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Baby names

Literary names

15 replies

SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 31/08/2016 18:10

All very hypothetical atm, but I am looking for names synonymous with classic literature, along the lines of Emma and Rebecca (which I love, but neither of which I can use). I've thought of the following, but I'm not that in love with any of them:

Villette
Jane (Eyre)
Agnes (Grey)
Tess (as in of the D'urbervilles - I like the name, but hate the book, so I'm not sure I could bring myself to use it)

TIA

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gladisgood · 31/08/2016 18:53

I find it curious that if you love a literary theme, you don't have a favourite book(s) and character(s) already!


A mix of old and modern classics:
Charlotte ( author rather than character)
Brett ( Lady Brett Ashley)
Anna ( Karenina)
Rosalind ( As you like it)
Elinor (Sense and sensibility)
Bianca ( Taming of the shrew)
Estella ( Great expectations)
Adelina ( The young elites)
Celie ( The colour purple)
Laila ( Thousand splendid suns)
Maya ( I know why the caged bird sings)
Aileen ( The help)

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SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 31/08/2016 18:59

I have favourite books and characters but wouldn't necessarily name my children after them... I don't like Jay, Nick or Jordan, but I love those characters in the Great Gatsby. I like the names Daisy and Tom but I don't like the characters in the Great Gatsby.

I love Scout in TKAM, but don't really like the name. I kind of like Atticus for a boy though.

What do you think of Ishmael as well?

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SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 31/08/2016 19:11

Oh just thought of another nice girl one; Josephine (Little Women). I also love Lawrence for a boy (Laurie).

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PartiallyStars · 31/08/2016 19:19

I like Atticus but he's not so great in Go Set A Watchman, is he? (although we can pretend that doesn't exist).

Catherine/ Cathy (Wuthering Heights)?
Linnet (Children of Green Knowe - classic children's literature!)
Beatrice (Inferno)

Villette is a town really, isn't it? But then I suppose so is Florence.

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SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 31/08/2016 19:31

I haven't read Go Set a Watchman. He turns out to be racist doesn't he? Hmm maybe not then.

I met a girl called Villette once, so thought it was a name as well, but she could have just had wacky parents I guess!

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Aliveinwanderland · 31/08/2016 19:33

Alice?

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SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 31/08/2016 19:35

Love Alice! Can't believe I hadn't thought of that.

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manicinsomniac · 31/08/2016 22:48

Scout's real name is Jean-Louise. Do you like that?

Eleanor (Sense and Sensibility)
Marianne (Sense and Sensibility)
Amy (Little Women)
Beth (Little Women)
Elizabeth (Pride and Prejudice)
Natasha (War and Peace)
Sara (A Little Princess)
Anne (of Green Gables)
Anna (Karenina)
Scarlett (Gone with the Wind)
Hermione (Harry Potter)
Nancy (Oliver Twist)
Lucy (Narnia)
Susan (Narnia)
Frances (Hodgson Burnett)
Aphra (Benn)
Emily (Bronte)
Harper (Lee)

Harry (Potter)
Victor (Frankenstein)
Huckleberry (Finn)
Thomas (Hardy)
Jules (Verne)
Oliver (Twist)
David (Copperfield)
Charles (Dickens)

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Shemozzle · 31/08/2016 23:21

Beatrix, though it's becoming quite trendy.

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SteviebunsBottrittrundle · 01/09/2016 06:42

I think I like Jean-Louise less than Scout. Thanks though.

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BlueChampagne · 01/09/2016 21:31

Pamela
Clarissa
Julian (as in "of Norwich")
Marian/Marion (George Eliot)

Laurence/Lawrence also covers D H and Laurie Lee!

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BlueChampagne · 01/09/2016 21:33

Virginia or Orlando?

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BlueChampagne · 01/09/2016 21:37

and Lawrence Durrell! Lovely name too - would have used it if a close friend hadn't beaten us to it.

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upaladderagain · 01/09/2016 22:08

Plenty of great names in Shakespeare. Valentine, Emilia, Juliet, Benedict, Miranda, Perdita, Cressida, Orlando, Lysander, Portia, Nerissa, Ferdinand, Balthazar - the list is endless. Dorothea from Middlemarch, Jude (The Obscure). Bathsheba (Far From Madding Crowd) may be a step too far though!

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MrBoot · 01/09/2016 22:27

Elizabeth
Tamsin
Imogen
Clarissa
Isolde

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