User-created list
Shakespeare Girl Names
Across 2 pages
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The names
Marianne
French combination of Marie and Anne
"drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + grace"
A midcentury Catholic classic that's not chosen by many parents today. Leonard Cohen fans might think of the beautiful song So Long, Marianne , named for his lover and muse Marianne Ihlen. The…
Calpurnia
Charmian
Greek
"joy"
This name was used by Shakespeare (who got it from Plutarch) in Antony and Cleopatra for one of the attendants of the Egyptian queen. An interesting possibility, it is heard occasionally in the UK,…
Cleopatra
Greek
"glory of the father"
A royal name in ancient Egypt that's never quite made it to the modern world, though nickname Cleo is widely used. Other now-extinct Cleopatra diminutives, including Cleora and Cleola, achieved some…
Cressida
Greek
"gold"
Cressida is a pretty mythological and Shakespearean heroine name much better known in Britain than it is in the US. Given to just 7 girls in a recent year, it shares the cool golden meaning of…
Cymbeline
Desdemona
Greek
"ill-starred"
Desdemona is as Shakespearean as a name can be, but because the beautiful and innocent wife of Othello came to such a tragic end, her name has been avoided for centuries. But at this point in time,…
Hermia
Greek, female form of Hermes
"cairn, pile of stones, boundary marker"
Though we've gotten used to Hermione via Harry Potter , and even Hermes with its godlike and fashion associations, most people would still have a problem with Hermia (too close to hernia?) and…
Hippolyta
Imogen
Celtic
"maiden"
Imogen has long been fashionable in England and is gaining favor in the US among stylish parents. Pronounced the British way — the initial i is short as in Kim, as is the final E as in Ken — Imogen…
Nerissa
Greek
"from the sea"
An offbeat possible replacement for the overused Melissa and Marisa, Nerissa was used by Shakespeare for Portia's witty confidante in The Merchant of Venice . Queen Elizabeth has a cousin named…
Perdita
Latin
"lost"
A Shakespearean invention for an abandoned baby in The Winter's Tale , Perdita's sense of loss has always been off-putting to parents. But her image was somewhat resuscitated by its association with…
Rue
Botanical names or word name
"herb; regret"
Rue has gone from Golden Girls actress to Hunger Games heroine to a fresh alternative to beloved middle name Rose. This botanical name is also a coincidental double word name, meaning "regret" in…
Thisbe
Greek mythological name, meaning unknown
Thisbe, the name of a beautiful but tragic lover in mythology, is lively and cute -- in a slightly thistly, prickly way. Ovid retold the story of Thisbe and Pyramus, young lovers in ancient Babylon…
Titania
Greek
"giant, great one"
This name of the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream has a delicate, lacy charm similar to Tatiana's, but that first syllable could cause embarrassing problems.
