Names from the Arts and Pop Culture
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 10 pages
of 10
German
"comrade in arms; battle enclosure, battle ground"
Hildegard is an ancient name that sounds it, but it does have sweet short forms Hildie and Hilda to recommend it, as well as several illustrious historical bearers. Strong and striking, it would make…
"ruler with the spear"
Geralt is an antiquated version of the old-fashioned name Gerald, which has been dropping toward the bottom of the US Top 1000 since the early 1940s and finally dropped out in 2021. Geralt is seeing…
Modern invented name
Daxter feels like a blend between Dexter and Baxter. If you like it better than either of those, then go for it.
Word name
"tea"
Most people are likely to associate the name Chai with tea, but it's also a Chinese surname and Hebrew masculine name. The video game series Soulcalibur features a female character named Chai.
Fruit name
Peach is one of those names that, a generation ago, would have been placed in the wacky celebrity baby name category. But now with the proliferation of word, nature, and yes, food names, Peach sounds…
English, Arabic
"advisor; red; cool, extremely good; thunder"
The cool and edgy Rad might just work as a fresh spin on the likes of Brad, Chad, Rod, and Randy. Used as a word to describe something exciting and extremely good, it's a synonym for cool, awesome,…
English diminutive of Catherine
"pure"
Time was, even C-starting Catherines who called themselves Kate spelled it with a K, but Cate Blanchett changed all. Cate is now as acceptable as (but not as well used as) Kate. Cait might be short…
"colliding violently; sudden loud sound"
Crash is a particularly calamitous entry in the badass boys' name category, taking Wilder and Maverick one -- or maybe a dozen -- steps further. But we can think of at least a dozen reasons you…
Japanese
"aware of emptiness"
Goku is the name of the protagonist of the popular "Dragon Ball" manga series, which was turned into a live action film. The character of Goku is reportedly based on Sun Wukong, the hero of the…
Japanese, Welsh
In Welsh, a diminutive of Iorwerth. As a Japanese name, Iori stands alone.
"bluish"
A very popular girls' name in Japan with an unfortunate English pronunciation: picture a toddler with a hurt knee saying "owee."
"good, respectful"
A classic Japanese name known to kids around the world as a Nintendo video-game character.
Alyx is a modern, gender-neutral name that is more commonly used for girls. It represents a creative spelling variant of Alex, which itself is short for Alexander (masculine) or Alexandra (feminine),…
Greek variation of Alexis
Rather than confusing things with Elexis, we'd stick with the original Alexis version.
Irish
"battle man"
Cahir along with its traditional spelling Cathair is well-used in modern Ireland. Now it's finding a wider audience thanks to The Witcher , though Cahir is the main villain of the series. It was in…
Jojo is a playful, gender-neutral name often used as a masculine name in its own right or as a nickname for names like Joseph, Jonathan, Jordan, or Johannes. Its repetitive structure gives it a…
Literary name, variation of Jennifer or Guinevere, Cornish or Welsh
"white shadow, white wave"
Yennefer is the name of one of the protagists of The Witcher series, first books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and then a video game and now a Netflix series. Yennefer is a powerful fighter and…
Diminutive of Cirilla, Latin
"lordly"
Ciri may sound exactly like the ubiquitous digital Siri, but it's achieving fame in its own right as the familiar name of Princess Cirilla of The Witcher series. The name's meaning is a nod to her…
Hebrew
"emanations"
Sephiroth is a villain in the Final Fantasy universe who recently inspired seven sets of parents to use his name for their sons. In Hebrew, the word sephiroth — typically spelled sefirot — means…
Invented name, or Norwegian or Spanish surname
"pride; light, bright"
Solas is a surname name in both Norwegian (as Solås) and Spanish (as Solás), but it was introduced as a first name via the video game franchise Dragon Age . In the series, Solas is an Elven mage…
