Literary Cat Names

Galsworthy used this for "The Forsyte Saga," but in modern real life Julian would work better.

A lyrical choice.

If you want to move beyond Maya.

A name used in Germany and Holland as a form of Jerome, it's the unlikely moniker of fictional detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch.

Evocative of the great Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda, real last name Basoalito, who took on the surname Neruda to honor a Czech poet of that name. One of the most poetic boy names starting with N, or with any letter, for that matter.

The names may sound the same, but they have different origins and meanings. Take your pick.

A British surname that was used only for males until Mrs. Norman Mailer, Norris Church (born Barbara), came under the public eye.

Japhy Ryder was a hero of Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums. Compared with Moses and Noah, Japhy sounds downright adorable and eminently baby-worthy.

One of the new-wave Christian word names that has appeared occasionally on the charts since the 2010s.

Pretty and distinctive choice for poetry lovers.

Old fashioned nickname that some girls just might be able to pull off. You'd just have to be sure your little Fancy was one of them.

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.

Orleanna was the young heroine of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible.

The spelling Woolf inevitably conjures writer Virginia. If you're a fan of Mrs. Dalloway and the Bloomsbury group, Woolf might be a creative way to combine a trendy animal name with an original honor name. Woolf was the surname of Virginia's husband, Leonard.

Lolita without the naughty implications.

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

Tigger is the bouncing not-a-tiger from Winnie the Pooh, a symbol of buoyancy and resilience. As Tigger says in the books, he's "the only one", and it should probably stay that way when it comes to people names, though Tigger would certainly make a cute name for a cat.

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

An occupation name that sounds odd to the modern ear but enjoyed some use a century ago. May make a comeback as a more genteel brother to the new union of boys (and girls) with worker names such as Mason, Carter, and Bailey.

Surname from a landscape feature, associated with author Gore Vidal and Bill Clinton's Vice President Al Gore. Its alternative meaning - as in gory - may explain why it's never made it into the charts.