Literary Names for Girls

The obscure yet not unappealing name of a legendary heroine of Rome. The ancient Clelia escaped an Etruscan invader by swimming across the Tiber River.

Sidda is a name made famous by the heroine of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood; it probably started life as a nickname.

Though many might find it too syrupy, hundreds of parents each year choose this name for their daughters to make them feel special. Precious Ramotswe is the engaging African sleuth in the popular No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

The old word name Temple has gained some recent notice as a girls' name via admired autistic writer and inventor Dr. Temple Grandin (born Mary Temple), subject of an acclaimed biopic, in which she was played by Claire Danes.

Feather, though it was used for a character in a Walter Mosley novel, seems too light and fluttery for a real-life girl.

Old fashioned nickname that some girls just might be able to pull off. You'd just have to be sure your little Fancy was one of them.

Nicandra is the name of a plant known as apple-of-peru and also shoo-fly plant. It's also the feminine form of Nicander, an ancient Greek poet, physician, and grammarian.

Faunia is more often rendered as Fauna, who was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing. Faunia was the downtrodden yet loving heroine of Philip Roth's Human Stain. Faunia and Fauna have more gravitas than the doe-like Fawn.

Orleanna was the young heroine of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible.

She may have been an appealing Chinese heroine in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but her name won't translate for a modern American girl. Better choices: Snow, or Flora.

This variation of Jacey was the name of the gorgeous small-town heroine of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show.

Might be carrying things too far -- little little girl? -- though could freshen up this favorite.

Name of the enslaved girl in Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo sounds more like a modern invention, though it's related to another time-honored literary heroine name: Haidee from Byron's "Don Juan."

A unisex surname familiarized by male actor Dabney Coleman, but with potential to carry over to the girl's side as well. Dabney feels in line with the Irish Darcy and Darby.

Friendly-sounding name with big "Sweeney Todd" downside.

An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.

Nenna is the name of the heroine of Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore, but it's also sparingly used in Scandinavia as a variant of the name Nanna. Nanna is a diminutive of various names, including Anna, Johanna and Marianne, but it's also a name in its own right, possibly meaning "daring".

Remarkable Pettibone was a self-important housekeeper in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. Such names were not uncommon in early America, with such choices as Remember and Experience showing up in the records along with Puritan virtue names such as Chastity and Patience.

Unusual and unfashionable name found in Toni Morrison's novel Tar Baby.

The Alhambra, which means "red city," is in Granada, Spain. British writer Ali Smith used it for a character in her novel The Accidental.