Character Names

The last name of Finnish moderne designer/architect makes an original, creative choice with an unexpected water-related meaning.

In this country, more recognizable with the Alistair spelling.

A rarely heard name that was the title of a hugely popular Big Band song in the forties. Amapola, with the emphasis on the third syllable, is one flower name that has not been widely discovered.

Asher—an excellent, soft and sensitive Old Testament choice—is a baby boy name on the rise, and is a Nameberry biblical favorite.

In ancient myth, Ashur was the supreme deity of the Assyrian Empire, the ruler of the gods, the god of war, and the creator of all things.

Aza is an excellent Arabic choice: elegant and simple. Too simple for you? Consider Aziza.

Aziza is a zippy palindromic choice that is the female variation of Aziz and is found in several Middle Eastern and African languages and cultures. All in all, an attractive and interesting option; a Turkish variation is Azize. In African mythology, the Azizi are a supernatural race of forest dwellers who give practical and spiritual advice.

Azzam might be open to some "shazam" teasing.

Now that such Old Testament patriarchs as Elijah and Moses fill the playground, Boaz seems downright baby-friendly, having more pizzazz than many of the others, perhaps as a successor to Noah.

This Welsh saint's name has an industrial edge.

Calix is once-obscure name that is starting to see some use in the US, where 62 baby boys were named Calix in 2022. An indirect influence is the actress Calista Flockhart, who introduced Americans to the female version of this attractive Greek name to prominence.

The Anatolian mother goddess Cybele had a place in Greek, Roman, Trojan, and Anatolian mythology. Today, she has special meaning as a symbol of gender nonconformity.

Strong but gentle Irish last-name-first. Could bring to mind long-running rock group Duran Duran.

The name of the great French novelist, author of the timeless The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, would make a surprising middle name choice.

Name of the last king of Egypt.

This attractive Scottish surname choice, has a certain amount of glamour thanks to feisty British-born red-haired forties Academy Award winner Greer Garson, who was born Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson--Greer was her Irish mother's maiden name). Greer was chosen much more recently by Kelsey Grammer for his daughter and by Brooke Shields in the Grier form. As a surname, it's associated with feminist writer/activist Germaine Greer.

Pleasant but uninspired surname name somewhat connected to writers Ellison and Coben. After three decades off the US Top 1000, it reentered in 2013, maybe because it's an unusual example of the trendy class of two-syllable n-ending boys’ names. Kevin Harlan is an NFL, NBA, and college basketball announcer for TV and radio.

Ivo is an unusual, catchy name with the energetic impact of all names ending in 'o'. Hardly heard in the U.S., it is used a bit more frequently in England, as is the related Ivor, a favorite of such novelists as Evelyn Waugh and P.G. Wodehouse. Ivo is currently most popular in the Netherlands.

Ivor, a favorite choice for upscale characters in Brit Lit novels by authors like P.G. Wodehouse and Evelyn Waugh, is an interesting and unusual name just waiting to be discovered by parents in this country.

Kalindi is a lovely, rhythmic name refers to one of the seven sacred rivers of India.