Movie Character Names

Siggy is the softer side of Ziggy, a more familiar name thanks to Ziggy Marley.

Siggy

The Steen, Steena, and Stina nicknames for Christina are much more common in Scandinavia than in the English-speaking world, which prefers the Chris variations.

Steena

T'Challa is the "real" name of Marvel's Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman in the 2018 blockbuster. That year, Marvel released a comic revealing the name means "he who put the knife where it belonged" in the fictional native language of Wakanda.
 
The Black Panther was first published as a comic in 1966, but it was not until 1975 that T'Challa charted as a baby name when it was given to five baby boys. It recently made the charts again in 2022.
 
It's unclear how the creators of Black Panther chose his given name, but T'Challa does exist as a name in Africa. In West African countries, including Nigeria and Togo, Tchalla is found as both a first and last name. Tchalla is also seen in South African countries such as Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with similar names such as Tshala. A 19th-century Angolan king was named Tchalla/Challa.
 
The Marvel character pronounces the T in his name, while the T is silent in African languages.

T'challa

The name of an area in northern Greece, known in the era of Homer's Odyssey as Aeolia, Thessaly makes a spirited and pretty place name. Reminiscent of Tessa, Rosalie, and Thea, the name likely derives from that of an ancient tribe, though the exact meaning isn't known.
 
Borne by American actress Thessaly Lerner, and a character in the graphic novel Sandman, Thessaly is given to small handful of girls in the US each year.

Thessaly

Fox, okay.  Buck, maybe.  But Wolverine?  You gotta be kidding us.  On the plus side, your five-year-old will love you for giving him this superhero name.  Your fifteen-year-old, not so much.

Wolverine

As a nickname for one of the longer Z-starting choices, maybe, but not as a name unto itself.

A name is a bright, sharp sound and an air of antiquity, Zinaida is associated with genus of white-winged doves, a first-century saint and doctor, and the highest of the Greek gods. This particular form is used in Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Ukraine, and Belarus, with Zenaida, Zenaide, and Zénaïde are used elsewhere.
 
The name has been notably borne by Zinaida Portnova, a Soviet partisan remembered for sabotaging and poisoning German troops, along with painter Zinaida Serebriakova, singer Zinaida Kupriyanovich, poet Zinaida Gippius, and Princess Zenaida Yusupova. 
 
Zinaida also appeared in the 1860 novella, First Love, by Ivan Turgenev, which was later used as part of the inspiration behind an early Kirsten Dunst movie, Lover's Prayer in which Dunst plays Zinaida.

Zinaida

Superfans of auteur Wes Anderson may now consider Zissou as a baby name option, ever since Kieran Culkin and Jazz Charton used it for their daughter (birth name Kinsey Sioux). It's a clear homage to Anderson's film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, chronicling the journey of a Jacques Cousteau-like oceanographer avenging his partner's death-by-jaguar-shark.
 
Anderson created the surname for the film, but it is borne by a handful of families in the US. There's even a real-life Steve Zissou. At the end of the film's credits, it reads: "The filmmakers acknowledge that the real Steve Zissou is a prominent attorney in New York City specializing in complex federal litigation."

Zissou

Sensitive and elegant, but with a hint of vintage clunkiness, Maudeline can be considered a form of Magdalene, or a compound name, blending Maude with Madeline (also a variant of Magdalene).
 
Reminiscent of the English word maudlin, meaning "emotional, sensitive, weeping, tearful", it was used by Tim Burton for a character in the 2005 movie, Corpse Bride, lending it an eerie and gothic air.
 
It could appeal to those who like Madeline but want to avoid Maddie, or by those who enjoy Maude but prefer something more elaborate. It could also be linked to Magdalen College, part of Oxford University, pronounce MAUD-lin.

Maudeline

Elphaba was invented by Gregory Maguire for the protagonist of his novel Wicked, which became the long-running Broadway play and then a movie. Elphaba is the name of the Wicked Witch of the West, unnamed in the Oz books, and is drawn from the initials of Oz creator L. Frank Baum.
 
Nicknames Elfie, Ellie, Elle, or Abbie could make it feel more grounded.

Elphaba

The original name of Glinda from Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked and the subsequent Broadway musical. She drops the 'a' from her name to honor a goat, who mispronounced her name as a Glinda.
 
As a name, it comes from the Germanic element gal meaning "to sing" and lind meaning "soft, tender", which come together to make a music inspired name.

Galinda

Glinda is famous as the name of the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, invented by author L. Frank Baum. but has there ever been a real life, non-fictional Glinda? Not in the US last year.
 
The name may be related to the Welsh Glenda, itself a 20th century invention or to the Germanic Galinda, as used by Gregory Maguire in his Wizard of Oz spin off, Wicked.

Glinda

A character in the Wicked novels and musicals, Dr. Dillamond is a Goat, mentor, and professor. It could blend the Old English element mund meaning "protection" with Dil, a Germanic diminutive meaning "people" or an English word, referring to the herb, dill.

Dillamond

A minor (female) character in the Wicked book and musical, who is gender swapped for the 2024 movie.

Pfannee

Created by Gregory Maguire for his book, Wicked (and featured in the subsequent Broadway musical), Fiyero derives from the word "furious".

Fiyero

A smoosh name used by Gregory Maguire in his book Wicked and the subsequent musical. It blends Rose with Nessa, which can be a short form of Vanessa (or other -nessa names), an anglicized variation of Irish Neasa, or a Hebrew name meaning "miracle".

Nessarose

The name of a Munchkin in L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, who plays a much larder role in the spin off Wicked novels and musical. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it could come from Bock, a type of German beer, from Baroque, a grand, detailed and sublime style of art and architecture, or as a spin of the word 'bog'.

Used in the novel and subsequent Disney movie Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century , Zenon is typically a masculine name of Greek and Polish origin, however, in the book and film, it was used for a girl who lives on a space station and is sent to earth as a punishment. 
 
It could be inspired the aforementioned Zenon, meaning "gift of Zeus" or "sky", by the Breton name Azenor meaning "light" or "honor", or by Xenia meaning "outsider". However, it could equally just be an invention, created by the author as a name that sets the character apart.

Zenon

Matangi a Hindu goddess and an aspect of Parvati, the Divine Mother. She rules over speech, knowledge, music, and the arts and worshipping her is said to allow people to control their enemies and become a master in the arts. Some sources suggest her name means "one whose limbs are intoxicated with passion".
 
The name also has its origin in a number of Polynesian languages in which it means "breeze" or "wind". It was used in the Disney film, Moana 2 for a demigod who can control bats.

Matangi

Kele is both a Native American name, used by the Hopi people to mean "sparrow hawk", and a name of Hawaiian origin. In the latter case, it sometimes appears as part of a name, usually in a Hawaiian variation of an English name, such as Anakele from Andrew or Kelemi from Jeremy. It could therefore mean "call", "sound", or "equal", reflecting that it is a Hawaiian name that sounds or is equal to another. 
 
Other sources suggest it is a contracted form of Kabakele meaning "cart" or the Hawaiian equivalent of Jerry. It is borne by a character in the Disney film, Moana 2.

Kele

Movie character names may be the only names cooler than the names of the stars that play them. A few, such as Trinity from 

, jumped right onto the popularity charts.

With the exception of Jack, which has long seemed to be the name of the male character in every other movie and TV adventure show, characters' names often veer from the unusual to the outlandish.

 include Buddy, Clementine, Fletcher, Josie, Maximus, Remy, Rosemary, and Sullivan.

s with strong ties to their character include Atreyu, Morpheus, Napoleon, and Sharpay.

These notable names from movies are perfect for the film buffs among us. If you're a fan of all things cinematic, one of these names inspired by movies could be just right for your baby.

Baby names inspired by movie characters, including Trinity, Regina, and Forrest, with meanings, origins, and popularity (Page 10)