Names Categorized "literature"

Dorian is a given name of Greek origin that gained literary fame through Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, a cautionary tale of vanity and moral decay. Wilde likely derived the name from the ancient Gr...

Dorinda is a feminine given name that originated as a literary invention by the English Restoration-era playwrights John Dryden and William D'Avenant. They coined the name for their 1667 play The Enchanted Island, a loos...

Dorit is a Danish diminutive of Dorothea, a name of Greek origin meaning "gift of god." Derived from Greek δῶρον (doron) "gift" and θεός (theos) "god," Dorothea is the feminine form of Dorotheos, while Theodore uses the...

Dornröschen is the German name for Sleeping Beauty, the heroine of the well-known fairy tale collected and published by the Brothers Grimm. The name is formed from the German words Dorn "thorn" and Rose "rose", combined...

Dorothea is a feminine given name of Greek origin, meaning "gift of God," derived from the Greek elements δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift" and θεός (theos) meaning "god." The name represents the feminine form of the Greek na...

Dorothy is the usual English vernacular form of Dorothea, derived from the Greek name Δωροθέα (Dōrothéa), meaning "gift of god" — from δῶρον (doron, "gift") and θεός (theos, "god"). The name has been in use in English si...

Dracula is a Romanian masculine given name and historical nickname meaning "son of Dracul," from the Romanian drac meaning "dragon." The most famous bearer was Vlad III Drăculea (also known as Vlad Țepeș or Vlad the Impa...

Dulcinea is a Spanish literary name derived from the Spanish word dulce, meaning "sweet." The name was invented by the celebrated Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes for his novel Don Quixote, first published in 1605. In...

Ebenezer is a male given name of Hebrew origin, derived from the phrase Even Haʿazer (אֶבֶן הָעָזֶר), meaning "stone of help". The name originates from a monument erected by the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament to com...

Edana is a Latinized form of Étaín, an Old Irish name possibly derived from ét meaning "jealousy, passion." In Irish mythology, Étaín is the heroine of the 9th-century tale The Wooing of Étaín. She was the wife of Midir,...

Edda is a feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly deriving from the Old Norse word edda meaning "great-grandmother." This name is historically significant in Iceland and Norse literature, as it refers to two renowned...

Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English name Eadgyð, composed of the elements ead ("wealth, fortune") and guð ("battle"). It is in common usage in English, German, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedis...

Edmund is a masculine given name of English, German, and Polish usage. It is derived from the Old English elements ead meaning "wealth, fortune" and mund meaning "protection", thus giving the name the meaning "rich prote...

Eeyore is a fictional anthropomorphic donkey created by the English author A. A. Milne for his Winnie-the-Pooh book series, first appearing in the 1926 volume Winnie-the-Pooh. The character was inspired by a stuffed toy...

Eglantine is a feminine given name derived from the English word for the flower also known as sweetbrier. The flower's name comes via Old French from Vulgar Latin aquilentum, meaning "prickly," referring to the thorny st...

Eilonwy (pronounced ahy-LON-wee) is a literary name invented by author Lloyd Alexander for his fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968) and later used in the Disney animated film The Black Cauldron (1985). Al...

EtymologyElaine is a feminine given name originating from an Old French form of Helen, which itself derives from the Greek name Helenē, possibly meaning 'torch' or 'light'. Some scholars have also proposed a Welsh etymol...

Elanor is a fictional name created by J. R. R. Tolkien for his legendarium. It means "star sun" in the constructed Elvish language Sindarin, and is the name of a small, star-shaped yellow flower found in the enchanted fo...

Eleanor is a feminine given name that originated from the Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name Aliénor. The name's most famous early bearer was Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who became queen consort of...

Etymology and OriginElinor is a variant of Eleanor, a name with a rich and storied history. The root name Eleanor derives from the Old French form of the Occitan name Alienòr. Traditionally, its earliest famous bearer wa...

Eliza is a female given name that originated as a diminutive of Elizabeth in the 16th century and began to be used independently in the 18th century. The name Elizabeth itself derives from the Greek form Elisabet, which...

EtymologyElizabeth is a feminine given name originating from the Greek form Ἐλισάβετ (Elisabet), which itself derives from the Hebrew name אֱלִישֶׁבַע (ʾElishevaʿ), meaning "my God is an oath." The name is composed of tw...

Ellen is a medieval English form of Helen, which itself derives from the Greek name Ἑλένη (Helene). The meaning of Helen is debated; it is often interpreted as “torch” or “corposant” from Greek ἑλένη, or related to σελήν...

Ellis is a given name of English and Welsh origin, ultimately derived from a surname that itself originated from the medieval given name Elis, a vernacular form of Elias (the Latin form of Elijah). The name also function...

Elmira is a feminine name of literary origin, possibly a shortened form of Edelmira. Its first major appearance is in the play Tartuffe (1664) by Molière, where it is often spelled in the French style as Elmire.Etymology...

Elnora is a contracted form of Eleanora, itself a Latinate variant of Eleanor. The name Eleanor ultimately derives from the Occitan name Alienòr, famously borne by Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century), who was named Aenor...

Eloise is an English female given name derived from the Old French name Héloïse. Etymologically, it traces back to the Germanic name Helewidis, composed of the elements

Elphaba is a fictional name created by author Gregory Maguire for the central character in his novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), later adapted into the stage musical Wicked (2003) a...

Elrond is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, appearing in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. The name Elrond means "star dome" in the fictional language Sindarin,...

Emma is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from ermen, meaning "whole" or "universal." It likely originated as a short form of older Germanic names such as Ermengarde or Ermentrude, built on the element ir...

Emmaline is a variant of Emmeline, a name that entered English via the Normans. Emmeline itself derives from the Old French Emeline, a diminutive of Germanic names beginning with the element amal, meaning "unceasing, vig...

Emmeline is a feminine given name of French origin, introduced to England by the Normans. It derives from the Old French Emeline, a diminutive of Germanic names beginning with the element amal, which means "unceasing, vi...

Enid is a feminine given name of Welsh and Arthurian origins, likely derived from Middle Welsh eneit, meaning “soul, spirit, life.” The name is thought to come from the Proto-Celtic root *ana-ti̯o- (related to Gaulish an...

Enikő is a Hungarian female given name created by the renowned Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty in the 19th century. Vörösmarty derived the name from Enéh or Eneth, the legendary mother of the Hungarian people, who is a...

Enkidu (Sumerian: 𒂗𒆠𒄭) is a legendary figure from ancient Mesopotamian mythology, best known as the companion and friend of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. His name probably means "lord of the good place", derived from Sume...

Enobarbus is a character from William Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra (first performed around 1607). The name is the Latinized form of Ahenobarbus, the Roman cognomen meaning "bronze beard". Shakespeare adopte...

Enola is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, first recorded in the late 19th century. The name is often analyzed as alone spelled backward, but it has also been described as an English spelling of a Cherokee word...

Éowyn is a feminine name created by author J. R. R. Tolkien for his novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955). It is derived from Old English elements eoh ("horse") and wynn ("joy"), thus meaning "horse joy." Tolkien used...

Eponine (pronounced EP-ə-neen) is the English form of Éponine, a name coined by the French novelist Victor Hugo which he used in his 1862 epic novel Les Misérables. The character Éponine Thénardier is a complex figure —...

Éponine is a French literary name, best known as the tragic eldest daughter of the Thénardiers in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables. Hugo adopted the name from the historical Gallo-Roman figure Epponina, who was ce...

Eric is a common masculine given name of Scandinavian origin, derived from the Old Norse Eiríkr. The name is usually interpreted as meaning "ever ruler" or "eternal ruler", from the elements ei "ever, always" and ríkr "r...

Esben is a Danish and Norwegian masculine given name. It originated as a variant of Asbjørn, which itself derives from the Old Norse name Ásbjǫrn. The name is composed of the elements áss ("god") and bjǫrn ("bear"), maki...

Esmeralda is a Spanish and Portuguese feminine name meaning "emerald". The name derives directly from the word for the precious green gemstone, esmeralda in both languages (ultimately from Latin smaragdus, Greek σμάραγδο...

Esperanza is a Spanish feminine given name derived from the Late Latin name Sperantia, ultimately from the Latin verb spero meaning "to hope." Directly translating to "hope" in Spanish, the name embodies a positive, aspi...

Etymology and MeaningEstella is a Latinate form of the French name Estelle, which ultimately derives from the Latin word stella, meaning "star." The name gained recognition in the English-speaking world through its use i...

Etelka is a Hungarian feminine given name, created by the Hungarian writer András Dugonics for the title character in his 1788 novel Etelka. It is the female equivalent of Etele, itself a variant of Attila. Although the...

Ethel is a feminine given name derived from the Old English element æðele meaning "noble". Originally used as a short form of names beginning with this element, such as Ethelred or Ethelburga, it emerged as an independen...

Etheldred is a feminine given name of Medieval English origin. It is a Middle English form of the Anglo-Saxon name Æðelþryð, which derives from the Old English elements æðele "noble" and þryþ "strength", meaning "noble s...

Etzel is the German legendary form of the name Attila, used predominantly in the medieval German epic poem the Nibelungenlied. In that saga, Etzel is a fictionalized version of Attila the Hun, the 5th-century ruler of th...

Eva is a female given name that serves as the form of Eve in many languages, including English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Scandinavian, Slavic, Baltic, and various others. It derives from the L...

Evan is a Welsh masculine given name, ultimately an Anglicized form of Ifan, a Welsh version of John. The name John itself derives from the Hebrew Yoḥanan, meaning “Yahweh is gracious.” Over centuries, the name evolved t...

Evangeline is a poetic name meaning 'good news,' derived from the Greek elements eu ('good') and angelma ('news, message'). Its creation is credited to American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who first used the name in...

Eve is a feminine given name of profound religious and cultural significance, derived from the Hebrew name Ḥawwa (חַוָּה), itself stemming from the Hebrew root ḥawa (חָוָה) meaning "to breathe" or the related ḥaya (חָיָה...

Evelina is a Latinate feminine given name used across multiple cultures, including Bulgarian, English, Greek, Italian, Lithuanian, Russian, and Swedish. It originates as a Latinate form of Aveline, a Norman French diminu...

Faith is an English virtue name derived directly from the English word faith, which ultimately comes from Latin fido 'to trust' (from Proto-Indo-European *bheidh- 'to trust, confide, persuade'). The name was notably adop...

Fanny is a feminine given name that originated as a diminutive of Frances, Françoise, or Stéphanie. The name saw widespread popularity as an independent given name in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in the Engl...

Fantine is a literary name created by Victor Hugo for his 1862 novel Les Misérables, where it belongs to the tragic mother of Cosette. According to the novel, the name was given to her by a random passerby who found her...

Fay is a feminine given name of English origin, steeped in a sense of magic and enchantment. Its primary meaning derives from the English word fay, meaning "fairy," which comes from Middle English faie (magical, enchante...

Felicity is a feminine given name of English origin meaning "happiness." It derives from the Latin word felicitas, meaning "luck" or "good fortune," and is ultimately related to the Ancient Roman goddess Fortuna, who emb...

Fiammetta is an Italian name, serving as a diminutive of Fiamma, which means "flame" in Italian. Thus, Fiammetta can be translated as "little flame." The name is best known from the works of the 14th-century Italian auth...