TV Character Names

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.

Amabella

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.

Dory

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.

Eleven

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 Barnabas. However, Barney is a more difficult sell in America, due to Barney the Dinosaur and Barney Gumble, the loveable lout from The Simpsons. In the positive column for Barney are jazz clarinetist Barney Bigard and guitarist Barney Kessel. For those who love the name but can't get past the dinosaur, may we suggest the related names Bernard or Barnaby?

Barney

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 sorceress. As a name, we don't think Yennefer is any improvement on millennial mom name Jennifer, but nickname Yen has it all over the dated Jen.

Yennefer

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 royal status.

Ciri

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 nickname Vex.
 
While some may associate the first sound too closely to the word meaning "disturb" or "irritate", others may feel that it has the cool edge of Becks or Vivian, blended with the softer sounds of Dahlia and Amalia. It certainly appealed enough to be given to 8 girls in 2024 .

Vexahlia

A variation of the Arthurian Gawain, this form appears in the popular high fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. Names from this series like Arya and Daenerys have already appeared in the US starts and with Gwayne's similarity to Dane and Wayne, it may see some real life usage in the future.

Gwayne

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 put' in the Mandinka language meaning that 'this child would never get sold away'.

Kizzy

Meredith has been considered primarily a girl's name since the fifties, before which it was more commonly used for boys. Comic actor Jay Mohr recently named his son Meredith, which might help it swing back into the blue column. The traditional Welsh pronunciation puts the stress on the middle syllable, making Red a cool nickname possibility.

Meredith

Sixties-style nickname which is also the name of a small biting insect, particularly prevalent in Scotland.

Midge

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 'little'), possibly originally referring to someone who lived near a ridge. As a first name, Hitchcock is almost unheard of, making it among the most distinctive name choices possible. The surname gained considerable recognition through film director Alfred Hitchcock, lending the name associations with creativity, suspense, and artistic innovation. As a given name, it would certainly stand out, potentially leading to nicknames like Hitch. Its uniqueness would make it memorable in any context.

Hitchcock

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 character name in Catherine Mashall's 1967 novel Christy, which was turned into a TV show in 1994.

Fairlight

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 the "bogan" baby name style considered trendy at the time. In the show, Kim also considered names like Tailuh (Taylor) and Typhphaanniii (Tiffany) for her daughter.
 
If you like the sound of Epponnee but can't get past its origins, you could consider the French name Eponine or the English surname Epperly, also made famous by a television series, in this case, Gossip Girl.

Epponnee

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 energy and insouciance, but might not give it to a real child due to its similarity to a popular curse word.

Puck

Eidra and its even sleeker sister Idra are simple-yet-unusual names -- no baby girls were given either name in the US in 2022. Eidra attracted attention as the name of a character of the Keri Russell TV show The Diplomat.

Eidra

Dinesh is a popular Indian name -- it stands for the sun in Hindu texts -- made familiar in the US by the HBO show Silicon Valley</a> via the character played by Kumail Nanjiani. With the emphasis on the second syllable, Dinesh is a name that translates easily.

Dinesh

Cookie is most often used as a dog name, and it should stay that way.

Cookie

The full name of one of the main characters on Netflix's Dear White People, though she usually goes by Coco. Colandrea occasionally pops up as a surname, but as a first name, it feels more like a mashup of Coco and Andrea -- and a not unappealing mashup at that.

Colandrea

A very common boys' name (and nickname) in Nigeria that some Americans will recognize as the name of one of the main characters on NBC's The Good Place.

Chidi

The names of television characters, from the days of the Western and early soap operas, have always been influential, with life imitating the small screen and vice versa.

Names of TV characters include current favorites, historic revivals, and writer creations. 

 include Archer, Dexter, Eleanor, Eve, Malcolm, Quinn, Sawyer, and Willow. Names with distinctive character connections include Homer, Meadow, Frasier, Hyacinth, and Eleven.

Not all of these TV character names come highly recommended (sorry, Turtle), but there are plenty of wonderful gems in this collection.

TV character names, including baby boy names and baby girl names from popular television shows, with meanings, origins, and popularity.. (Page 9)