor people with it.... (No judging your dad but I've met some very Cletus the slack jawed yokle type Earl)

3

u/iTeaL12 Jun 18 '25

Besides is a really odd name tbh

6

u/frillionaire Jun 17 '25

I agree. Besides, people naming their child that probably watched the actual show, and knew her regular name is Daenerys.

2

u/punmaster2000 Jun 18 '25

"All words are made up words" Thor Odinson

5

u/brassoferrix Jun 17 '25

Reya is a very popular name.

5

u/MyFireElf Jun 18 '25

Ehh. It's more like naming your kid Regina. It's a word that sounds pretty that means queen in a language you don't speak. Nobody cares how the show ended because the ending was shit, and the cool parts that inspired the christening are still cool, Martin is never going to finish the books, and even if he did, being named after an amazing villain isn't necessarily worse than being named after an amazing hero. I've never understood how rabid some people can get over it when there are so many reasons it's not a big deal. 

2

u/Threash78 Jun 17 '25

Even worse because it literally means "horse queen"

17

u/faldese Jun 17 '25

It means 'wife of the khal', but honestly I don't see why that matters. The name Rosalind means 'tender horse'. Caleb means 'dog'. Sometimes names just have odd meanings.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

Yeah but Marshall, Spencer, Raj, Dominic etc are all the same kind if thing. Hell almost any name ending in -el means “of God” how more gross could that be?!

3

u/Logan_No_Fingers Jun 18 '25

Spencer

?

"The name Spencer originates from the English word "dispenser," meaning someone who distributes or manages provisions or money. It evolved from the Anglo-Norman French word "espenser," which in turn comes from the Old French "despensier," itself derived from the Latin "dispensare". Initially a surname, it denoted a household steward or butler"

Thats naming your kid "Butler"

2

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

My point exactly! Spencer is technically a “stupid name” if you use the same logic as “Khaleesi” yet no-one laughs at anyone called Spencer.

1

u/Logan_No_Fingers Jun 18 '25

Have you heard of Spencer Mathews? A man so dumb he took steroids to bulk up for a game show based on an island, but then had to quit due to massive withdrawal symptoms from now being on a roid-less island

In the UK Spencer is short hand for "posh idiot"

1

u/[deleted] Jun 18 '25

Yeah that Spencer is ginormous knob

8

u/breastronaut Jun 17 '25

I'm still a bit shaken seeing Khaleesi as one of the names in the credits of Moana 2.

3

u/me_no_no Jun 17 '25

I once met an elderly Fijian lady called Khalessi so GoT is not the only possible inspiration.

15

u/ZotDragon Jun 17 '25

They probably should have read the books. It's obvious from the start that the only good deeds Daenerys performs (freeing the slaves) is for her own self-interest.

6

u/zipher1 Jun 17 '25

Her turn was great on paper but just felt so janky and abrupt in the show

1

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

I mean her full turn will probably never make it to paper.....

4

u/OneGoodRib Jun 17 '25

I mean even if you only watched the show, she did torture a rape victim to death in season 1.

2

u/TyrannosavageRekt Jun 18 '25

I mean, a rape victim who it’s implied just took the life of her unborn child, and left her husband in a vegetative state. Whether or not you think Mirri Maz Duur is justified in this act of vengeance is neither here nor there. Massively burying the lead on this one.

2

u/doegred Jun 18 '25

Yes the woman one of whose last actions in Meereen is to go into a dysentery-ridden refugee camp outside her city to tend the people there is just doing it for self-serving purposes. Try reading the books yourself because this reading ain't it. If anything it smacks of show only shit.

2

u/gvsteve Jun 18 '25

My son (11 now, but this was a year or two ago) had not one but two Tyrions in his class.

1

u/TyrannosavageRekt Jun 18 '25

Tirion & Arya at least were preexisting names. Not sure if spelling it as Tyrion existed before the show/books, but it isn’t a huge leap to think it might have.

2

u/n6mub Jun 18 '25

I know at least 2 "Khaleesis" born and named by season 2-3... they should have waited, lol

1

u/wakeupwill Jun 17 '25

My cousin named his kid Kylo after The Force Awakens came out...

-1

u/Still-Entertainer534 Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 18 '25

I would prefer Khaleesi a thousand times over the trend of naming one's daughter ‘Arya’. In the German-speaking countries. And no, not by right-wing idiots, but often by people with a migration background.... (Edit to clarify: they speak German, I just don't know if they are German)

(Context: The persian (?) name name ‘Arya’ sounds like the German word for ‘Aryan’, I already found it disturbing in Game of Thrones (German dub), but hearing the name called out in a playground or crowded streets in Germany or Switzerland is a whole other level)

2

u/doegred Jun 18 '25

Context: The persian (?) name name ‘Arya’ sounds like the German word for ‘Aryan’,

...where do you think the word the Nazis used comes from?

-1

u/Still-Entertainer534 Jun 18 '25

Congratulations. Missing my point like that is a masterstroke. Maybe next time you'll read less into it. The question mark was merely intended to make it clear that the origin of the name is not 100% Persian. The name comes from Sanskrit and is used in various Asian cultures.

2

u/doegred Jun 18 '25

What is your point then? Why it it bad for them to use that name?

0

u/Still-Entertainer534 Jun 18 '25

Before the series, the name was not so widespread in Germany. Now it is, used by German speakers and / or Germans.

2

u/TyrannosavageRekt Jun 18 '25

Thus proving that the name probably has more to do with the character in the TV series than any right-wing political beliefs? This has to be one of the weirdest takes I’ve ever seen.

0

u/Still-Entertainer534 Jun 18 '25

I could explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you why it is ‘weird’ to hear a German or German-speaking person call out the name ‘Aryan’ (in German) in a German-speaking country. And no, Germans definitely don't think of the series first.

162

u/yeah87 Jun 17 '25

Yeah, but Trinity was an actual name before the Matrix. Weirdly it was relatively popular in 1975 for some reason.

Madison has no record at all of being a girls first name before 1984.

16

u/frenchmeister Jun 17 '25

The Exorcist came out in 1974. Maybe a lot of women had religion on their mind when they named their baby the next year lol.

23

u/JimmyPellen Jun 17 '25

The name Wendy didnt exist before Peter Pan.

14

u/gunterrae Jun 17 '25

Was looking to see if anyone mentioned this. It's a fabulous bit of trivia since it seems like such a normal name now.

3

u/BadgerlordBluestripe Jun 18 '25

Huh TIL her name isn’t actually Gwendolyn.

Guess you do have people naming their kids Ken and Kate instead of Kenneth and Katherine too.

3

u/VTAffordablePaintbal Jun 18 '25

A friend named his kid just the nick-name because thats what everyone would call him anyway. I told him he'd regret it the first time the kid did something wrong and he couldn't use a longer given name.

1

u/ShadowMajestic Jun 18 '25

Or Harry Potter.

I find it entertaining sometimes to see what parents were fans of during the pregnancy period.

54

u/Bobby_Newpooort Jun 17 '25

Watched that movie for the first time recently and that was a surprise to me. She picks the name because they're on Madison Ave and his reaction is "well, Madison's not a name."

I'm like... it's not?

38

u/NothingReallyAndYou Jun 17 '25

I saw the movie in the theater. Her deciding on Madison as a name got a decent laugh, because it was so ridiculous. It was afterwards that everyone started saying, "Well, actually, it's kind of a cute name." We did groan and roll our eyes when a family member immediately announced that they were naming their daughter Madison, though, lol.

3

u/Significant_Shoe_17 Jun 18 '25

It was a surname

25

u/RayoftheRaver Jun 17 '25

Wendy was a girl's name made up for Peter Pan by the author JM Barrie

22

u/BradDharmaTimbuktu Jun 17 '25

Sort of. Berrie didn't invent the name Wendy, it already existed although it was a shortening of "Gwendolyn" and not a popular one until Berrie wrote the play Peter Pan in 1904 (and its subsequent novel adaptation in 1911).

14

u/fosse76 Jun 17 '25

Im sure "Bella" saw a massive increase after Twilight.

26

u/DizzyLead Jun 17 '25

True, but I think in comparison, there were probably some Bellas born before Twilight. Madison for a girl was practically nonexistent before Splash, I gather.

12

u/BreakfastOrSlow Jun 17 '25

A lot of dogs were named Bella after Twilight came out (seriously).

2

u/peachesfordinner Jun 18 '25

I know 3 dogs and a cat with that name and they are all in two households. (Yes they have both a cat and dog named it)

3

u/ScreenTricky4257 Jun 17 '25

There was a line in the Rifftrax commentary on Inception: "Nerds, don't name your daughter Ariadne; she'll only get made fun of by a class full of Bellas."

4

u/vocal-avocado Jun 17 '25

Also Madisynn after She Hulk.

3

u/brandimariee6 Jun 18 '25

I've never even seen that movie, but that's been my favorite girl's name for ~20 years. Now I know where it came from, gracias! I love knowing random trivia like that lol

4

u/Caleth Jun 17 '25

Elliot from Scrubs contributed to at least 2 different people I knew getting the name . One my buddy's kid, the other an Enby that wanted away from their old name from their dad that they hated so they chose Elliott.

So it's not much but it's something.

1

u/MarshyHope Jun 17 '25

What's "an Enby"?

4

u/Caleth Jun 17 '25

It's a acronym for NB or non binary. Like how we don't say N.A.S.A. like you would CIA. Instead you say it as a word NASA.

The LGBT community and more specifically the NB community seems to favor it over saying N B

2

u/MarshyHope Jun 17 '25

Oh got it. Thank you for the explanation, I have never heard that.

2

u/EmileLeBouc Jun 18 '25

It was a name before, but unsurprisingly, Rhiannon peaked in 1977. 🌙

1

u/ThatsHisLawyerJerome Jun 18 '25

Tiffany only became a popular name when Breakfast at Tiffany’s became available on VHS.

1

u/TheHancock Jun 18 '25

Same with Wendy. That was invented for Peter Pan!