Literary Names for Girls

Might be carrying things too far -- little little girl? -- though could freshen up this favorite.

This variation of Jacey was the name of the gorgeous small-town heroine of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show.

Feather, though it was used for a character in a Walter Mosley novel, seems too light and fluttery for a real-life girl.

She may have been an appealing Chinese heroine in Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, but her name won't translate for a modern American girl. Better choices: Snow, or Flora.

An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.

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

The Alhambra, which means "red city," is in Granada, Spain. British writer Ali Smith used it for a character in her novel The Accidental.

Remarkable Pettibone was a self-important housekeeper in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. Such names were not uncommon in early America, with such choices as Remember and Experience showing up in the records along with Puritan virtue names such as Chastity and Patience.

Nicandra is the name of a plant known as apple-of-peru and also shoo-fly plant. It's also the feminine form of Nicander, an ancient Greek poet, physician, and grammarian.

Name of pastoral Vermont town and college sounds too stiff and starchy.

The mixed-race heroine of one of Gertrude Stein's Three Lives searches for knowledge and power.

Translating literally to "my struggle", Nidali is an Arabic name which is also interpreted as meaning "my warrior" or "my fighter". It is the feminine form of Nidal and was used in the 2008 novel A Map of Home novel by Randa Jarrar. The name was specifically chosen for its meaning, in order to reflect the backdrop of conflict in the novel.

Friendly-sounding name with big "Sweeney Todd" downside.

A fanciful concoction whipped up by L. Frank Baum for a beautiful and powerful princess in one of his Oz books.

A name created by author Tamora Pierce for a character in her Protector of the Small series, a quartet of young adult fantasy novels. In the novels, Keladry is the first girl in centuries to seek a knighthood and the novels follow her journey towards this goal.

A feminine form of Ethelbert, which is itself the Middle English variant of Æþelbeorht, which is in turn the Old English version of Albert, Ethelberta could therefore be regarded as an alternative form of Alberta.

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.

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".

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".

A Russian variant of the Greek Eudocia, Avdotya appears in Dostoevsky's novel, Crime and Punishment in which it is borne by the strong-willed sister of the protagonist. She is often referred to by the diminutive form, Dunya.