Maisie Williams’ Grandma Didn’t Originally Like Her Name; ‘My Nan Was Horrified’
Game of Thrones star, Maisie Williams has certainly made a name for herself in the industry. Having been cast in the hit HBO series at a very young age, the actor has been in the spotlight for nearly a decade. The popularity of her character, Arya Stark, has also led to increased popularity for Williams. Since many people wanted Arya to sit upon the Iron Throne, there are plenty of people are completely obsessed and enamored with Williams’ portrayal of the character.
In fact, some diehard Game of Thrones fans have even made the decision to name their kids Arya after the popular character. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Williams confessed that she’s personally never met a person named Arya, but she’s been confronted with tons of people who try to impersonate her famous character. “I have never encountered an Arya,” the actor admitted. “I’ve encountered a couple of Arya cats, people have tweeted me pictures of their children, but I don’t think I’ve ever met an Arya in the flesh.”
‘Game of Thrones’ fans have named their children after Maisie Williams’ character
Williams went on to admit that she finds it funny that fans have chosen to name their kids Arya, because they won’t experience Game of Thrones in the same way that their parents did. In fact, she adds that she doesn’t even know if most girls named Arya will have any idea where their name comes from.
“But, yeah, there are going to be girls that grow up, and they’ll have no idea who they’re named after,” Williams shared. “Maybe, they’ll watch one day, but it’ll be so part of a different time — a different time where we all sat down and watched a show every Sunday night at 9 p.m. These kids are just never going to experience television or film in the same way that we experienced that show, so it is funny to think about.”
‘The New Mutants’ actor loves that her name is becoming more popular
But fans aren’t just naming their children after Williams’ infamous Game of Thrones character. They’re also naming them after Willams herself. The actor confessed that she finds that aspect of her fame pretty cool, especially since the name Maisie was popularized a long time ago. Though the actor reveals she’s always been a huge fan of her name, but not everyone in her family was completley sold at first. Her grandma, especially, took issue with her grandchild being called Maisie at first.
Williams’ grandma originally thought the name Maisie was too old
“Well, Maisie is a really old name, actually,” the Game of Thrones alum shared. “When my mom told my nan that she was naming me Maisie, my nan was horrified because, to my nan, it was like an old lady’s name. And so that’s, like, what? Four generations before myself when Maisie was super popular amongst babies? So, yeah, I’m glad that people like the name. I’ve always loved my name. It’s always been quite different. I like that it’s got a lot of letters, and I’m glad that people also like the name,” Williams declared.
Clearly, Williams has always been a fan of her name and so have her fans. It’ll be interesting to see if superfans continue to name their kids after Willaims or the characters that she portrays as her career progresses.
