Shakespeare Girl Names

Portia is a perfect role-model name, relating to Shakespeare's brilliant and spirited lawyer in The Merchant of Venice, and is now also a Hunger Games name .

An offbeat possible replacement for the overused Melissa and Marisa, Nerissa was used by Shakespeare for Portia's witty confidante in The Merchant of Venice. Queen Elizabeth has a cousin named Nerissa.

A Shakespearean invention for an abandoned baby in The Winter's Tale, Perdita's sense of loss has always been off-putting to parents. But her image was somewhat resuscitated by its association with the appealing canine character in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmations.

This original form of the name -- the more familiar Sylvia spelling came later -- seems more modern now.

A royal name in ancient Egypt that's never quite made it to the modern world, though nickname Cleo is widely used. Other now-extinct Cleopatra diminutives, including Cleora and Cleola, achieved some popularity in the early 20th century when there was a crazy for all things Egypt-related as the ancient tombs were opened and artifacts displayed. In the US, Cleopatra became a popular silent film in 1917 starring Theda Bara.

Like somewhat more popular twin sister Reagan, this vibrant last-name-first Irish choice makes a strong, straightforward option.

Thisbe, the name of a beautiful but tragic lover in mythology, is lively and cute -- in a slightly thistly, prickly way. Ovid retold the story of Thisbe and Pyramus, young lovers in ancient Babylon kept apart by family rivalry, which was the inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. A modern bearer of the name is writer Thisbe Nissen.

In Sarah Dessen's novel Along for the Ride, the baby daughter is named Thisby, nn Isby.

Though we've gotten used to Hermione via Harry Potter, and even Hermes with its godlike and fashion associations, most people would still have a problem with Hermia (too close to hernia?) and Herman.

This name of the queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream has a delicate, lacy charm similar to Tatiana's, but that first syllable could cause embarrassing problems.

Claribel improves on its mother name Clarabelle by distancing itself from the clown and the cow.

Charmaine is an ancient name connected to Charmion, the name of one of Cleopatra's servants, and Charmian, a Shakespearean name. Its meaning is related to the word charm, though some sources tie it to the Charles family, which means "free man".

This name was used by Shakespeare (who got it from Plutarch) in Antony and Cleopatra for one of the attendants of the Egyptian queen. An interesting possibility, it is heard occasionally in the UK, even less frequently in the US.