Movie Character Names

Clove is a spice name that is a tad more piquant than Saffron or Cinnamon. It might get more attention now as a member of The Hunger Games family of names.

A unique virtue name with a sound as happy and lively as its meaning.

This Maori name, often heard in New Zealand, is an attractive, evocative choice for lovers of the ocean made famous – perhaps too famous – by the Disney heroine. Moana was also an alternate name for the heroine Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth. Moana may also be a color name for a deep ocean blue ("lanu moana"). Moana and other Disney Princess Names are the subject of a featured blog.

If you’re a fan of the annual animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you’ll recognize the name of Rudolph’s beautiful doe sweetheart, pronounced cla-REES—uncomfortably close to the Silence of the Lambs pronunciation. Clarice was the name of the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici, and Clarice Cliff was a famed British ceramics artist. Though a Top 300 name from 1906 to 1934, modern parents might prefer the more delicate Clarissa.

Literary heritage: the "Loony Tunes" girlfriend of Porky Pig. But with the increasing popularity of all kinds of unusual botanical names, Petunia may be a name we start to hear more of. Perhaps-more-pleasing Petunia alternatives: Petal, Posy, Poppy.

An attractive enough name, but for die-hard Star Wars fans only.

The Roman god of the underworld, the former ninth planet, a cartoon dog...but not a baby.

A contraction of Llewellyn, recognizable as the name of the titular character in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis.

Rarely used on its own and irrevocably tied to former House Speaker Gingrich -- who was christened Newton.

Not unless you want your son to grow up to be just like a wacky Jack Black character.

Fiery but slight middle name choice; much more apt to be a redhead's nickname.

For years there was only one Cher, and then along came the charming heroine of the movie "Clueless." The world now officially has enough Chers in it.

A name heard in Puritan times -- Cotton Mather was a minister involved in the Salem witchcraft trials -- which really deserves modern consideration as it blends nature and softness into a really trendy and wearable masculine name.

This name of the glamorous mean girl in "High School Musical" is a euphonic spin on the dog breed Shar Pei, a brilliant name joke skewering the practice of picking a name for its sound without considering what it means. Other examples: Cliche, Hooker.

Middle name possibility for a nature-loving family -- Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke used it for their son's middle name.

Those "Where's Gretel?" jokes will get old pretty fast.

This biblical place-name for the region now known as Yemen started to feel fresh again as the name of the heroine of Zoe Heller's Notes on a Scandal, played on screen by Cate Blanchett.

The name of the young hero of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, who was raised by wolves (really) and becomes a genius hunter and trapper, was chosen as a middle name for their son Bronx (really, again) by rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz. Kipling invented the name, whose first syllable rhymes with cow.

Evanna is the name of a Harry Potter actress who pronounces it ee-vah-na. This might be considered another international feminine form of the many variations of John; Ivana, Giovanna, and even Joan are cousins of Evanna. It could also be a compound name, combining Eva and Anna.

Ilsa is remembered as the radiant but tragic heroine of "Casablanca," and it's having something of a European resurgence.