Are you a bookworm yourself, or hoping your little one will grow up to be one? Literary names carry the memory of a favourite story and a little of the magic of the characters who lived in it. If you’re after amazing literary baby names for boys and girls, we’ve pulled together more than 150 to help you find the perfect fit.
Do you have the next Silas, Harper, Atticus or Heidi on the way? Whether you love the classic charm of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, or the quirky spirit of Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling, there’s a literary name here for every kind of reader.
The list is split into two sections — girls’ names first, then boys’ names — both organised alphabetically so you can browse easily on your phone or come back and skim for inspiration.
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Literary Baby Names for Girls
A
Agatha (Agatha Christie)
Alice (Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland)
Amy (Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women)
Anna (Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina)
Anne (L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables)
Arya (George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones)
B
Beatrice (William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing)
Beatrix (Beatrix Potter)
Becky (William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair)
Bella (Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight)
Beth (Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women)
Bianca (William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew)
Bonnie (Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind)
C
Cassandra (Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle)
Catherine (Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights)
Celia (William Shakespeare’s As You Like It)
Charlotte (E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web)
Clara (Johanna Spyri’s Heidi)
Clarissa (Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway)
Connie (Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree series)
Cordelia (William Shakespeare’s King Lear)
Cressida (William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida)
D
Daisy (F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby)
Desdemona (William Shakespeare’s Othello)
Dinah (Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland)
Dorothy (L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz)
E
Edith (Edith Wharton)
Elinor (Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility)
Eliza (George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion)
Elizabeth (Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice)
Emily (Emily Brontë)
Emma (Jane Austen’s Emma)
Enid (Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch)
Esme (J.D. Salinger’s For Esmé, With Love and Squalor)
Esmerelda (Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Estella (Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations)
Ethel (William Makepeace Thackeray’s The Newcomes)
Evelyn (Evelyn Waugh)
F
Fern (E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web)
Frances (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
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G
Georgiana (Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice)
Georgina (Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series)
Ginny (J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series)
Guinevere (from the Legend of King Arthur)
H
Harper (Harper Lee)
Hazel (Richard Adams’ Watership Down)
Heidi (Johanna Spyri’s Heidi)
Helena (William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Hermione (J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series)
Hester (Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter)
Holly (Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
I
Imogen (William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline)
India (Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind)
J
Jacqueline (Jacqueline Wilson)
Jane (Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre)
Jemima (Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck)
Josephine (Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women)
Juliet (William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet)
Juno (Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock)
K
Kitty (Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice)
L
Laura (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
Louisa (Louisa May Alcott)
Lucy (C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
Luna (J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series)
Lydia (Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice)
Lyra (Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy)
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M
Madeline (Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline)
Mallory (Ann M. Martin’s The Babysitters Club series)
Marianne (Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility)
Margaret (Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret)
Mary (P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins)
Matilda (Roald Dahl’s Matilda)
Maya (Maya Angelou)
Meg (Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women)
Melanie (Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind)
Mildred (Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch)
N
Nancy (Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew series)
Nelly (Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights)
O
Octavia (William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra)
Olivia (William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night)
Ophelia (William Shakespeare’s Hamlet)
P
Pearl (Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter)
Pippi (Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking)
Pollyanna (Eleanor H. Porter’s Pollyanna)
Portia (William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice)
Primrose (Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games)
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R
Ramona (Beverly Cleary’s Ramona the Pest)
Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca)
Regan (William Shakespeare’s King Lear)
Rosalind (William Shakespeare’s As You Like It)
Rue (Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games)
S
Scarlett (Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind)
Scout (Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird)
Sophie (Roald Dahl’s The BFG)
Sylvia (Sylvia Plath)
Susan (C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
T
Tabitha (Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Tom Kitten)
Titania (William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Tess (Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles)
V
Violet (Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Virginia (Virginia Woolf)
W
Wendy (J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan)
Winnie (A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh)
Z
Zora (Zora Neale Hurston)
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Literary Baby Names for Boys
A
Amory (F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise)
Arthur (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Atticus (Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird)
Augustus (Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
B
Benjamin (Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Benjamin Bunny)
Bert (P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins)
Byron (Lord Byron)
C
Charles (Charles Dickens)
Charlie (Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Christopher (A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh)
D
Danny (Roald Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World)
Darcy (Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice)
David (Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield)
Dorian (Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray)
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E
Edmund (C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe)
Edward (Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre)
Ernest (Ernest Hemingway)
F
Finn (Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
G
George (Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine)
Gilbert (L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables)
H
Harry (J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series)
Heathcliff (Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights)
Henrik (Henrik Ibsen)
Henry (George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion)
Holden (J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye)
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J
Jacob (Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)
Jeremy (Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher)
Julian (Julian Barnes)
L
Lancelot (from the Legend of King Arthur)
Laurie (Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women)
Leo (Leo Tolstoy)
Leopold (James Joyce’s Ulysses)
Lewis (Lewis Carroll)
Lucius (J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series)
Lysander (William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
N
Ned (Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited)
Noah (Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook)
O
Oliver (Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist)
Orlando (William Shakespeare’s As You Like It)
Oscar (Oscar Wilde)
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P
Peter (J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan)
Pip (Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations)
Q
Quentin (Quentin Blake)
R
Rhett (Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind)
Robin (A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh)
Romeo (William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet)
S
Samuel (Samuel Beckett)
Sawyer (Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
Sebastian (William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night)
Scout (Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird)
Silas (George Eliot’s Silas Marner)
Stuart (E.B. White’s Stuart Little)
T
Tristan (from Tristan and Isolde)
V
Victor (Victor Hugo)
W
Wilbur (E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web)
William (William Shakespeare)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are some popular literary baby names?
Names like Harper, Atticus, Matilda and Scout have become firm favourites, often thanks to well-loved books that have crossed over into film and TV. Classic literature also keeps giving us timeless picks like Emma, William and Oliver.
How do I choose a literary name that isn’t too common?
Look beyond the best-known bestsellers. Names drawn from Shakespeare’s lesser-performed plays, poetry, or older classics — like Cressida, Leopold or Titania — tend to be rarer while still carrying a strong story behind them.
Are there unisex literary baby names?
A few names on this list, such as Robin and Scout, work well as unisex choices. If you love the idea of a literary name that isn’t strictly gendered, it’s worth checking how a name is used across different books and characters, since spelling and pronunciation can shift the feel of it.
Do literary baby names go out of fashion?
Trends move, but literary names tend to have real staying power because they’re rooted in stories rather than passing fads. A name inspired by a classic novel written decades or centuries ago is unlikely to feel dated in the way some trend-led names can.
Related Articles You’ll Love
- The Best Roald Dahl Baby Names for Whizzpopping Wonder
- 50 Spellbinding Harry Potter Baby Names
- 95 Biblical Baby Names for Boys and Girls
- 60 Cool and Classic Unisex Baby Names to Fall in Love With
Still Deciding?
If you haven’t landed on “the one” just yet, take your time — bookmark this page and come back to it as you narrow down your shortlist. Sharing it with your partner, family or friends can also help you see which names get the best reaction.
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