Finding meaning in a name is important, but you also want your child to have something more attached to their moniker than just a definition of “brave one” or “spirited.” For an unforgettable proper noun, consider turning to the great works of talented authors. Your child will love telling people that his name was inspired by a hero of literature or, if you dare, an especially unforgettable villain.

Back to School

Reading all those famed works of literature in English class will finally come in handy. Here is a serving of some of the most memorable characters for the perfect unusual baby name:

Atticus (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Aslan (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

Gatsby (The Great Gatsby)

Holden (The Catcher in the Rye)

Phineas (A Separate Peace)

Winfield (The Grapes of Wrath)

Yossarian (Catch-22)

Brit Lit

Call on the tomes of Jane Austen or Charles Dickens for some of the most romantic and inspired baby boy names and baby girl names: Anastasia, Arabella, Augustus, Cecelia, Cherry, Darcy, Fitzwilliam, Flora, Georgiana, Lavinia, Mercy, Pleasant, Quebec, Selina, and Septimus.

And then there is the literary master of them all, William Shakespeare – borrow freely: Cressida, Desdemona, Imogen, Ophelia, Portia, Regan, Tybalt.

Heroes and Heroines

The heroes and heroines of literature are different for every reader. Some consider the down on their luck characters to be the true heroes while others believe the virtuous and good are the only ones who can prevail. Children come out on top in some stories while in others it’s adults who reignite your faith in humankind. However your tastes lean, these are some memorable names to consider:

Lily Bart (The House of Mirth)

Cash Bundren (As I Lay Dying)

Rhett Butler (Gone with the Wind)

Moll Flanders (Moll Flanders)

Josephine March (Little Women)

Hester Prynne (The Scarlet Letter)

Ramona Quimby (Ramona the Pest)

The Book Was Better

The big screen has adapted many books and given characters life beyond the page. In fact, it seems that these days, most screenplays began in a publishing house. While Hollywood doesn’t always surpass the emotion and intensity of the written word, these names are attached to some of the most unforgettable and even infamous characters on the silver screen.

Aurora (Terms of Endearment)

Astrid (White Oleander)

Constance (Peyton Place)

Dallas (The Outsiders)

Esmeralda (Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Hickory (The Wizard of Oz)

Lara (Doctor Zhivago)

Newland (The Age of Innocence)

Santino (The Godfather)

Scarlett (Gone with the Wind)

Stingo (Sophie’s Choice)

Templeton (Charlotte’s Web)

Veruca (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)

Old and New

The first book of them all, The Bible, is a treasure trove of names. You don’t need flip too far into its page to find a notable handle for your child that will connect them to historical times. In fact, Anita Diamant – author of the novel The Red Tent – has almost singlehandedly given flight to girl Biblical names and made them trendy in a new way: Adah, Eden, Keturah, Noa, and Sapphira. For baby boy names consider: Asa, Eli, Eran, Gideon, Josiah, and Silas.

They Wrote It

Or turn to the writers themselves for inspiration. Some simple, some delightfully different, the first or last name of your favorite novelist or poet might just fit your little one: Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Anton Chekhov, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Jamaica Kincaid, John Milton, Ezra Pound, Rainer Maria Rilke, Gertrude Stein, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain.

You can grant your child an inspired name, but wouldn’t it be even better to give them the gift of a story too? Whether you are looking for American baby names or Irish baby names (and everything in between!) you can find the perfect name in a beloved book. If you can’t find something you like here, turn to the written works you have always loved – whether it was a story you cherished as a child or a poem that gave you goosebumps, look to your bookshelves for inspiration or spend an afternoon in the library. The answer is always there… lurking between the pages.

Related articles

• Spiritual names: An expression of the soul
• All-American baby names
• Today's trendiest middle names
  
  

Comments (8)

Subscribe to this comment's feed