The names of Longmire

sanctanomina Namespotting,

Do any of you watch the series Longmire? My mom got my husband and I hooked on it, and we really enjoy it — there’s suspense (each episode is a murder mystery) and romance, and a lead actor that I think is perfectly cast (and I recently found he’s Australian, which amazes me, just like Hugh Laurie in House and Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones’ Diary — brilliant at hiding their true accents!).

But the names are what I wanted to share with you — I’ve been loving them!! Starting with Longmire (whose first name is Walt)’s daughter. When I first heard her name I thought it was Katie and I didn’t have much thought about it. But when I found out it was Cady, I was much more into it! Spelling makes a difference!

One of the deputy sheriffs is Branch Connally. As far as nature names go, if I saw Branch on a list of possibilities, pre-Longmire me might have secretly scoffed and thought What next? Twig? But guys! He is SUCH a Branch! Hearing this hunky cowboy sheriff called Branch totally makes it feasible for me. It does have a little soap opera feel to it, but I definitely don’t think it’s as silly as I would have before.

The other deputy is Vic, short for Victoria, but Vic so suits her, and far better than Vicky or Victoria ever would. She’s a tough girl!

Other names that I love hearing:

Henry (played by Lou Diamond Philips!)
Mathias (police chief on the reservation)
Mica (criminal)
Barlow (Branch’s bad-guy dad)
Lizzie (Walt’s lady friend. It perfectly suits her.)
Dacus (a character’s son, said DAY-kuss)
Fiona aka October (!)
Vehoe (sounded like Vio)

And those are just the characters I’ve encountered already … the full cast list shows these treats as well:

Malachi
Eamonn
Trot
Jeremiah
Hugo
Owen Bennett (what a great first+last combo!)
Duncan
Zip
Daxner
Rosco (what do you all think of this name? I came across it in some research I was doing of names popular in the 1890-1910 time period [spelled Roscoe] and I thought huh. It doesn’t seem to have any saintly connection though …)
Gus
Merwin (!)
Gareth
Dunston

Those are just the names that jumped out at me from the really long list of characters. Interesting right? (Zip and Trot!)

I thought it was so awesome and totally unexpected that one of the episodes I watched recently involved a Basque family that had moved to Wyoming and were sheepherders! And St. Ignacio’s feast day played a role in the episode! There was all sorts of info about Basque culture and history (Walt explained. He knows everything.), it was really cool — Mary (skimac)’s our Basque expert — have you heard of this show and that episode Mary?

The series is based on The Longmire Mysteries book series by Craig Johnson, and usually I love books more than their TV or movie counterparts, but I don’t know … I’ve really fallen in love with the characters as they are on TV as played by the actors that play them.

Have any of you read the books? And seen the show? Can you compare them?

31 thoughts on “The names of Longmire”

  3. Ughhh…don’t need anymore shows to get hooked on, but that sounds very intriguing. I will definitely have to check out the Basque sheepherder episode, at least. That is what my grandfather did when he came over to the US in1918 as a teenager. He went back and got married then eventually brought my grandmother to the US in the early 30s. My mom lived at a sheep camp for the first few years of her life.

    St. Ignatius/Ignacio is huge for the Basques and many of the traditional festivals (like the one in Boise, ID) are centered around the feast day. San Inazio is what they would call him. And Inaki is the common Basque boys name for Ignatius.

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  4. Re: Rosco(e), I’m not sure when I first heard of this name, but it had to have been more than 25 years ago because I had a friend with a dog named Roscoe and I know the name was already familiar to me by the time I met her. Maybe I read a book with a character named that or something.

    Anyway, I definitely do not like it…aside from the fact that I now associate it with a jumpy and intimidating Irish Wolfhound, it always seemed kind of like a “hick” name to me.

    I much prefer the similar Rocco, and that has the advantage of having a saintly pedigree, too!

    Otherwise…this sounds like an interesting show! I generally only watch shows either made in the UK or Friends, but, given your high recommendation, I might check it out!!!

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    • We had a dog named Roscoe, so that was my first thought too. (But I also have a son named Max, and I know that’s a popular dog name too, so to each his own I guess!)

      My first thought (before we had the dog) would have been Roscoe P. Coltrane, the sheriff from Dukes of Hazzard. Anybody? No, just me? So yes, 100% southern hick.

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      • Ahhhh okay. I kinda like the sound of it though … I’m going to guess that if it hasn’t already started popping up in those west/northwest hipster families it will soon, and then the rest of the country will follow afterward …

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  5. 1 – I had a friend in collage whose husband was named Branch. As odd as it is, it actually took me a bit to realize it. I find with names people just become them, they fit and they seem normal (for example, I have seen things like Galexy).

    2 – I am from an area in Wyoming with a large Basque population and sheepherders… I remember learning about it growing up.

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    • This is an amazing comment!!! Yes, I totally agree with you that “people just become” their names — that’s totally how it is for me and Branch on the show! Second, I had NO idea that there’s a large Basque population in Wyoming!! That’s where Longmire is set (Absaroka County) — makes sense now that they’d include it in the storyline!

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    • The most famous Branch that always comes to mind for me is Branch Rickey (real name Wesley Branch Rickey) who was the executive for the Brooklyn Dodgers who signed Jackie Robinson.

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  6. Roscoe was fairly popular in the Southern states around the turn of the century. I’ve never heard of it on someone who wasn’t Southern, although I’m sure there are some hipster babies on the West Coast rocking the name. 🙂

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    • Okay, yes, now that you say it I can see it having a Southern feel — and the “hipster babies on the West Coast” were totally what I was envisioning for current usage!!

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  7. My dad loves this show 🙂

    You’re so right about Katie vs. Cady. Though Cady might betook Mean Girls for my generation.

    Owen Bennett is an amazing first/last name combination!! He sounds super tough, but also super sweet at the same time some how, lol.

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  9. The names are even better than you imagine. Just think of the meaning of each of the principal characters. They either have a cryptic reference to the psychological role they play in Walt’s life (like Donna) being the dawn of new life and new love after his wife’s death). Or some, like Matthias, means gift. Branch was a two-faced branch off his father’s tree. ‘Nighthorse or is it Knighthorse is either dark or the rescuer, we don’t know. Keep going through the names. I think you will be shocked. I could go on and on but don’t want you to miss out on your own discovery

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