Names from the Arts and Pop Culture
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 11 pages
of 11
Latin
"lovable"
Amabella is an elaboration of Amabel, a popular medieval name. Neil Gaiman and Liane Moriarty used Amabella as a character name in their novels, The Graveyard Book and Big Little Lies , respectively.
French
"gift of God"
A Dorothy nickname name with a measure of nostalgic charm. Kids will associate it with the funny fish character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the Pixar animated instant classic Finding Nemo .
English word name
"eleven"
If Erykah Badu can name her son Seven, why can't you name your daughter (or son) this? Eleven has recently gotten a lot of attention via the character on the TV show Stranger Things .
Variation of Barnabas
"son of comfort"
The name Barney is hot among hip Londoners and it has been above the Top 500 in the UK since 2012. You can see why - it's got a friendly happy sound and a lovely meaning and is more easily worn than…
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…
Invented name, meaning unknown
Stylized as Vex'ahlia, this name appears in The Legend of Vox Machina , an animated fantasy series based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Created by Laura Bailey, the character often goes by the…
Australian invented name
Epponnee-Rae — full name Epponnee-Raelene Kathleen Darlene Charlene Craig — is the daughter of Kim and Brett on the early aughts Australian sitcom Kath & Kim . Her name was invented as a parody of…
English
"beautiful light"
A rare but historic English name bestowed upon girls in the 19th century. Fairlight seems to have been particularly popular among baby girls in the Appalachian region of the US. It appeared as a…
Literary name
Puck was Shakespeare's mischievous pixie who'a had a few television incarnations in more recent years. A popular name in The Netherlands but nowhere else, from what we can tell. We love Puck for its…
Hitchcock is an extremely rare masculine given name derived from an English surname. The surname itself has Anglo-Saxon origins, combining the Old English personal name 'Hicce' with 'cock' (meaning…
Nature name
The kind of nickname name you wouldn't want your own child to get stuck with.
English from Italian
"pastoral song"
Is Villanelle the new Sonnet? This elaborate name is a form of poetry — an example is Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night — but many know it better as an assassin's codename in the…
Variation of Keziah
"cassia tree"
Kizzy was a character in Alex Haley's Roots ; this and other Keziah variations were widely used among enslaved people. In Roots the name is explained by the hero Kunta as 'you sit down' or 'you stay…
Roman name, meaning unknown
Atia Balba Caesonia was a Roman noblewoman who was the mother of Emperor Augustus. As was the practice at the time, she had two sisters also named Atia, Atia Prima and Atia Tertia. The real-life Atia…
Short form of Helen or Helena, Greek
"torch; shining light"
Helly is not a nickname you hear every day, but Helly (short for Helena) Riggs is a character on TV's Severance . Both Helen and Helena are starting to trend upwards, which may make Helly more…
Greek
"yellow horse"
Famous as the long-suffering wife of the philosopher Socrates.
Diminutive of Margaret
"pearl"
Sixties-style nickname which is also the name of a small biting insect, particularly prevalent in Scotland.
Variation of Alex
One x makes the point.
Invented name, Scottish surname, diminutive of Katherine
"of the red earth; pure"
Like a blend of vintage-style Edie and popular Katie, Keedie is either an invented name, a variant of the Scottish surname Keddy, or possibly a short form of Katherine. In the case of Soprano singer…
