Choosing a name for a newborn child is never a trivial matter, and certainly Mr and Mrs Horowitz decided on a name for their daughter that is striking.

Winona.

One would be inclined to quote Donnie Darko: “What the hell kind of name is that? It’s like some sort of superhero or something.”

Winona is the place of birth, but more importantly Winona is a female name of Native American origin meaning ‘first-born daughter’ in the Dakota and Sioux languages.

The surname Ryder, on the other hand, is a tribute to Mitch Ryder. 

We could also consider a married surname: Reeves.

Since the 1990s, in fact, she affectionately calls Keanu ‘husband’ because unbeknownst to them, the person who celebrated their wedding in Bram Stoker’s film Dracula was not an actor but a real priest. 

Francis Ford Coppola, but also Martin Scorsese and The Age of Innocence that earned her a Golden Globe, or Tim Burton with Edward Scissorhands or Bettlejuice that closes the circle in a way.

The iconic scenes featuring Winona would be so many, do you want to name one?

Is there a particular film you prefer out of all the ones she has starred in?

Winona was also a testimonial in a Japanese  commercial advertising coffee

Don’t you find If you wanna be happy in Mermaids extremely addictive? 

Or irresistible My Sharona in Reality Bytes? 

Winona forever then?

She is Jo March!

She is human after all, so human that she has also made mistakes.

Maybe it’s because of this that I fell in love with Joyce Byers and all her imperfection in Stranger Things. 

And you?

How do you feel about the name your parents gave you?