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Literary Boy Names

These literary boy names are derived from characters in books from all genres. Some of these literary heroes and anti-heroes, such as Romeo and Tristan, come from works of fiction written centuries ago, while others, like Kafka and Edmund, are contemporary.

Along with Tristan and Romeo, other literary boy names in the US Top 1000 include Atticus, Axel, Holden, Magnus, Orlando, Rhett, Samson, and Santiago. Some names for boys remain inextricably tied to their literary namesakes, such as Heathcliff, Gogol, Ishmael, and Zooey.

Here, a selection of the most distinctive literary boy names from books. It might also be worth checking out your own bookshelves for literature-inspired baby names that are relevant to you.

Zooey The meaning of Zooey is ‘life’. It is a name...
Origin:Literary name
8096
Ishmael

Meaning: God will hear

Origin:Hebrew
1067
Chance Chance is a given name of Middle English ori...
Origin:French variation of Chauncey
1558
Fenno The name Fenno finds its root in the Finnish...
Origin:A Finnish tribe and language
3739
Caspar

Meaning: keeper of the treasure

Origin:Persian, variation of Gaspar
731
Lemuel

Meaning: devoted to God

Origin:Hebrew
829
Cullen

Meaning: holly tree

Origin:Irish
681
Origin:English variation of Gervase, meaning unknown
1144
Melchior

Meaning: city of the king; king of light

Origin:Dutch from Hebrew
1243
Oskar The meaning of name Oskar is 'One with the s...
Origin:German variation of Oscar
1252
Beale

Meaning: fair, handsome

Origin:English from French
8129
Kaddish The name Kaddish comes out of Hebrew origin....
Origin:Literary and word name
8552
Falmouth The most significant concentration of people...
Origin:Place-name
8850
Origin:Literary name
10750
Vivaldo

Meaning: who dominates the will

Origin:Italian
6277
Corin

Meaning: spear

Origin:Latin
1705
Yancey

Meaning: yankee

Origin:Native American
4464
Quintus

Meaning: fifth

Origin:Latin
1428
Caliban

Meaning: black

Origin:Romanian
1548
Dunstan

Meaning: dark stone

Origin:English
4165