"Tristen" now a feminine given name

[Jonathan Lighter]

A new era in Arthurian unisex onomastics dawned thirty-two years ago with the naming of future screenwriter and film actress "Tristen Skyler."  Skyler is familiar to all viewers of the film _Book of Shadows: Blair Witch Project II_ (2000), two-star sequel to the critically acclaimed no-star _Blair Witch Project_ (1999).

  Tristen Skyler was named a "Showbiz Today Star of Tomorrow" back in 2000 [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/18/sbst.tristen.skyler/].

  In _Book of Shadows_, Skyler plays witch-huntress "Tristen Ryler."  So look for a spike  in the number of females named "Tristen" or "Tristan" entering the workplace around the year 2020.

  Unlike "Beverley" and "Evelyn," masculine names that made the big switch decades ago, the name "Tristan" is expected to retain its limited popularity for boys for some years to come.  Probably of Pictish origin, "Tristan" was used by bestselling author Sir Thomas Malory and others as the name for one of King Arthur's celebrity Knights of the Round Table.

  The name of Sir Tristan's royal girlfriend, "Isold" (said by insiders to have been a dead ringer for Angelina Jolie), has been lagging in the popularity sweepstakes for some centuries, but may gain ground in the future as a boy's name. Was Sydney Australia a guy or a gal ?  The beat goes on !

  JL


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