Literary Names

Invented by Swedish author August Strindberg for a 1909 poem of the same name, this quirky choice is rare even in its native land but would make for an extremely eye-catching choice outside it. It may be based on Vellamo, a Finnish sea goddess.

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

Author Sarah J. Maas created the name Amren for a High Fae in her acclaimed fantasy romance series A Court of Thorns and Roses. Amren debuted on the US charts in 2023.

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.

Writer Jerzy Kosinski put this foreign variation on the U. S. name map.

A solid, brief but not brusque single-syllable surname with a presidential pedigree.

Faunia is more often rendered as Fauna, who was a Roman goddess of fertility, women and healing. Faunia was the downtrodden yet loving heroine of Philip Roth's Human Stain. Faunia and Fauna have more gravitas than the doe-like Fawn.

Associated with the poet and novelist Galway Kinnell, this name of an Irish city, county, and bay would make an evocative choice. For further literary cred, writers Liam O'Flaherty and Frank Harris both hail from Galway.

Name of the winning young heroine of Toni Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye.

Forster, a variation of Foster or potentially even Forester, is associated with British novelist E.M. Forster, author of A Passage to India, Howard's End, and A Room with a View. But if you choose Forster, you'd always have to force that 'r'.

The name of the protagonist of The Hunchback of Notre Dame does not translate well into real life. Quasimodo comes from the Latin phrase used in Christian texts, "Quasi modo geniti infantes", meaning "like just-born infants do".

A unisex surname familiarized by male actor Dabney Coleman, but with potential to carry over to the girl's side as well. Dabney feels in line with the Irish Darcy and Darby.

The surname of father-son British writers Kingsley and Martin could work very well as a first, though its Amy connection makes it sound a tad feminine.

An interesting Canadian province and city name that has some literary history as the name of a character in Dickens's Bleak House; could make a distinctive choice for parents with northern roots.

The surname of humorist Ring is a new entry in the trendy occupational class -- but watch the lard.

Nenna is the name of the heroine of Penelope Fitzgerald's novel Offshore, but it's also sparingly used in Scandinavia as a variant of the name Nanna. Nanna is a diminutive of various names, including Anna, Johanna and Marianne, but it's also a name in its own right, possibly meaning "daring".

For fans of the (female) author A. S. ; makes an interesting alternative to Wyatt or the hotelish Hyatt.

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