These literary baby girl nameshave been inspired by characters in books from all genres and periods.
From children’s literature to classic 18th century prose, we’ve come up with 90 names - and there’s DEFINITELY something here to suit every bookworm parent.
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1 of 1The Penguin Book of Baby Names, £4.84
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Which is your favourite?
1) Ada
Book: Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain
Character: Ada Monroe
Meaning: Noble woman
2) Allie
Book: Nicholas Sparks’s The Notebook
Character: Allie Hamilton
Meaning: Fair, handsome
3) Anne
Book: Lucy Maud’s Anne of Green Gables
Character: Anne Shirley
Meaning: Favour or grace
4) Annika
Book: Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking
Character: Annika Settigren
Meaning: Goddess Durga in Hindu
5) Arrietty
Book: Mary Norton’s The Borrowers
Character: Arrietty Clock
Meaning: Ruler of the house
6) Arya
Book: George R R Martin’s Game Of Thrones
Character: Arya Stark
Meaning: Noble, great, truthful
For more Game Of Thrones inspired baby names, click here****.
7) Beatrice
Book: William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
Character: Beatrice
Meaning: Bringer of joy
8) Bella
Book: Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga
Character: Bella Swan
Meaning: Beautiful
9) Brett
Book: Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises
Character: Lady Brett Ashley
Meaning: From the isle of Brittany
10) Bridget
Book: Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary
Character: Bridget Jones
Meaning: Power, strength and virtue
11) Catherine
Book: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
Character: Catherine ‘Cathy’ Earnshaw
Meaning: Pure, clear
12) Celie
Book: Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple
Character: Celie
Meaning: The blind one
13) Charlotte
Book: EB White’s Charlotte’s Web
Character: Charlotte the Spider
Meaning: Free woman
14) Clarice
Book: Thomas Harris’s The Silence Of The Lambs
Character: Clarice Starling
Meaning: Bright, clear, famous
15) Clover
Book: Susan Coolidge’s Clover
Character: Clover Carr
Meaning: Meadow flower
16) Coraline
Book: Neil Gaiman’s Coraline
Character: Coraline Jones
Meaning: Precious sea growth
17) Daisy
Book: F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
Character: Daisy Buchanan
Meaning: Day’s eye
18) Dorothy
Book: L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard Of Oz
Character: Dorothy Gale
Meaning: Gift of God
19) Elinor
Book: Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility
Character: Elinor Dashwood
Meaning: Queen
20) Eliza
Book: George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion
Character: Eliza Doolittle
Meaning: Oath of God
21) Elizabeth
Book: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
Character: Lizzie Bennett
Meaning: God is satisfaction
22) Emma
Book: Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary
Character: Emma Bovary
Meaning: Handsome, clever, and rich
23) Enid
Book: Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch
Character: Enid Nightshade
Meaning: Soul, life
For more Worst Witch inspired baby names, click here****.
24) Estella
Book: Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations
Character: Estella Havisham
Meaning: Shining star
25) Felicity
Book: Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers
Character: Felicity Rivers
Meaning: Luck and good fortune
26) Florence / Flossie
Book: Laura Lee Hope’s Bobbsey Twins
Character: Flossie Bobbsey
Meaning: Blossoming flower
27) George / Georgina
Book: Enid Blyton’s Famous Five
Character: George Kirrin
Meaning: Farmer
28) Gwen
Book: Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest
Character: Gwendolen Fairfax
Meaning: White, holy
29) Harriet
Book: Louise Fitzhugh’s Harriet The Spy
Character: Harriet M. Welsch
Meaning: Rules the home
30) Hazel
Book: John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars
Character: Hazel Grace Lancaster
Meaning: Of the tree
31) Heidi
Book: Johanna Spyri’s Heidi
Character: Heidi
Meaning: Nobility
32) Hermione
Book: JK Rowling’s Harry Potter Saga
Character: Hermione Granger
Meaning: Well born
For more Harry Potter inspired baby names, click here
33) Holly
Book: Truman Capote’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s
Character: Holly Golightly
Meaning: From the clearing by the hollow
34) Jane
Book: Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
Character: Jane Eyre
Meaning: Jehovah has been gracious
35) Josephine
Book: Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
Character: Jospehine March
Meaning: May Jehovah add
36) Katniss
Book: Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games
Character: Katniss Everdeen
Meaning: Heroine, edible aquatic plant
37) Katy
Book: Sarah Chauncey Woolsey’s What Katy Did
Character: Katy Carr
Meaning: Pure, clear
38) Kristy
Book: Ann M Martin’s The Babysitters Club Series
Character: Kristy Thomas
Meaning: Follower of Christ
39) Laura
Book: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House On The Prairie
Character: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Meaning: Laurel tree
40) Leia
Book: Donald F Glut’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Character: Leia Organa Solo
Meaning: Child of heaven
For more Star Wars inspired baby names, click here****.
41) Liesel
Book: Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief
Character: Liesel Meminger
Meaning: Pledged to God
42) Linnea
Book: Christina Bjork’s Linnea In Monet’s Garden
Character: Linnea
Meaning: Twin flower, lime tree
43) Lisbeth
Book: Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Character: Lisbeth Salander
Meaning: God is satisfaction
44) Lottie
Book: Jacqueline Wilson’s The Lottie Project
Character: Charlotte Alice Katherine Enright’s alter-ego
Meaning: Free woman
45) Lucy
Book: CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe
Character: Lucy Pevensie
Meaning: Born at dawn
46) Lydia
Book: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
Character: Lydia Bennett
Meaning: Woman from Lydia
47) Lyra
Book: Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
Character: Lyra Silvertongue
Meaning: Lyrical
48) Madeline
Book: Ludwig Bemelmans’s Madeline
Character: Madeline
Meaning: Elevated, great, magnificent
49) Marianne
Book: Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility
Character: Marianne Dashwood
Meaning: Wished-for child
50) Mary
Book: PL Travers’s Mary Poppins
Character: Mary Poppins
Meaning: Bitter
For more Disney inspired baby girl names, click here****.
51) Matilda
Book: Roald Dahl’s Matilda
Character: Matilda Wormwood
Meaning: Mighty warrior
For more Roald Dahl inspired baby names, click here****.
52) Meg
Book: Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time
Character: Meg Murry
Meaning: Beautiful and happy
53) Minny
Book: Kathryn Stockett’s The Help
Character: Minny Jackson
Meaning: Loving memory
54) Nancy
Book: Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew Mysteries
Character: Nancy Drew
Meaning: Grace
55) Natasha
Book: Leo Tolstoy’s War And Peace
Character: Natasha Rostova
Meaning: Christmas baby
56) Nelly
Book: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights
Character: Ellen “Nelly” Dean
Meaning: Shining light
57) Nora
Book: Enid Blyton’s The Secret Island
Character: Nora Arnold
Meaning: Light
58) Patricia
Book: Enid Blyton’s St. Clare’s series
Character: Pat O’Sullivan
Meaning: Noble
59) Penny
Book: Enid Blyton’s Cherry Tree Farm
Character: Penny
Meaning: Bobbin
60) Peggy
Book: Enid Blyton’s The Secret Island
Character: Peggy Arnold
Meaning: Precious pearl
61) Phoebe
Book: JD Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye
Character: Phoebe Caulfield
Meaning: Bright and pure
62) Pippi
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Book: Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking
Character: Pippi Longstocking
Meaning: Lover of horses
63) Polly
Book: Eleanor H. Porter’s Pollyanna
Character: Pollyanna
Meaning: Wished-for child
64) Posy
Book: Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes
Character: Posy Fossil
Meaning: Flower
65) Primrose
Book: Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games
Character: Primrose Everdeen
Meaning: Pretty little flower
66) Ramona
Book: Beverly Cleary's Ramona
Character: Ramona Quimby
Meaning: Protecting hands
67) Rebecca / Becky
Book: William Makepeace Thackery’s Vanity Fair
Character: Becky Sharp
Meaning: To tie firmly
68) Rosalind
Book: William Shakespeare’s As You Like It
Character: Rosalind
Meaning: Beautiful rose
69) Sara
Book: Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess
Character: Sara Crewe
Meaning: Princess
70) Savannah
Book: Nicholas Sparks’s Dear John
Character: Savannah Curtis
Meaning: From the open plain
71) Scarlett
Book: Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind
Character: Scarlett O’Hara
Meaning: Red
72) Scout
Book: Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird
Character: Jean Louise "Scout" Finch
Meaning: Gatherer of information
73) Selena
Book: DC Comics’s Batman / Catwoman
Character: Selena Kyle
Meaning: Moon goddess
For more superhero and comic book inspired names, click here****.
74) Susan
Book: Terry Pratchett’s The Hogfather
Character: Susan Sto Helit (aka Death’s granddaughter)
Meaning: Graceful lily
75) Tabitha
Book: Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Tom Kitten
Character: Tabitha Twitchit
Meaning: Beauty, grace
76) Tiggy
Book: Sophocles’s Antigone
Character: Antigone
Meaning: Worthy of one’s parents
77) Tess
Book: Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Character: Tess Durbeyfield
Meaning: Harvester
78) Tracy
Book: Jacqueline Wilson’s The Story of Tracy Beaker
Character: Tracy Beaker
Meaning: Bold
79) Trixie
Book: Julie Campbell Tatham’s Trixie Belden series
Character: Beatrix Belden
Meaning: Bringer of joy
80) Ursula
Book: Francene Carroll’s Colton Manor
Character: Ursula St Clare
Meaning: Little bear
81) Vanessa
Book: John Logan’s Penny Dreadful
Character: Vanessa Ives
Meaning: Butterfly
82) Venetia
Book: Amanda Quick’s Second Sight
Character: Venetia Milton
Meaning: From Venice
83) Vianne
Book: Joanne Harris’s Chocolat
Character: Vianne Rocher
Meaning: Alive
84) Violet
Book: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Character: Violet Baudelaire
Meaning: Little purple flower
85) Wendy
Book: JM Barrie’s Peter Pan
Character: Wendy Darling
Meaning: Little mother
86) Winnie
Book: Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting
Character: Winnie Foster
Meaning: Happy and joyful
87) Winona
Book: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha
Character: Wenonah
Meaning: Firstborn daughter
88) Ysabell
Book: Terry Pratchett’s Mort
Character: Ysabell Sto Helit
Meaning: Devoted to God
89) Zazie
Book: Raymond Queneau's Zazie In The Metro
Character: Zazie
Meaning: Devoted
90) Zooey
Book: JD Salinger’s Franny and Zooey
Character: Zooey
Meaning: Life
Which of these literary baby girl names is YOUR favourite?
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You may also wish to read: Our Complete Guide to picking a baby name