Naming a Kid for a Fictional Character Is High Stakes

Once upon a time, there were three sisters named Meg, Jo, and Amy, but they’re not the sisters you’re thinking of. For starters, the oldest sister’s name is actually Laurie Jo (full name Laurie Jo Lesser Hodgson), while Meg (Lesser Roberts) and Amy (Lesser Courage) are twins. They are not the characters from Louisa May Alcott’s famous book about sisters, Little Women, but they were named for those characters, in a roundabout fashion.

On the phone together, the three sisters argued over whether Laurie Jo, a 67-year-old web designer who lives in Charlevoix, Michigan, was named for the book or not. (I had wondered whether her name was a defiant act by her parents—Laurie is the charming neighbor boy in the book, whose proposal Jo refuses, to the dismay of many fans.) They decided that no, their parents just liked the name. When the younger sisters were born, in 1956, their parents were surprised