Octomom aside, most of us only have the opportunity to name a small number of children. Authors, on the other hand, can name family after family–including the parents. Some–like Jane Austen–were limited by the restricted supply of names available in their milieu, while others could let their imaginations soar.

I thought it might be fun (and instructive?) to look at some of the more prominent brother and sister sets in literature for possible ideas–though you could probably skip Wallstreet Panic.

SISTERS

Alcott, Little Woman

JOSEPHINE, MEG, BETH, AMY

Austen, Pride and Prejudice

JANE, ELIZABETH, MARY, CATHARINE (KITTY), LYDIA

Austen, Sense and Sensibility

ELINOR, MARIANNE, MARGARET

Chekhov, Three Sisters

OLGA, MASHA, IRINA

Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit

CHARITY, MERCY (known as Cherry and Merry)

Eliot, Middlemarch

CELIA, DOROTHEA

Lawrence, The Rainbow, Women in Love

URSULA, GUDRUN

Mitchell, Gone With the Wind

SCARLETT (Katie Scarlett), SUELLEN (Susan Elinor), CARREEN (Caroline Irene)

Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

STELLA, BLANCHE

Woody Allen, Hannah & Her Sisters

LEE, HANNAH, HOLLY

BROTHERS

Cheever, The Wapshot Chronicle

MOSES, COVERLY

Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

DMITRI (MITYA), IVAN, ALYOSHA

Dumas, The Corsican Brothers

LUCIEN, LOUIS

Faulkner, several novels

BILBO, VARDAMAN, CLARENCE, ST. ELMO, MONTGOMERY WARD

WALLSTREET PANIC, ADMIRAL DEWEY

VIRGIL, BYRON

Miller, Death of a Salesman

BIFF, HAPPY

O’Neill, Desire Under the Elms

EBEN, PETER, SIMEON

Shepard, Fool for Love

LEE, AUSTIN

Steinbeck, East of Eden

CALEB, ARON

MIXTURES

Barrie, Peter Pan

WENDY (invented), MICHAEL, JOHN

Dickens, A Christmas Carol

MARTHA, BELINDA, PETER, TIM

Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

CASH, DARL, JEWEL, DEWEY DELL, VARDAMAN

BENJAMIN, JASON, QUENTIN, CANDACE (Caddy)

Galsworthy, The Forsyte Saga

JOLYON (Jolly), IRENESOAMES, WINIFRED

Hardy, The Return of the Native

CLEMENT (Clym), THOMASIN

Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables

CLIFFORD, HEPZIBAH

James, The Turn of the Screw

FLORA, MILES

Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

JEREMY (Jem), JEAN LOUISE (Scout)

Salinger, Franny and Zooey and short stories

FRANNY (Frances), ZOOEY (Zachary), BUDDY (Webb), SEYMOUR, BEATRICE (Boo-Boo), WALTER, WAKER

Salinger, Catcher in the Rye

HOLDEN, PHOEBE, VIOLA, (Allie Vincent –siblings mentioned in other stories)

Shaw, Man and Superman

OCTAVIUS, VIOLET

Sidney, Five Little Peppers

BEN (Ebenezer), POLLY (Mary), JOEL, DAVID, PHRONSIE (Sophronia)

Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

TOM, ROSE OF SHARON, AL, NOAH, RUTHIE, WINFIELD

Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

SEBASTIAN, JULIA, CORDELIA

The other day we talked about Princess Names, but what if the royal baby in your family is male?  Then you might need one of the Prince Names, and Charming is probably not going to cut it.

There are a handful of appealing names that mean “prince.”  Brendan is Irish, Mael is Breton, while Vladimir is Slavic for “renowned prince.”  Armel, the name of a Welsh saint who founded abbeys in Brittany, means “stone prince” in French, while Adhit is an Indonesian name with that meaning.

Prince itself is of course also a name, chosen by Michael Jackson for his son — though if you choose it, you’d have to put up with an awful lot of “formerly known as” jokes.  Better bets: King, Duke, or maybe even Earl.

Fictional princes who might prove inspirational include:

Caspian – Prince who is the rightful king in The Chronicles of Narnia.

Edvard “Eddie” – Danish prince posing as Wisconsin exchange student in deathless 2004 classic “The Prince and Me.”

Erik – The Prince in The Little Mermaid.

Moses – Biblical baby raised as a prince.

Paris – The Trojan prince who wooed the beautiful Helen, though a certain modern female Paris may knock this ancient royal name out of the running for boys.

Phillip – Sleeping Beauty’s paramour.

William “Will” — The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

And then there are the little princes born to actual royal families over the past decade or so, with William.html”>prince names equally imposing as those of their princess counterparts.  I’m especially intrigued by Aymeric, Valdemar, Casimir, Marius, Emmanuel, Froilan, Felix, Baudouin, and Sverre.

Achilleas Andreas — Greece

Aristide Stavros – Greece

Aymeric Auguste Marie — Belgium

Carlos — Spain

Christian Valdemar Henri John – Denmark

Claus-Casimir Bernhard Marius Max — Netherlands

Emmanuel Léopold Guillaume François Marie – Belgium

Felipe Juan Froilan — Spain

Felix Henrik Valdemar Christian –Denmark

Friedrich Richard Oscar Jefferson — Denmark

Gabriel Baudouin Charles Marie — Belgium

Hisahito — Japan

James Alexander Philip Theo – Great Britain

Juan Valentín — Spain

Konstantinos Alexios — Greece

Lucas Maurits Pieter Henri — Netherlands

Miguel – Spain

Nicolas Casimir Marie – Belgium

Nikolai William Alexander Frederik — Denmark

Odysseas Kimon — Greece

Pablo Nicolas – Spain

Samuel “Sam” Bernhard Louis — Netherlands

Sverre Magnus — Norway

If you’re a fan of cool nickname names, you’ll find Russian baby names a treasure trove of possibilities. Some of them have already entered the American mainstream–Sasha and Mischa (both unisex), Talia, Katya–but there are many more Russian baby names that are less familiar but equally appealing, as are some of the full names.

Russian nomenclature in general is quite unique, in that each person has three personal names: a Christian name, a middle patronymic taken from the father’s given name, and a surname that reflects gender, so that a son of Ivan would have the last name Ivanovich, while a daughter would use Ivanovna. At birth, a child is given a formal name known as a “passport name,” but usually is called through childhood by his or her pet name. It is at the age of 16 that a person begins to be addressed by the formal first name and patronymic, so that, for example, Piotr’s daughter Olenka would overnight become Olga Petrovna. The nickname often survives well into adulthood though–as in the case of Misha Baryshnikov, for example.

The list of Russian baby names below follows the name with its most common pet forms–many of which have an abundance of wintry charm.

GIRLS

ALEKSANDRA Sasha, Shura, Sashenka
ALENA Alenka
AMILIYA
ANASTASIA Nastya, Stasya
ANNA Annuska, Anouska, Anya Annika
ANTONINA Tonya
DANILA Dasha
DEVORA
DOMINIKA Domka, Mika
DUSCHA
EKATARINA/KATERINA Katya, Katyenka, Katyuska
ELENA Lena
ELIZAVETTA Liza
FANYA
FYODORA
GALINA Galenka, Galinka, Galka, Gasha, Galya
ILIA
INESSA Inka
IRINA
IVANNA
IZABELLA
JELENA
KAROLINA
KIRA
LARA/LARISSA
LENORA Lena, Lenka, Leka
LIDA Lidka
LILIA
LUDMILLA
LUIZA
MARA Marinka, Marisha, Maruska, Marya, Masha
MARIANNA Masha
MARINA
NADIA Nadka
NATALYA Natasha, Natalka, Talia, TAsa, Tasha, Tashka
NATASSIA
NIKA
NINA Ninochka
OKSANA
OLGA Olenka, Olya
PASHA/PAVLA A fitting name for an Easter baby
SOFYA Sofka
SONYA Sofia, Sofiya
STEFANIA Panya, Stesha
SVETLANA
TAMARA Tasha
TATIANA Tania, Tanya, Tanka
THEODOSIA Feodora, Theda
VALENTINA Tina
VANYA
VARVARA Varya, Varenka
VERA Verasha, Verinka, Verka
VIERA
YALENA
ZENAIDA Zena
ZOYA Zoi, Zoyenka

boys

AKIM
ALEK/ALEKSANDR Sanya, Sasha, Shura
ALEXEI Alyosha, Lelja, Lelya, Lesha
ANATOLI Tolya, Tolenka, Tosha, Tulya
ANDREI Adja, Adya
ANTON/ANTIN Tosha, Tosya, Tusya
ARKADI Arik, Arkasha
ARMAN
AVEL
BODHAN Danya
BORIS Boba, Borya
BURIAN
CHRISTOV
DIMITRI/DMITRI Dima, Dimka, Mitya
EFREM Rema
FABIYAN Fabi
FYODOR Fedya
GAVRIL Ganya, Gav, Gavya
GEORGI Egor, Gorya, Jhora, Jura, Yuri
IGOR Iga, Gorik, Gosha
ILYA
IVAN Vanya
KASSIAN Kasya
KONSTANTIN Kostya
LAVRO
LEON/LEONID
LEV Levka
LUKA
MIKHAIL Mika, Misha
MORIZ
NIKOLAI Koka, Kolya, Nika, Nikita
OLEG
PAVEL Pasha, Pashka, Pava
PETR/PYOTR/PIOTR Petya, Petru
ROMAN
SAVVEL Sava
SERGEI Serzh
STANISLAV Slava, Slavik, Stas, Stasi
TOMAS
VALENTIN Valja, Valya
VASILI Vasja, Vasya, Vaslik
VIKTOR Vika, Vitya
VLADIMIR Dimka, Vimka, Viva, Vladja, Volya, Vova
YAKOV Jasha
YURI
ZIVEN/ZIVON Ziv

One of my embarrassing little obsessions is princess names.  The whole idea of royalty, in these modern times, is kind of embarrassing.  And then there’s the issue of encouraging your daughter to aspire to be a princess rather than, say, a doctor or an astronaut.  For more on this, check out Peggy Orenstein’s great piece from the New York Times, “What’s Wrong With Cinderella?”

The fact, in our experience, is that most little girls go through a phase of wanting to be princesses whether you encourage them to or not.  And there’s a lot of great name inspiration to be found in the world of royalty.

The most obvious place to start is with names that mean princess — for the most part limited to Sarah and her variations.  Sara, Sera, Sarai, Sadie, Soraya, and Zadie are all possibilities.  A British “glamour model” named her daughter Princess, though we don’t recommend this.

Another source for Ad52JB”>princess names is fictional: fairy tales, legends, and the art of Walt Disney.  Some ideas:

Ariel — The Little Mermaid, princess of an undersea world, has already inspired many namesakes.

Aurora — One of the “real” names of Sleeping Beauty.

Fiona — The princess from Shrek, a great role model though a little girl might feel ambivalent about carrying her name.

Giselle — The heroine played by Amy Adams in Enchanted.

Jasmine — The name of the princess in Aladdin gave rise to a generation of real-life girls named Jasmine (and Jazmyn, Yasmina, et al)

Kilala — A Japanese fantasy/romance manga princess whose story plays out against her Disney counterparts.

Odette — The Swan Princess.

Sasami — Japanese anime character who is a princess of Jurai.

Signy — Princess heroine of an Icelandic fairy tale who lives inside a giant oak tree.

Tiana — Disney’s first black princess.

Vasilissa — Meaning “queen” in Greek, Vasilissa is the heroine of a Russian fairy tale who starts out as a poor girl and ends up marrying the king.

Zelda — Princess in the popular Legend of Zelda video game.

Better inspiration might be found via the real little princesses of the world, with their string of four or five names for some poor future spouse to stumble over at the royal wedding.   A selection of those born over the past decade or so:

Aiko — Japan

Alexandra Charlotte Ulrike Maryam Virginia — Hanover

Alexia Juliana Marcela Laurentien — Netherlands

Amelia — Greece

Ana María — Greece

Anastasia “Anna” Margriet Josephine – Netherlands

Ariane Wilhelmina Maxima Ines — Netherlands

Arrietta — Greece

Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria – Netherlands

Elisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène of Belgium

Eleonore Fabiola Victoria Anne Marie – Belgium

Eloise Sophie Beatrix Laurence — Netherlands

Emma Luana Ninette Sophie (Luana) — Netherlands

Emma Talullah – Norway

Felicia Juliana Benedicte Barbara — Netherlands

Ingrid Alexandra – Norway

Ingrid Alexandra Irma Astrid Benedikte — Denmark

Irene — Spain

Isabella Henrietta Ingrid Margrethe — Denmark

Isabella Lily Juliana – Netherlands

Joanna Zaria Nicoline Milou (Zaria) — Netherlands

Laetitia Maria – Belgium

Laila Khadija – Morocco

Leah Isadora — Norway

Leonor — Spain

Leonore Marie Irene Enrica — Netherlands

Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary— Great Britain

Louise Sophie Mary — Belgium

Magali Margriet Eleonoor — Netherlands

Maria Olympia — Greece

Maud Angelica — Norway

Sofia – Spain

Victoria Federica – Spain

What’s your favorite?  What are some princess-worthy names and combinations that haven’t yet been attached to real royal babies?  Let us know!

 Some authors have a genuine knack for character naming, usually spread over their entire oeuvre. In the case of Margaret Mitchell, it was all focused on her only novel–Gone With the Wind–whose character names still resonate today. The 1933 book (almost titled Tomorrow is Another Day) was an unprecedented smash, selling 30 million copies and winning a Pulitzer Prize, as was the movie, released in 1939 and receiving a then-record ten Oscars. Its frequent revivals and TV screenings have kept it alive for later generations.  So how have its characters’ names fared for babies over the years?

MAIN CHARACTERS

SCARLETT O’Hara. For four years following the debut of the film, Scarlett sneaked onto the bottom edge of the Social Security list. It took a glamorous young, modern movie star–Ms. Johansson–to propel it to the upper echelons. A stylish color name, it’s now in the Top 300 and sure to move higher.

RHETT Butler. So closely connected to the Clark Gable persona, it took Rhett a long time to make it into the mainstream, which it finally started to do in the fifties, along with similar names like Brett and Brent, all of which have pretty much faded.

ASHLEY Wilkes. At the time of the book’s writing, Ashley was very much a Southern gentleman’s name. It wasn’t until the early 1980’s that it really crossed the genderline, when it started to appear as female characters on soap operas like The Young and the Restless. Margaret Mitchell would have been shocked to see it beome the #1 girls’ name in America in 1991.

MELANIE Hamilton Wilkes. The name of this sweet and noble character inspired a generation of Melanies. It jumped onto the list in 1938, no doubt because of the novel’s colossal success, and remains viable today.

INDIA Wilkes. The name of Ashley’s sister is one of the most distinctive in the book and movie. Heard to some extent during the Civil War period of the story, it dropped off the charts, coming back with the resurgence of place names in the 1980s and is still an exotically appealing choice.

BEAU Wilkes. The name of Ashley and Melanie’s young son was another strictly Southern name, hardly heard in the rest of the country despite its handsome image. It’s been picking up some steam in the last few years, chosen by several celeb parents.

BELLE Watling. Another name with an attractive meaning, it was for a long time associated with slightly wanton women like this one and Mae West-type seductresses, but now with the growing popularity of Bella, it has been making a comeback, especially as a middle name.

BONNIE BLUE Butler. Although this wasn’t her given name, everyone thought of it as that of Scarlett and Rhett’s little daughter, and Bonnie–yet another GWTW name that means pretty–had a long run on the pop charts, reaching #32 in 1942, and still hanging on in the Top 1000.

EUGENIA Victoria Butler. The actual full given name of Bonnie Blue, Eugenia is an elegant Victorian name ripe for revival.

OTHERS

ARCHIE. A minor character with the kind of nickname name popular in the UK and beginning to catch on here, chosen by Amy Poehler and Will Arnett.

CARREEN and SUELLEN O’Hara, Scarlett’s sisters; Suellen began to be used the year after the film’s release, and came back split in two–as Sue Ellen on the popular nighttime soap, Dallas. Carreen, with all its double letters, never caught fire.

ELLA Lorena Kennedy. In the novel, the fashionably named Ella was Scarlett’s first daughter. She doesn’t appear in the movie, and neither does her son, WADE Hampton Hamilton.

EULALIE and PAULINE, Scarlett’s maternal aunts; Eulalie is a rich and rhythmic possiblity.

And finally there is TARA, the name of the O’Hara ancestral plantation, which went on to become a fairly popular name choice–60 years after the movie.