Music Character Names

Although this is traditionally seen as a female name, via the classical mythological nymph who pined away for Narcissus until all that remained of her was a disembodied voice — it can also be used for boys. Remember that old song, 'Little sir echo, how do you do?'

Echo, the pretty, resonant name of a legendary nymph, was the heroine of Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Dollhouse. Nick Hexum, of the band 311, named his daughter Echo Love.

Epic feels like it could be the boys' version of Saga. Epic poetry tells some of our most celebrated stories - from Beowulf and the Odyssey, to the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. Despite being short, Epic is a lot of name, so it might be a choice for an adventurous middle name.

Literature and poetry lovers might use Epic as a word name — an epic is a long narrative poem, typically the story of a hero. But epic has taken on a contemporary meaning of "impressive," which makes it somewhat of a virtue name as well.

An original musical possibilty for a lover of Chopin.

Toni Morrison, a master of character naming, coined this one for the best friend of hero Milkman Dead in Song of Solomon. Definitely a cool choice, with a twang.

If Melody and Lyric are on your style sheet, the peaceful Harmony, popularized by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, should be too. Girls names starting with the "Har" sound like Harper, Harley, and Harlow have been trending in recent years. This musical choice fits right in, and it is no wonder that Harmony has been in the Top 200 since 2014.

You might think of Harper as the hottest name of the last decade, jumping from obscurity to the Top 10, where it remained until last year.

Though this feels like a modern invention, Jay has been in use for centuries. Early Jays often were named in honor of founding father John Jay, whose surname derived from the jaybird. A popular mid-century choice, Jay was in the Top 100 from 1956 to 1970. In the last couple of decades he was replaced by such more elaborate forms as Jayden, Jaylen, and Jayce. But Jay could make a comeback in tandem with cousins May, Kay, Fay, and Ray.

Musical choice that may be a short form of Jasmine or Jazlyn, or might stand on its own like this or as Jaz, the spelling used by tennis duo Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

This spelling variation of Leya was popularized by the Star Wars films, but is still firmly in the US Top 1000 many years later. This spelling is also probably preferred as it is clearer in pronunciation to the original Hindi name, Leya (which sometime gets pronounced Lee-ah).

Elvis naming his daughter Lisa Marie and Nat King Cole's hit song "Mona Lisa" conspired to catapult one of Elizabeth's many offshoots to a high of #4 in 1970.

Kate and William shocked the world when they announced that they'd named their third child Louis -- Prince Louis Arthur Charles, to be more precise. But we've been predicting a comeback for this classic name for a long time.

Lyra is a name with ancient and celestial roots that's finding new popularity thanks to its starring role in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, seen in the movie The Golden Compass. Simple yet unique, Lyra hits the sweet spot between too popular and too unusual.

A musical name with Greek roots, appealing to parents who like such other names as Harmony, Melody, and Cadence.