Paz, currently represented by actresses Paz Vega and Paz de la Huerts, would make a sparkling middle name choice. It originated as a title of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Peace, and is one of the names that mean peace, derived from the Latin word "pax".

This intriguing Scandinavian name is associated with Roald Dahl, author of the juvenile classics James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You can honor an ancestral Ronald just by dropping that middle 'n'.

Parents who love the great English novelist Jane Austen may choose this spelling of the popular name Austin to honor the author of Emma and Pride and Prejudice.

Twain can be thought of as a modernization (and possible namesake) of the dated Wayne, seasoned with the humor of Mark Twain, who adopted it from a river term.

Long heard as a last name, as in venerable poet Robert, U.K. talk show host David, British actress Sadie and old Jack Frost, Frost has suddenly entered the scene as a possible first, along with other seasonal weather names like Winter and Snow.

An Anglicized derivative of the Gaelic name Beatha, meaning "life," best known as the surname of Irish playwright Brendan Behan.

With the current taste for last names first, this sounds a lot cooler than Shawn; it also has creative connections to the great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, novelist Irwin Shaw, and Big Band Era clarinetist/bandleader and one-time Ava Gardner husband Artie Shaw.

When playwright Thomas Lanier Williams adopted the pen name of Tennessee, he created a new possibility among American place-names, although it's admittedly a bit bulky in size.

This name will forever be associated with the Bard and would likely prove hard to live up to. It might be cool for a pet though.

Novelist Djuna Barnes introduced this interesting and unusual name with an arty, Bohemian feel to the mix. She explained that it was invented by her father, saying it came about as a combination of her infant brother's pronunciation of the word moon as 'nuna' and a character in a book her father was reading, Prince Djalma, and so he "put the Dj onto the 'una'." Result: the silent-D pronunciation (as in Django) of JOON-a.

Updates Ellis -- but also has a lot of feminine potential thanks to Allison/Ellie similarity.

Plausible literary name to honor upbeat Armenian-American playwright and prose writer William Saroyan.

Writer Jerzy Kosinski put this foreign variation on the U. S. name map.

Forster, a variation of Foster or potentially even Forester, is associated with British novelist E.M. Forster, author of A Passage to India, Howard's End, and A Room with a View. But if you choose Forster, you'd always have to force that 'r'.

The Shirley of the 1950s. Shelley Winters was born a Shirley.

Made most familiar in English-speaking countries by prize-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chimamanda has a wonderful meaning and can be shortened to Chima or the spunky Chi. In 2022, it entered the UK Top 1000 for the first time, and has been climbing ever since. A recent year saw it rank in at #547, when it was given to 70 girls.

Bronte is the lovely surname of the three novel-writing sisters, now used as a baby name; a fitting tribute for lovers of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. An extra element of Bronte's appeal: the surprise of it dramatic meaning coupled with its mellifluous sound.

A zippy, lively name that has never been popular, but has never completely disappeared. It is best known for writer and wit Gore Vidal, and hairdresser Vidal Sassoon and his many products.

Lionel is yet another traditional boy's name entering the girls' column--at least once-- via prizewinning novelist Lionel (born Margaret Ann) Shriver.

Wharton is a rather stiff banker name that becomes creative as a middle name choice for lovers of the novels of writer Edith.