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Writing-Related Names

Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Tue Feb 13 2024
Writing-Related Names

Literary names, culled from great novels and the authors who penned them, have become a very stylish group in recent years. But writing-related names are an offshoot that's gotten less attention. With credit to @Vana, a Berry who created an original list of similar names, these names all relate to writing itself.

Writing-related names in the US Top 1000 include Devin, Kyrie, Legend, Lyric, and Teagan. Names connected to poetry and writing have been fashionable among celebrities in recent years. Among the choices used for celebrity babies are Canon, Epic, Hero, Ode, Poet, and Story.

Writing-related baby names can connect to poetry, plot structure, and literary devices. If you're a writer or simply a book lover, one of those original word names connected to writing may be, well, right for you.

RELATED:

Literary Names

Poetic Baby Names

Wonderful Word Names for Babies

  1. Teagan

    • Origin:

      Irish or Welsh

    • Meaning:

      "little poet or fair"

    • Description:

      As Meghan/Megan and Reagan/Regan show signs of wilting, along comes Teagan to take up the slack: definitely one to consider. The vast majority of American babies named Teagan are now girls. A variant spelling is Teaghan.
  2. Tadhg

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "poet"

    • Description:

      The name of several ancient kings and princes of Ireland, Tadhg became so common at one point that it was used to represent a kind of Irish Gaelic everyman, or man in the street, as Paddy and Mick would later. Tadhg has seen a major resurgence in recent years and is also now ranked in England.

      It is sometimes used as the Irish equivalent of Timothy and is also anglicized as Teague and Thaddeus. Tadleigh and Thad are pet forms. Pronunciation is like tide ending with a g or like the first syllable of tiger.
  3. Runo

    • Origin:

      Finnish

    • Meaning:

      "poem"

    • Description:

      An appealing Finnish name, with a touch of literary magic and whimsy, Runo means "poem" in its native language. Traditionally said with a slightly rolled R and a softer 'oh' sound at the end (more like in on that in open), it comes from the Proto-Norse and Proto-Germanic, where it means "secret, literature, letter", in turn relating it to rune.
  4. Rune

    • Origin:

      German and Swedish

    • Meaning:

      "secret"

    • Description:

      Name with connotations both mystical and tragic, newly popular in Europe. For English speakers, though, this name might be ruined by its homonym ruin.
  5. Fable

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "a legendary story of supernatural happenings"

    • Description:

      Fable, like Story, is a word name with real potential, combining enchanted tale-telling with a moral edge. And soundwise, it would fit right in with the likes of Abel and Mabel.
  6. Booker

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "scribe"

    • Description:

      Booker would make for a very cool name, for writers, reformers, R & B fans and those wanting to pay tribute to Booker T. Washington.
  7. Quill

    • Origin:

      Irish, diminutive of Quillan or Quiller; also English word name

    • Meaning:

      "lion, scribe, writer with a quill pen"

    • Description:

      Quill is a unique possibility for the child of writers -- even if they do use computers rather than pens; could also serve as a rhyming tribute to an ancestor named Gil, Phil, or Bill (or Jill).
  8. Devin

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "poet"

    • Description:

      Devilishly handsome, Devin arrived as Kevin was moving out. Not to be confused (though it often is) with the English place-name Devon. While both Devin and Devon are flagging somewhat for boys, the names have dropped out of the Top 1000 for girls, making it more a masculine and less a unisex name these days.
  9. Author

    • Origin:

      Word and occupational name

    • Meaning:

      "writer"

    • Description:

      An occupation name with a preppy, scholarly air, Author could fit in alongside Arthur and August or Chosen and Booker, in terms of sound and style. Author saw more usage that you might think in the first half of the 20th century, peaking in 1933 when it was given to nearly 60 boys. While some may have used it as an occupational and word name, others may have chosen owing to misspelling or misinterpreting the classic Arthur.
  10. Hero

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "demi-god"

    • Description:

      Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their daughter's middle--and we wouldn't be surprised to see more girls with this heroic name.
  11. Saga

    • Origin:

      Swedish word name

    • Meaning:

      "story; seeress"

    • Description:

      Apt name for a little drama queen with a long future ahead of her. Saga is a Top 30 girls' name in Sweden.
  12. Sonnet

    • Origin:

      English from Italian

    • Meaning:

      "little song"

    • Description:

      Could there be a more poetic name than Sonnet? Actor Forest Whitaker was inspired to choose it for his daughter.
  13. Riordan

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "bard, royal poet"

    • Description:

      Has a legitimate first name history in its native land and an appealing meaning, but pronunciation is far from obvious.
  14. Ceridwen

    • Origin:

      Welsh

    • Meaning:

      "beautiful as a poem; crooked women"

    • Description:

      A mythological Welsh name with an intriguing sound, Ceridwen appears in several Welsh legends, in which she is an an enchantress and the owner of the cauldron of poetic inspiration. She is also associated with the great bard, Taliesin, with one 16th-century tale recounting that when her servant consumed a potion of wisdom, intended for Ceridwen's son, Ceridwen swallows the servant, who is then reborn through her as the bard.
  15. Villanelle

    • Origin:

      English from Italian

    • Meaning:

      "pastoral song"

    • Description:

      Is Villanelle the new Sonnet? This elaborate name is a form of poetry — an example is Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night — but many know it better as an assassin's codename in the TV show Killing Eve. Inspired by that, Villanelle debuted on the American charts in 2022 when it was used for five baby girls.
  16. Lyric

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "of the lyre; songlike; a personal, emotive poem"

    • Description:

      Associated with poetry, pop music, and the Greek lyre, Lyric has a light and zippy sound to it and joins the likes of Melody, Harmony, Cadence, and Aria as musical names that have become baby names. A unisex name, it is currently three times more popular for girls in the US where it sits in the Top 600. It has declined in use since its 2014 peak, but was still given to around 560 girls in a recent year.
  17. Legend

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "hero or fable"

    • Description:

      Legend joins cousins Story, Saga and Fable in the baby name pantheon of narrative words. Unlike Story and Fable, however, Legend comes with additional weight, being used for fame ("living legend") and to denote a person who is fantastic "what a legend"). Who can live up to that?
  18. Lyric

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "of the lyre; songlike; a personal, emotive poem"

    • Description:

      Associated with poetry, pop music, and the Greek lyre, Lyric has a light and zippy sound to it. Currently more popular for girls in the US, it was in the Top 1000 for boys between 2007 and 2020. Currently given to around 170 boys each year, for every baby boy called Lyric, there are three girls given the name.
  19. Baird

    • Origin:

      Scottish occupational name

    • Meaning:

      "minstrel, poet"

    • Description:

      Meaning bard, this is an original choice with poetic and melodic undertones. Bard itself has also come into consideration, both names bringing to mind Shakespeare and other literary lights.

      The Scottish surname Baird's most notable bearer was John Logie Baird, the Scottish engineer and inventor of the televisor, the world's first practical television system in 1926, and also the world's first fully electronic color TV tube two years later. Some might also remember puppeteers Bil and Cora Baird.

  20. Story

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "an account of incidents or events"

    • Description:

      A new unisex word name with a lot of charm, especially appropriate for the child of writers. Soleil Moon Frye named her second baby boy Story and Jenna Elfman called her son Story Elias.

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