www.ntnews.com.au Northern Territory News, Saturday, November 28, 2009 — 31

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mg170624

D E PA RT M E N T O F H E A LT H A N D FA M I L I E S

Request for Expressions

of Interest

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w.n

t.gov.

au

Health Advisory Council

The Hon Kon Vatskalis MLA, Minister for

Health, invites Expressions of Interest

for membership for a new term of three

years with the Health Advisory Council,

commencing February 2010.

Nominations are sought from individuals and

organisations with clinical knowledge and

expertise in the provision of health services.

The Health Advisory Council will provide

advice on the planning and delivery of

health services across the Northern

Territory. This includes making

recommendations on the efficiency,

effectiveness and appropriateness of health

systems throughout the Territory.

For an information pack and application

form, please contact Ms Victoria Walker,

Director, Government Relations and

Strategic Policy, Department of Health and

Families on 08 8999 2569

or email victoria.walker@nt.gov.au.

Applications close

Friday 11 December 2009.

mg220624

SATURDAY NEWSExtra

Twi-hard names rockByAMANDADIAZin Sydney

‘Isabella is currently

ranked the most popular

girl’s name in the

Northern Territory

’

ALICE: Ashley Greene plays charac-ter Alice Cullen

EMMETT: Kellan Lutz plays EmmettCullen in New Moon

AUTHOR: Stephanie Meyer

POPULAR: Kristen Stewart plays Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson playsvampire Edward Cullen in the film New Moon, which has prompted the risein popularity of the names Bella and Edward

JUST when you thoughtvampire mania couldn’tget any worse, it appearsthat the massively

popular Twilight series iscreating a whole new generationof Bella’s, Edward’sand Emmett’s.

The teen saga by StephenieMeyer is so popular that Twi-hard parents are naming theirchildren after characters in thebooks, says the CEO ofbabynames.com, Jennifer Moss.

‘‘Each era has one or moregreat literary romances that havean impact on popular culture ...but the only other work I canthink of that has had this effect isShakespeare’s,’’ she says.

The Twilight franchise followsthe story of Bella Swan, 17, amortal girl who falls in love withbrooding vampire EdwardCullen. The four books have sold70 million copies worldwide andthe series has been described asthe biggest publishingphenomenon since Harry Potter.

The name Isabella is currentlythe second most common namefor girls in the United States,having risen five places since thebooks were first published,according to the US SocialSecurity Administration.

Moss attributes this to thesuccess of Twilight, noting thatBella — a short form of Isabella —didn’t even rate in the top 200before the books were published.

In Australia, Isabella is themost popular girl’s name in theNorthern Territory and is in thetop 10 of every state exceptTasmania.

Edward, Alice and Emmett —names of members of the Cullenclan — have all reached the top100 list on babynames.com

Moss said she first noticed theemerging pattern in 2008, which

saw the release of both BreakingDawn, the final volume in thesaga, and the first film.

‘‘People were rushing to readthe series before the movie, so itwas very much in the mass-consciousness’’ she says.

Co-chair of the Pop CultureAssociation, Patrick McAleer,says the Twilight names give newparents a contemporary markerfor their children — withoutbeing too outrageous.

‘‘They have a sense of normalcyand acceptability that say,Legolas or Hermione do notcarry,’’ he says.

Meyer, the mother of threeboys, called the character Isabellabecause it was the name shewanted to give her own daughter.Edward is named after MrRochester from CharlotteBronte’s Jane Eyre.

High school teacher CorinnaNoble of Sylvania in Sydney’ssouth has a three-year-olddaughter named Isabella, or Bellafor short.

She says she and her husbandchose the name because they hadalways liked it.

‘‘The series might be at theforefront of everybody’s minds atthe moment but I don’t think thebooks will still be as big as theyare now when Bella’s a teenager.I don’t think people will make theconnection then,’’ she says.