Baby names inspired by children's books
Written by Dana Dubinsky
Photo credit: Thinkstock
What better place to find your baby's name than in a much-loved book? You'll find a few classics and lots of unusual names given to characters in favorite books for kids from toddlers to teenagers.
Baby girl names
| Name | Story | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Alice | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Lewis Carroll |
| Arrietty | The Borrowers | Mary Norton |
| Beatrice | Ramona series | Beverly Cleary |
| Betsy | Understood Betsy | Dorothy Canfield Fisher |
| Betsy-Tacy | Maud Hart Lovelace | |
| Caddie | Caddie Woodlawn | Carol Ryrie Brink |
| Carrie | Little House series | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Celeste | Babar series | Jean de Brunhoff |
| Charlotte | Charlotte's Web | E.B. White |
| Claudia | From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler | E.L. Konigsburg |
| Dorothy | The Wizard of Oz | L. Frank Baum |
| Ella | Ella Enchanted | Gail Carson Levine |
| Eloise | Eloise | Kay Thompson |
| Esperanza | Esperanza Rising | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
| Fern | Charlotte's Web | E.B. White |
| Francie | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Betty Smith |
| Garnet | Thimble Summer | Elizabeth Enright |
| Grace | Little House series | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Harriet | Harriet the Spy | Louise Fitzhugh |
| Heidi | Heidi | Johanna Spyri |
| Hermione | Harry Potter series | J.K. Rowling |
| Jo | Little Women | Louisa May Alcott |
| Karana | Island of the Blue Dolphins | Scott O'Dell |
| Laura | Little House series | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
| Leslie | Bridge to Terabithia | Katherine Paterson |
| Lina | The Wheel on the School | Meindert DeJong |
| Lucy | The Chronicles of Narnia series | C.S. Lewis |
| Madeline | Madeline series | Ludwig Bemelmans |
| Maisy | Maisy books | Lucy Cousins |
| Marian | The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood | Howard Pyle |
| Martha | George and Martha | James Marshall |
| Half Magic | Edward Eager | |
| Meg | A Wrinkle in Time series | Madeleine L'Engle |
| Little Women | Louisa May Alcott | |
| Meggie | Inkheart | Cornelia Funke |
| Olivia | Olivia | Ian Falconer |
| Pauline | Ballet Shoes | Noel Streatfeild |
| Petrova | Ballet Shoes | Noel Streatfeild |
| Pippi | Pippi Longstocking | Astrid Lindgren |
| Portia | Gone-Away Lake | Elizabeth Enright |
| Posy | Ballet Shoes | Noel Streatfeild |
| Ramona | Ramona series | Beverly Cleary |
| Roberta | The Railway Children | E. Nesbit |
| Rosalind | Born to Trot | Marguerite Henry |
| The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy | Jeanne Birdsall | |
| Scout | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
| Skye | The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy | Jeanne Birdsall |
| Sylvie | The Moffats | Eleanor Estes |
| Tacy | Betsy-Tacy | Maud Hart Lovelace |
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Baby boy names
| Name | Story | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Alec | The Black Stallion | Walter Farley |
| Arthur | The Sword in the Stone | T.H. White |
| The Arthur series | Marc Brown | |
| Atticus | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
| Bilbo | The Hobbit | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Bartholomew | The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins | Dr. Seuss |
| Byron | The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 | Christopher Paul Curtis |
| Charles | A Wrinkle in Time series | Madeleine L'Engle |
| Charlie | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Roald Dahl |
| Chester | The Cricket in Times Square | George Selden |
| Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery | Deborah and James Howe | |
| Christopher | Winnie-the-Pooh series | A.A. Milne |
| Edmund | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | C.S. Lewis |
| Elmer | My Father’s Dragon | Ruth Stiles Gannett |
| Ferdinand | The Story of Ferdinand | Munro Leaf |
| Foster | Gone-Away Lake | Elizabeth Enright |
| Gandalf | The Hobbit | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| George | Curious George | H.A. Rey |
| George and Martha | James Marshall | |
| Gibson | Born to Trot | Marguerite Henry |
| Harold | Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery | Deborah and James Howe |
| Harold and the Purple Crayon | Crockett Johnson | |
| Harry | Harry Potter series | J.K. Rowling |
| Harry the Dirty Dog | Gene Zion | |
| Henry | Henry Huggins series | Beverly Cleary |
| Horton | Horton Hears a Who | Dr. Seuss |
| Huck | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Mark Twain |
| James | James and the Giant Peach | Roald Dahl |
| Jamie | From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler | E.L. Konigsburg |
| Jem | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
| Jess | Bridge to Terabithia | Katherine Paterson |
| Lyle | Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile | Bernard Waber |
| Marco | And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street | Dr. Seuss |
| Mario | The Cricket in Times Square | George Selden |
| Matthias | Redwall | Brian Jacques |
| Max | Where the Wild Things Are | Maurice Sendak |
| Merlyn | The Sword in the Stone | T.H. White |
| Milo | The Phantom Tollbooth | Norton Juster |
| Pepito | Madeline in London | Ludwig Bemelmans |
| Peter | Peter Rabbit series | Beatrix Potter |
| Peter Pan | J.M Barrie | |
| Ralph | Ralph Mouse books | Beverly Cleary |
| Robin | The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood | Howard Pyle |
| Ron | Harry Potter series | J.K. Rowling |
| Rufus | The Moffats | Eleanor Estes |
| Sam | The Lord of the Rings | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Sylvester | Sylvester and the Magic Pebble | William Steig |
| Timothy | Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH | Robert C. O'Brien |
| Toby | Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery | Deborah and James Howe |
| Tom | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Mark Twain |
| Wilbur | Charlotte's Web | E.B. White |
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