"Julie, Mint Julie"Dan just read this and I thought I'd share.
****
Ian Fleming took the name "James Bond" from an American bird expert.
Inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places. While living in Jamaica in the early 1950s, author Ian Fleming was in search of a name for the secret agent main character in his new book, Casino Royale. “I wanted to find a name which wouldn’t have any romantic overtones,” Fleming later said. “I wanted a really flat, quiet name.”
Fleming was an avid bird-watcher, and one of his favorite books was Birds of the West Indies, written by American ornithologist James Bond. “I thought, ‘Well, James Bond, that’s a pretty quiet name,’” Fleming continued, “so I simply stole it and used it.”
For years, Bond (who actually went by Jim) had no idea that his name adorned a series of spy novels, but as the popularity of the books grew — and particularly after the premiere of the first 007 film, Dr. No, in 1962, turned Bond into a bonafide pop culture phenomenon — the ornithologist learned about his moniker’s double life. Fleming eventually apologized to Bond, offering his own name for “a particularly horrible species of bird” if Bond ever discovered one. The two met on February 5, 1964, when Jim Bond and his wife showed up at Fleming’s house while on a trip to Jamaica, and left as friends.
Source