Cool Character Names: 44 Great Girl Names from Novels

By Linda Rosenkrantz
If you like the idea of using a literary namesake inspiration for your little girl, there’s no reason that you have to go all the way back to Shakespeare or Dickens, or even Atticus and Scout. There are some really cool character names to be found in the pages of 21st century novels. They range from vintage treasures like Clementine and Winifred to boyish Cayce and Merrick.
I haven’t included names from the blockbuster sagas we’ve covered before. But you can see some of the best names from Twilight and The Hunger Games and Harry Potter if you follow those links.
Here are 44 cool character names for girls, all from 21st century novels.
Alba, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Amaka, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Amma, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Annick, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Antonina, The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman (shown)
Anys, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
Aria, Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Athena, The Witch of Portobello by Paolo Coelho
Bibi, Saving Fish from Dying by Amy Tan
Berner, Canada by Richard Ford
Briony, Atonement by Ian McEwan
Calliope, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Catalina, The Revelers by Doug Wilhelm
Cayce, Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Clementine, Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Dellarobia, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Effie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Elspeth, Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Faunia, The Human Stain by Philip Roth
Georgie, Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Glory, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Irie Ambrosia, White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Isola, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Jocasta, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Lisbeth, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Luna Moth, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Marete, Everyman by Philip Roth
Maribel, The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
Merrick, A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Nazeen, Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Olanna, Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Olive, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Oona, Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
Pari, And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Mosseini
Peony, Peony in Love by Lisa See
Purity (Pip), Purity by Jonathan Franzen
Sage, The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Sai, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Sheba, Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
Thursday, Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde
Trixie, The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
About the Author
Linda Rosenkrantz
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