Baby Names from Books

Celaena notably appears in the Throne of Glass book series by popular fantasy writer, Sarah J. Maas. It is borne by one Celaena Sardothien, also known as Aelin Galathynius, a teenaged assassin and one of the main characters.
 
The literary name was inspired by the Greek Celaeno, a mythological choice meaning "dark one", and given to one of the seven sister nymphs who became part of the Pleiades constellation. 
 
In the fictional series, Celaena is pronounced as sell-LAY-nah, which could make it appealing to those who like Elena/Elaina, Selena, and nickname Laney. As such, and owing to the popularity of Maas's works, nine babies were named Celaena in the US in 2024.

Celaena

Formal name lacking any sparkle or sheen. 

Werner

A pretty and almost unique word name to add to the galaxy of astral appellations. More distinctive than the better-known Celeste, it was given fewer than ten baby girls in the US last year. While rare in English-speaking countries, Celestial is a Top 100 name for baby girls in France.
 
Celestial is also the title of several band albums, and is heard in the video game and comics worlds. For those wanting a literary tie, Celestial is a main character in Tayari Jones's popular novel, An American Marriage, her full name being Celestial Gloriana, after her mother, Gloria Celeste.

Celestial

One of a number of single-syllable unisex B-names, Brett was first spotted as a female name in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, via the dashing and seductive Lady Brett Ashley, who was a captivating enough character to offer naming inspiration. It combines a pleasingly brisk, executive air with a measure of femininity.

Brett

Attractive, underused name made famous by the heroine of The Color Purple.  Still, if you're going to go to Celie, why not go all the way to Celia or Cecelia?  You can always use Celie for short.

Celie

Chani, which rhymes with Johnny, is famous as the name of the character played by Zendaya in the Dune books, video games, and movies. Another force driving the name's use is Canadian astrologer Chani Nicholas.

Chani can be short for Channah, a form of Hannah, one of the many names in the Anne family meaning grace. Chani may also be short for the Hindi Chandra, the name of the Hindu moon goddess.

No baby girls were named Chandra or Channah in the US last year, but a handful were named Chani. We expect that number to rise following the popularity of Dune II.

Chani

The "To Be or Not to Be" jokes, via Shakespeare's tortured prince, will get old by Month Two. 

Hamlet

Jo is usually the feminine form of the name, while Joe is the masculine spelling. 

An emerging unisex surname name. Radley is more common for boys — it could be seen as an updated version of Bradley — but for girls, it's a rare alternative to Hadley and Adley. Radley is also a literary name via To Kill a Mockingbird, the surname of mysterious recluse Boo Radley.

Radley

Francie is one of the most neglected nicknames for Frances, despite having more style value than Franny and Fanny and being more unique than Frankie. We'd love to see it get more use, whether as a Frances short form or as an independent name.
 
You may recognize it as the name of Francie Nolan, the protagonist in Betty Smith's classic novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Francie

Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name.
 The first was a character named January Wayne in a bestselling 1973 Jacqueline Susann novel, Once is Not Enough, which was later made into a movie. Then, five years later, the mother-to-be of January Jones – future Mad Men star – was inspired by that character to give the name to her baby daughter, as did enough other parents in 1978 to bring January to Number 639 on the list.
 
More recently, January was used by Emily Henry in her popular contemporary romance novel, Beach Read, which might inspire parents-to-be in coming years. As of 2024, it was only used on 11 girls in the US, making it a very rare choice.
 So if you're looking for a cool and unusual namesake for a Janet, Janice or Joanna – or for someone with a birthday in the first month of the year , January might be the perfect alternative. January, along with Snow and Frost, are also perfect <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/89/winter-baby-names">names for winter babies</a>.

January

In Nabokov's notorious novel, Lolita is the pet name given by the pedophilic narrator, Humbert Humbert, to his victim: a young girl called Dolores and nicknamed Lola or Lo by her mother. Still, it seems that a few parents are prepared to look past this problematic association, seeing this as a offbeat option for those who defy convention. We would recommend thinking seriously about the background of this name before bestowing it on your daughter.

Lolita

A whimsical choice from the 1923 sci-fi novel Aelita by Aleksey Tolstoy, the name belongs to a Martian princess who lives on Mars in an advanced yet divided society. In the book (and its subsequent film), her name is said to mean "starlight seen for the last time".
 
While that may be the meaning in the fictional Martian language, Tolstoy may have been inspired by the Ancient Greek element aer meaning "wind, atmosphere, mist, space", along with names such as Elita ("noble, pious"), Aelia ("sun"), Elizaveta ("pledged to God"), or similar. 
 
The name briefly ranked in Latvia back in the 60s and has featured on characters in the 2006 animated series Code Lyoko and the 2014 video game Lifeless Planet. There's also a Russian literary award called the Aelita Prize for works of science fiction, while artist Aelita Andre is a real life bearer.
 
The name is said somewhere between ou-LEE-tuh and ie-LEE-tuh (like the sounds in out and lie).

Aelita

Author Sarah J. Maas created the name Amren for a High Fae in her acclaimed fantasy romance series A Court of Thorns and Roses. The author has confirmed she is an Old Testament Angel, and as such, you could conjecture that her name is inspired by the Hebrew Amram ("exalted nation") or Amiron ("my nation is a song").
 Amren debuted on the US charts for girls in 2023, and it a more recent year, was given to 10 babies.

Amren

These days, it's thought of less as the name of the great general and more as the first name of Lecter the fictional cannibal. Either association is too heavy for a child to bear. 

Hannibal

Katniss Everdeen is the heroine of the popular Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, whose name comes from the (very real) edible aquatic plant of the genus Sagittaria. Katniss's father tells her that if she "finds herself," she'll never go hungry. 

Other unusual botanical names in the series include Primrose, Posy, Rue, and Clove, all for girls. Several of the boys' names come from ancient Rome: Cato, Seneca, Flavius, Caesar.

Katniss the name has less appeal than Katniss the heroine, though it's definitely more attractive than Renesmee.

Katniss

The Christian name of the dashing Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice&mdash; it was his mother's maiden name&mdash; is just one of several Fitz names, including Fitzroy, Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, that could be used to honor a dad named William, Roy, Gerald or Patrick.

Fitzwilliam

Heathcliff is the name of the original passionate macho hero of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and also of the cartoon cat. It was chosen by fashionista Lucy Sykes for her son, and inspired the late Heath Ledger's name. But otherwise it's barely used, and perhaps a bit much of a namesake. For a modern boy we'd recommend Heath....or Cliff.

Heathcliff

A literary name with a simple yet alluring sound, Sula may appeal as an alternative to those who like Lula, Lola, Susannah, and Tallulah. The protagonist and titular character of Toni Morrison's 1973 novel, the name may relate to the Old Testament Shulammite (and the Hebrew shalom) or to the Latin Ursula, meaning "little she-bear".
 
Alternative interpretations of the name are that it derives from Estonian and Finnish, either via the names Sulev and Sulo, meaning "good-natured", "charm" and "grace" or from the word sula, relating to thawed ice or something molten and melted. It is also the name of various places in Norway, likely derived from the Old Norse súla meaning "pillar, cleft", and is additionally the name of a genus of seabirds and a Latvian word for "juice".

Sula

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

If you love to read, your favorite characters might inspire the perfect name for your baby. Baby names from books can come from canonical literary classics, such as Daisy and Ulysses, or contemporary works of fiction, such as Lyra and Lisbeth.

Along with Daisy and Lyra, other baby names from books in the US Top 1000 include Alice, Atticus, Emma, Harriet, Holden, Matilda, Milo, and Santiago. You may wish to consider last names as firsts of famous literary characters, such as Gatsby, Pevensie, Marlowe, and Cullen.

. Names invented for literary characters are not all modern inventions: Pamela was invented by Sir Philip Sidney for his eponymous novel in the 16th century, and Shakespeare is believed to have invented Olivia and Jessica.

 that can suit anyone's style. There are more baby names inspired by books than one could ever dream of, but here we've gathered 100+ of the most recognizable that might work in a modern nursery.

Baby names from beloved books, characters, and authors, including girl names from books and boy names from books, with meanings, origins, and popularity. (Page 6)