Names Created by Authors

Lancel Lannister is a minor character in Game of Thrones (the son of Kevan Lannister and first cousin to Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion) who plays a key part at several dramatic junctions in the series.

Hamish spinoff created by author Suzanne Collins for her trilogy The Hunger Games.

Author Suzanne Collins created this soft-spoken Peter variation for one of her heroes in her series The Hunger Games.

Used by Emily Brontë in her novel Wuthering Heights , Hareton is a distinctive, rugged and literature-inspired choice. With the sounds of an English place name and the vibes of a last name as a first name, Hareton was likely an invention of Emily Brontë's, which she created by changing up the name of a neighbourhood family, The Heatons.

Unusual and unfashionable name found in Toni Morrison's novel Tar Baby.

The name of the eponymous Hobbit, Bilbo is said by Tolkien himself to be "of unknown meaning". It’s also an unusual place name: Bilbo is the local Basque name for the city of Bilbao.

A character name in the Shadow and Bone book series, invented by author Leigh Bardugo. It is intended as a Ravkan form of Malcolm, meaning "disciple of St Columba".

Tissaia de Vries is a sorceress character on the Netflix series The Witcher. The origins of this created name are uncertain, but a quick search will pull up many theories, from a variation of Tess, Taisia, or Tasia, or spawned from the Latin word "titulus" (we're not sure if we buy that one).

Ginger-homonym created by L. Frank Baum for a General character in his Oz books.

J. R. R. Tolkien introduced a plethora of new names into the world, but this is one character name that never caught on, nor will it likely ever.

Princess Ozma was the leading character of L. Frank Baum's book Ozma of Oz.

Podrick Payne is something of a Zelig character in Game of Thrones -- though he's never been all that prominent, he's popped up in many scenes in many different storylines on the show, first as squire to Tyrion Lannister and later to Brienne of Tarth.

A name created for Jellia Jamb, a sweet and beautiful servant in the Royal Palace in the Emerald City of Oz, who appears in several books in the series.

So identified with the hero of the Sir Walter Scott novel, it would be almost impossible for any boy to carry.

Illusia was created in 1944 by the Finnish author Yrjö Kokko for his fairy tale Pessi and Illusia. In the story, Illusia is a rainbow-dwelling fairy who falls in love with an initially-pessimistic troll, appropriately named Pessi. The fairy tale was adapted into a movie in 1984 and is also a ballet in Finland.

The name of a controversial character in Game of Thrones, Stannis Baratheon. He's better liked by book readers -- who see him as the embodiment of rigorous law and order -- than show watchers. In HBO's version of the story, his character was mostly defined by his disastrous loyalty to the red priestess Melisandre.

A seldom-used Game of Thrones name, perhaps because its main originator, Tywin Lannister, is as ruthless as any character in the show. Yet the "ty-" beginning is so ubiquitous and popular that Tywin may have some potential... the fact that it's less well-known than Tyrion probably works in its favor.

Rudyard Kipling created the name Bagheera for the black panther character in his classic collection The Jungle Book. It was derived from the Hindi word bagh, meaning "tiger."

An intriguing, plausible name--kind of a Nell-Hillary combo--created by L. Frank Baum for a character in his book The Lost Princess of Oz.