Soap opera writers are masters at creating scintillating storylines that make people's jaws drop. Nowhere else can viewers watch an amnesiac unwittingly sleep with her former rapist, twins be fathered by two different men, and an entire boatload of people accidentally get drugged with an erotic substance called Libidozone. But sometimes the names of the characters are even more cockamamie than the storylines that surround them. Here are twenty of the best soap opera names of all time... not including the genius insults several fan faves have hurled in their nemeses' directions over the years.
Fallon Carrington Colby
Dynasty
If there's one thing that daytime audiences remember about 80s soap heiress Fallon, it's that she was a full on spoiled brat. Blake Carrington's stubborn daughter married the nephew of her father's business rival, and that was just one of the crazy stunts she pulled on the iconic series. Fallon eventually grew to be a strong and responsible woman, which was fitting, considering her name is said to mean "leader."
Whipple Jones
The Bold and the Beautiful
Whipple Jones -- Whip for short -- is a pretty strong sounding name. Unfortunately, it didn't make for a very strong character, at least in the romance department. Soap viewers watched the popular B&B resident try to whip his love life into shape, but he pretty much failed at every attempt -- from marrying Brooke to hide the fact that she was sleeping with her daughter's husband, to falling for Taylor, who couldn't keep her eyes off Ridge.
Ridge Forrester
The Bold and the Beautiful
Cliffhanger is to soap opera what Ridge is to drama. B&B's leading man has seen his fair share of edgy stories over the years, including an earth-shattering paternity reveal, an intense rivalry with his brother, and several romances that verged on the border of incest (one actually did -- much to fans' horror, an attraction developed between Ridge and Bridget after the characters realized they weren't actually brother and sister as they'd spent their whole lives believing.)
*Runner Up: As we previously mentioned, Ridge has a brother named Thorne. And that definitely makes us question what kind of drugs doctors gave the characters' mother, Stephanie, during their births.
Echo DiSavoy
One Life To Live
With a name like Echo, you better believe Kim Zimmer's OLTL character received reverberating applause. Though the exotic countess may not go down in history as the actress' most popular character (that honor goes to Guiding Light's Reva Shayne), she certainly made her mark on Llanview when it was revealed that fan favorite character Rex was her son -- the product of a long-ago affair with Clint.
Greenlee Smythe
All My Children
Rebecca Budig's über popular character was named Greenlee, but we wouldn't be surprised if many fans called her Meanlee. After all, the headstrong character pushed Laura off a yacht, stole Ryan's sperm to impregnate herself, and did about a million other "oh, no, she didn't" atrocities during her time in Pine Valley. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, her moniker came from her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff and Millicent Greenlee.
Blade Bladeson
The Young and the Restless
The name Blade is so cool, Y&R writers apparently needed to use it twice for the same guy. But that's not the weirdest thing about the former Genoa City character: He had an evil twin named Rick who actually turned out to be a much better hubby to Ashley than Blade when he secretly cavorted around town as his identical sibling.
Jagger Cates
General Hospital
His real first name is John, but John Cates just doesn't have the same ring to it as Jagger Cates. And the nickname is so much more fitting for the Port Charles police officer known for being a bit of a bad boy with jagger... um, jagged edges.
*Runner Up: Jagger had a brother named Stone Cates, which is just as solid of a name as Jagger -- arguably more so, if you think about it.
Asa Buchanan
One Life to Live
Asa has a lot of meanings in a lot of languages. It's healer in Hebrew, god(dess) in Swedish, eagle in Yoruba, hope in Indonesian, and beautiful in Nigerian. As for soap opera? It's simply icon.
Dinah Marler
Guiding Light
Dinah is a Hebrew name meaning "God will judge," and it's a fitting moniker for the popular GL character who was quite a handful for Springfield residents. But who could blame Dinah for being a headstrong spitfire? After all, she was basically abandoned at birth and spent her formative years, working the carnival circuit.
Fox Crane
Passions
Fox Crane's mother must have been psychic. How else can you explain the fact that she gave her offspring the perfect name to go along with his hunky looks? Oh, wait, she actually named him Nicholas Foxworth Crane. But the short form is just as epic.
Jackson Montgomery
All My Children
Is it just us, or does the name Jackson Montgomery rank right up there with other classic gents like Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, and the fictional Rhett Butler? Perhaps that's due to the character's extreme sophistication and sense of chivalry. Or perhaps it's because there's no better-fitting moniker for a dashing attorney at law.
Dorian Lord
One Life to Live
Delicious villainess Dorian Lord "lorded" over Llanview for the better part of three and half decades, delivering devilish entertainment in each and every moment. From her robust rivalry with Victoria to her raucous romance with David Vickers, Dorian's scenes reigned supreme.
Winston Mayer
As the World Turns
Winston Mayer sounds like a stand-up name, but unfortunately it wasn't used for a stand-up guy. This short-lived ATWT character came to Oakdale to "toughen up" his gay son and was later revealed to be the murderer of the boy's mother, a former prostitute whose old profession disgusted him.
Adam Chandler
All My Children
Like diamonds that drip from an expensive chandelier, the name Adam Chandler just screams wealth and opulence. That's why it was the perfect name for Pine Valley's prosperous patriarch.
Langston Wild
One Life to Live
Langston is usually a boy's name, which made the moniker for this young Llanview lady unique. And paired with her rather untamed last name, it makes a perfect soap opera designation that brings to mind the fanciful world of English author Oscar Wilde.
Storm Logan
The Bold and the Beautiful
Originally named Stephen but called Storm (and sometimes Stormy), this B&B character received his unique moniker due to his extremely intense and at times tempestuous personality. The lawyer was extremely protective of his sisters Brooke and Katie, which created quite a few blustery on-screen scenarios. But as with any good storm, he ended with a rainbow: after accidentally injuring Katie, he shot himself in order to donate his heart to his ailing sister.
Hawk Shayne
Guiding Light
Hawk is quite a formidable title, instantly bringing to mind images of a soaring bird of prey. So it fit Reva's dad quite nicely, considering he was a tough rodeo man who first abandoned his family and then spent the majority of his life in prison. He eventually became a loving father to his three kids, which halted most viewers' wishes that he'd disappear to the soap Falcon Crest.
Stefano DiMera
Days of our Lives
There's just something innately sinister and powerful about the name Stefano DiMera, which made it the perfect fit for DAYS' most iconic supervillain.
Lionel Lockridge
Santa Barbara
We dare you to say the name of this incorrigible womanizer out loud without using every inch of your tongue to do so. He was tempestuous, he was sexy (hell, he sold mattresses), and soap audiences loved every delicious moment.
Drucilla Winters
The Young and the Restless
Model-turned-cosmetics-exec Drucilla Winters was quite a force to be reckoned with, all the way from her teenaged criminal record to her foreboding moniker. Drucilla means mighty and strong, while "winters" is definitely the most ominous of seasons. Together, they made one of the most unforgettable soap females in history.
What do you think about our list of the twenty best soap opera names? Which soap opera names would you list as your favorites? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
