Boy Names Lists · Names from the Arts and Pop Culture
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 6 pages
of 6
Word name
Toni Morrison, a master of character naming, coined this one for the best friend of hero Milkman Dead in Song of Solomon . Definitely a cool choice, with a twang.
Diminutive of Japheth
"he expands"
Japhy Ryder was a hero of Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums . Compared with Moses and Noah, Japhy sounds downright adorable and eminently baby-worthy.
Russian surname
The unlikely name of the hero of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake , named for an author his father revered.
Medieval form of Julian
"youthful"
Galsworthy used this for "The Forsyte Saga," but in modern real life Julian would work better.
Literary and word name
The name of the hero of Nathan Englander's The Ministry of Special Cases is also the name of the prayer Jews say for the dead, so be aware that this could definitely be seen as an offensive choice to…
Czech
"jackdaw"
Murakami's Kafka on the Shore features a character named after the famous Czech author of The Metamorphoses .
Scottish
"lord of the land"
Laird is a Scottish title for the landed gentry – it ranks just below a Baron – with a pleasantly distinctive Scottish burr that must have appealed to Sharon Stone, who chose it for her son. Laird…
A Finnish tribe and language
If you've heard this name, it's probably from the hero of the acclaimed Julia Glass novel, Three Junes , or else the political scientist Richard Fenno. As well as a Finnish name, it's alos a Frisian…
Place-name
Falmouth may be a beautiful seaside spot in Massachusetts, but as a name it's perilously close to "foul mouth." Falmouth Kearney was the name of Barack Obama's great-great grandfather.
Dutch from Hebrew
"city of the king; king of light"
The least used of the Three Wise Men's names, but a strong option for bold namers to consider. The exact origins of Melchior are unknown, but it is speculated that it derived from either the Hebrew…
Literary name
"star glitter, star foam, star spray"
This name was invented by J.R.R. Tolkien for his Lord of the Rings series, where Elros is a half-elf half-human king. One of the more obscure LOTR names with a princely feel and soft, handsome sound,…
Scottish, variation of Menzies
"tenants of a manor"
Supermodel Helena Christensen named her son in honor of jazz great Charles Mingus, opening up a whole category of jazzy possibilities: Kenton, Calloway, Ellington, Gillespie, Mulligan, Tatum, and…
English
"dark stone"
A two-syllable surname feel puts this name of an important English saint in the running -- though it could sound like a confused cross between Duncan and Dustin.
Is it a real name....or no?
This name of a character in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is short, sweet and Southern-sounding.
Greek
"practical"
In mythology, another name for Aphrodite -- but the rare feminine name that sounds better for a boy.
An interesting Canadian province and city name that has some literary history as the name of a character in Dickens's Bleak House ; could make a distinctive choice for parents with northern roots.
Russian from Greek
"song of the hero"
Well used in Russia, this is a distinctive and undiscovered choice here. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the fictional protagonist of Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoyevsky.
Romanian
"black"
In Shakespeare's The Tempest , Caliban is the name of the deformed son of a witch: not the greatest literary reference for a child. But Caliban does have an appealing international-yet-accessible…
Diminutive of Bromley, English
"broom meadow"
Attached to one of the heroes of Christopher Paolini's megapopular fantasy novel Eragon , this name sounds strong yet sensitive. Paolini's character is named after another bestselling fantasy author…
