Literary Baby Names

Pronounced GHEED, this surname of Nobel Prizewinning novelist Andre could make a smooth, sleek middle name choice.

Gide

Associated with the poet and novelist Galway Kinnell, this name of an Irish city, county, and bay would make an evocative choice. For further literary cred, writers Liam O'Flaherty and Frank Harris both hail from Galway.
 Galway has several sister cities in the U.S., including Chicago, Seattle, Milwaukee and St. Louis. A few other Irish place name possibilities: Dublin, Ennis, Donegal, Carlow, Tralee and Derry.

Galway

Celebs Demi Moore and Bruce Willis made waves in the 80s when they named their now-grown daughter after novelist Rumer Godden. The author was actually born Margaret, with family surname Rumer as her middle name.
 
The name has two possible origins: one, as a last name, possibly from the Germanic hruom meaning "fame, glory", and two, as a play on the word name Rumor, giving it the meaning "story, gossip, information, misinformation, common talk" and so on. For some, the latter may feel like a negative association, while for others, it may give it the edginess of Rebel, Ryatt, and Rowdy.

Rumer

Fervent fans of The Catcher in the Rye might want to consider this as a literary tribute. More mainstream alternative: Holden.

Salinger

Also spelled Sampsa, in the traditional Finnish epic poem Kalevala, Sampsa is a mythical person who sows all the forests of the land. It is also considered a variation of Biblical Sampson, taken from Saint Sampson the Hospitable, a saint of the Eastern Churches who served the poor of his city.
 
Gregor Samsa is the name of the unfortunate protagonist of Kafka's The Metamorphosis, while Samsa is a female character in Eva Baltasar's novel, Boulder. It is also the name of a Central Asian food, popular in Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, consisting of meat and vegetables in a bun. 
 
Another possibility is that this name comes from Sanskrit, as a contracted form of Samsara, referring to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth within Buddhism.

Samsa

If Frances and Fran are too serious for you, and Fanny too saucy, you might like Franny, still identified by some with J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey stories.

Franny

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'.

Forster

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

Saroyan

Fig was the unlikely name of a beautiful character in Curtis Sittenfeld's Man of My Dreams. It could make a playful middle name or a sparky nickname for the likes of Philippa, Fiona, Felicity, and Francis.
 
Culturally, figs have been associated with "mother earth" after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar took the form of a divine fig tree, with cultivation and refinement in Ancient Greece, with chastity and humility in the Bible, and with enlightenment in Buddhism.

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 diminutive from names in the Frederick family, making it is a cousin of Freddie, Fritz and Fedde. This name is so rare it's never appeared on the charts, but with its energetic O ending it might appeal if you're looking for an alternative to names like Otto and Arlo.

Fenno

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

Feather

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.

Faunia

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.

Falmouth

Calista Flockhart may have made her variation of this beautiful Greek name familiar to modern Americans, but the even-edgier x version was the name of an earlier feminist heroine: a character in Kate Chopin's The Storm.

Calixta

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, Elros would be an attractive choice for those looking for a more subtle nod to their favourite franchise. 

Elros

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. 

Dunstan

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.
 Fellow writer Anais Nin adopted the name for a character in her 1950 novel The Four Chambered Heart, and Woody Allen had a young girl called Djuna in his 1996 film Everyone Says I Love You — nicknamed DJ.
 All in an, an attractive and intriguing possibility, that could be associated with the names Junia or Una, or to the word "moon".

Djuna

Desdemona is as Shakespearean as a name can be, but because the beautiful and innocent wife of Othello came to such a tragic end, her name has been avoided for centuries. But at this point in time, there might be some adventurous parents willing to overlook that.
 Jeffrey Eugenides used the name for a character in his novel Middlesex.
 And for those seeking some celestial cred, Desdemona belongs to the Shakespearean Portia Group of satellites, which also includes Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda and Perdita.

Desdemona

This name of a character in Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is short, sweet and Southern-sounding.

Darl

This Katherine variation, used through Ireland and Scotland, is pronounced like Katrina. The name became popular after the Crusaders brought home stories about the colorful fourth century martyr, Catherine of Alexandria. Its later popularity increased following the success of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1893 Catriona, the sequel to Kidnapped.

Catriona

Literary names, drawn from the characters in books for both adults and children as well as from the names of well-loved authors, are gaining in popularity. Literary names can confer meaning on a child as well as provide a worthy hero or heroine to look up to.

Names from the best-loved children's books may be gaining the most in popularity. While many of these — Alice (in Wonderland) and Charlotte (of the Web), say — carry references that go far beyond the literary, other names are closely identified with the characters who inspired their popularity.

literary baby names from children's and young adult books

 include Sawyer, Matilda, Finn, Holden, Lyra, and Eloise. Unique literary names from children's books or of young characters gaining attention include Huck, Ramona, Scout, and Hermione.

Historical novels also provide a rich source of popular literary names. Drawn from the works of authors from Shakespeare to Jane Austen to F. Scott Fitzgerald, 

 include Juliet, Archer, Scarlett, and Darcy, for both genders.

Emma, a Top 10 name in the US, France, Germany, Italy, and Ireland, among other countries, also has a 

 as the title character from the Jane Austen novel.

 are also notable. These might be first names, such as Willa (Cather), Edith (Wharton), Dashiell (Hammett), and Hart (Crane). The newest literary names are drawn from the surnames of famous authors. Along with Austen and Bronte, 

 we love include Auden, Poe, Angelou, and Baldwin.

Literary works adapted in recent years for popular television shows and movies

 have had a strong influence, especially from the name-rich works of J.K. Rowling and George R. R. Martin. Literary names that have been created or popularized by the

 franchises include Arya, Khaleesi, Katniss, Albus, and Bella.

True fans will want to investigate the specialized lists of 

The best place to start your search for the perfect literary baby name is with 

, of course. But you might love the name first and read the book or research the author afterwards.

Here is a collection of literary baby names.

Literary names include the names of beloved authors and book characters for book lovers, including literary names for girls and male literary names, with meanings, origins, and popularity. (Page 19)

Literary Names