51吃瓜

Let's Look in Books

There are different ways to pick a newborn鈥檚 name. You could go the 鈥渇lavor of the month鈥� route鈥攏o doubt many girls were named Katniss or Hermione when The Hunger Games and Harry Potter arrived in theaters. Or maybe it鈥檚 a family moniker. Of course, if you get quizzical looks when you introduce yourself at a party and feel compelled to add 鈥渋t鈥檚 a family name,鈥� you’ll have to think about whether you want to pass that on.

There鈥檚 another resource: the wide world of literature. In some cases, such names are rich in history, assured of a place in our pantheon of literary heroes. Let鈥檚 look at 15 distinctive names fit for any generation. In some cases, we鈥檙e citing last names鈥攆lip it around, whatever works!

Waverly

Author Amy Tan鈥檚 deep-Chinese-cultural-dive novel about four immigrant Chinese women and their four American-born daughters is titled The Joy Luck Club. Mah-jongg is their game, and Waverly is the name of Lindo and Tin Jong鈥檚 daughter. Other interesting names include Suyuan, Lena, and Popo.

Holden

This name is from the lead character Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger鈥檚 epic tale of adolescent angst, the 1951 novel The Catcher In The Rye. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal鈥檚 character in the 2002 Jennifer Aniston indie movie The Good Girl was named Holden for this very reason.

Winfield

In John Steinbeck鈥檚 classic The Grapes Of Wrath, Winfield is the youngest child in the Joad family, struggling through The Great Depression. Winfield (along with his sister, Ruthie) adapts to the migrant lifestyle as his family moves westward to California, and does his fair share of hard work.

Sawyer

American humorist Mark Twain (a.k.a. Samuel Langhorne Clemens) created the famous literary character Tom Sawyer back in 1876. Of course, Tom is still a great name, too. Tom鈥檚 BFF was Huckleberry Finn, and while someone named Finn would definitely fit alongside someone named Sawyer, Huckleberry would be a much…bolder…choice.

Aureliano

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a Nobel Prize-winning novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In the tale, Colonel Aureliano is the father to 17 sons, and he names each one of them Aureliano. He surely had pride in his name, but it must have been tough to get one particular son鈥檚 attention. Lucky that the book includes a visual family tree for reference.

Darcy

Jane Austen鈥檚 1813 novel Pride And Prejudice is the source for this name, where Mr. Darcy, a wealthy Englishman, makes an impression. Be on notice that this character is an aristocrat and a bit full of himself, so a certain amount of entitlement and 鈥榯ude baggage could come along with the name. Just so you know.

Estella

In Charles Dickens 1861 novel Great Expectations, Estella is a heartbreaker. The star of the novel is a boy named Pip, so if you’re looking for something very short, there’s another great naming opportunity. There鈥檚 also a character in the novel with the last name Pumblechook. We don鈥檛 currently recommend using that one as a first name.

Winnie

You鈥檒l find the character Winnie Foster in Natalie Babbitt鈥檚 1973 book about immortality, Tuck Everlasting. Of course, there鈥檚 another famous Winnie you may have heard of, that silly ol鈥� bear of very little brain that lives with his friends Piglet, Tigger and Roo in the Hundred Acre Wood, from A.A. Milne.

Charlotte

Which Charlotte do you imagine? Charlotte Doyle? Charlotte 叠谤辞苍迟毛 (who of course, isn’t fictional)? We can’t help thinking of E.B. White鈥檚 title character in Charlotte鈥檚 Web. Charlotte is a spider, of course, and she鈥檚 besties with Wilbur the pig. Speaking of Wilbur, that name peaked in popularity in 1910鈥攂ut you never know. These name things can be cyclical.

Alcott

Author Louisa May Alcott penned the epic Little Women. Her novel was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, starring four sisters having more conventional names, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. The book continues to speak to us, as movie versions and TV miniseries make waves here in the 21st century.

叠谤辞苍迟毛

We already mentioned Charlotte, but why not think of her family? Author Emily Jane 叠谤辞苍迟毛 wrote the classic title Wuthering Heights, and Anne is known for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Here’s another umlaut opportunity! And if that uncommon punctuation throws you off just a bit, fear not: it鈥檚 pronounced BRON-tay.

Harper

To Kill A Mockingbird鈥檚 Pulitzer Prize-winning author was born Nelle Harper Lee, and she dropped her first name for the novel. Her book featured three distinctive character names. One was Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout. Then there was Scout鈥檚 brother Jeremy, nicknamed Jem. Scout鈥檚 father, played memorably in the movie version by Gregory Peck, was named Atticus.