Names Created by Authors

Used by Gregory Maguire in his novel Wicked along with the Broadway musical adaptation of the same name, Frexspar could be inspired by the word feckless meaning "irresponsible, lacking strength of character"; by Freki, a wolf in Norse mythology whose name comes from frekr meaning "greedy, avaricious"; or by names such as Frederick, Felix and Caspar.

Used as the title for a 1956 novel, by Algerian writer, Kateb Yacine, Nedjma could be a literary creation, inspired by the Egyptian name Nedjemmut, meaning "Mut is sweet", in which case, it might just mean "sweet".

The original name of Glinda from Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked and the subsequent Broadway musical. She drops the 'a' from her name to honor a goat, who mispronounced her name as a Glinda.

A literary name, Musidora first appeared in its masculine form, Musidorus, in a poem by 16th poet Phillip Sidney. Meaning "gift of the Muses", it could relate to the Muses of mythology who presided over the arts, to a person or other personified force that inspires an artist, or to music and songs.

A literary creation, used by John Steinbeck in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It is a contracted form of "Rose of Sharon", which could make an interesting middle name to honor a Sharon or an unusual way to nicknames Rose or Rosie.

Jonathon Swift is better known as the inventor of the popular Vanessa, however, he also invented Cadenus for the same poem, simply titled Cadenus and Vanessa. Cadenus is an anagram of the Latin decanus meaning "dean", as in, the dean of a cathedral. At the time of writing, Swift was the dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, known in his community as Dean Swift. Vanessa meanwhile is a play on his lover's name, Esther Vanhomrigh, so both Cadenus and Vanessa are pseudonyms that Swift used in order to write a secret love poem.

Inspired by Glendora, this name was invented by prolific Victorian novelist, Anthony Trollope for his Palliser novels. It blends the English glen with the Latin cor to make the whimsical meaning "heart of the glen", though it could also be considered a compound name, combining masculine Glenn with Cora, to mean "maiden of the valley".

Used by Gregory Maguire in his novel Wicked, Shenshen also appears in the Broadway musical adaptation of the book. Her name could be based on Sinead or Shenade, variations of John, or perhaps the phrase "chin-chin", used as a toast or an informal greeting.

A character from Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked and the subsequent musical. It possible comes from the word avarice meaning "extreme desire for material wearth", but other possibilities could be that it comes from the Manx name Averick, meaning "dappled" or from Avery meaning "ruler of the elves"

Used by Shakespeare in his play Timon of Athens, Phrynia is a Shakespearean that hasn't caught on as Ophelia, Jessica, or Imogen have — possibly because of its unusual sounds, its toady meaning, and the fact Timon of Athens is less well known than the likes of Hamlet. Nevertheless, it is a distinctive name with an animal meaning, originally derived from the Ancient Greek Phryne, which translates more literally to "the brown animal". It likely originated as a nickname for someone with a "snub nose" — reminiscent of a toad — and was borne by a Greek hetaira (or courtesan). It has also been used as the name of a crater on one of Uranus's moons, Titania.

The name of a Munchkin in L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, who plays a much larder role in the spin off Wicked novels and musical. The meaning of the name is unknown, but it could come from Bock, a type of German beer, from Baroque, a grand, detailed and sublime style of art and architecture, or as a spin of the word 'bog'.

A literary creation, used by John Steinbeck in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It is a contracted form of "Rose of Sharon", which could make an interesting middle name to honor a Sharon or an unusual way to nicknames Rose or Rosie.

A smoosh name used by Gregory Maguire in his book Wicked and the subsequent musical. It blends Rose with Nessa, which can be a short form of Vanessa (or other -nessa names), an anglicized variation of Irish Neasa, or a Hebrew name meaning "miracle".

Used by C.S Lewis in his Narnia novels, Tirian is a variation of the Welsh mythology name, Tirion, or the Latin name, Tyrian. From soft-but-strong Tirion, it means "kind, gentle", while from Tyrian it means "from Tyre", a place name meaning "rock". It is also associated with the natural reddish-purple dye, also known as royal purple.

The name of a main character in Leigh Bardugo's successful Six of Crows novels, Wylan fits right in with on-trend names like Wayland, Waylon and Ryland.

A multicultural nickname with a number of origins and multiple meanings, particular to the bearer. It can be a short form of Bozhidar, or any other name with the Slavic element "božĭjĭ", meaning "divine". It can come from the surname style Bosley, or the Biblical name Boaz. Ambrose and Boris could be alternative long forms.

A minor (female) character in the Wicked book and musical, who is gender swapped for the 2024 movie.

A literary name, Musidora first appeared in its masculine form, Musidorus, in a poem by 16th poet Phillip Sidney. Meaning "gift of the Muses", it could relate to the Muses of mythology who presided over the arts, to a person or other personified force that inspires an artist, or to music and songs.

Derived from J. R.R. Tolkien's fictional language of Sindarin, Legolas is a nature name and a literary creation, borne by an elf in The Lord of the Rings. A member of the Fellowship and an excellent bowman, his name hasn't caught on in the same way Arwen, Eowyn, Peregrin, Theoden, amd Elanor have.

The titular character of a tragic poem by Edgar Allen Poe set in a lonesome October. Ulalume may be representative of death itself, making the name feel gothic and otherwordly. The etymology is uncertain, but Poe may have derived it from the Latin ululare meaning wailing or lumen a light symbolizing sorrow.