Not favorite character, favorite character name.
There are countless great characters in literature. Which of them have the best names?
Ishmael? Humbert Humbert? Bilbo Baggins? Or, heck, take your pick from the incredible character names in the Harry Potter universe. Severus Snape? Dolores Umbrage?
For me personally, I’m going with Severus Snape. What about you?
Sarah McCabe says
Luthien Tinuviel and Maedhros from The Silmarillion by Tolkien.
Corwin from the Amber books by Roger Zelazny.
I like these names so much I gave them to my kids! Really.
Mira says
Great, fun topic, Nathan.
So many of my favorites have been mentioned!!
I suspect I'll post more than once today as I think of them, but I giving Lewis Carroll his due:
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
Humpty Dumpty
The Mad Hatter
The Cheshire Cat
From Peter Pan, Captain Hook sort of says it all. Tinkerbell is a pretty nice one too.
Jared X says
Pussy Galore (Ian Fleming's "Goldfinger"). It's not just the most obvious double entendre of all time, it also serves as character development for the protagonist.
J.P. Kurzitza says
Pi.
Geoff says
I love all the names in Mieville's Kraken – Billy Harrow, Wati, The Tattoo… it's questions like these, though, that point out a major drawback to my preferred method (audio book) of consuming fiction: I never know how to spell any of these great names! But I always know how to pronounce them.
I mean, Hermione? If I had run across that name while reading the book, before the movies or anything, I would've butchered it!
salima says
Ebenezer Scrooge, Coraline, Obi Wan Kenobi, Lyra, Iorek Byrnison, Kvothe, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Trillian, Kilgore Trout, Tuck, Bunnicula, Sherlock Holmes, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, Bagheera, Fiver.
lora96 says
Ivy Hisselpenny (Soulless by Gail Carriger)
also,
The Unitary Authority of Warington Cat ("real" name of the Cheshire Cat according to jasper fforde's Well of Lost Plots)
lora96 says
@Amanda: did the protagonist in Rebecca have a name? cause she is the narrator and was only called Mrs. DeWinter, I think. Rebecca was the psycho dead wife.
Carmen Webster Buxton says
Fitzwilliam Darcy. aka, Mr. Darcy
Bryce Daniels says
Hieronymus Bosch
midnightblooms says
I love Rowling's character names. There isn't a bad one in the entire series. Some of the best are just mentions: Bathilda Bagshot, Miranda Goshawk, Arsenius Jigger, Newt Scamander, Adalbert Waffling.
Anonymous says
Hiro Protagonist, from Snow Crash.
Lyn says
When booking a train online I always give a fictional character's name instead of my own. I get a little thrill when I get to sit down pretending to be Byrony Tallis or Violet Beauregarde or whomever I choose to be that day. Haven't had any comments yet – although I did get some funny looks when the little screen said Ignatius J. Reilly.
However I think my all time favourite character name has to be Major Major Major Major.
Anonymous says
Gogol from The Namesake and Daisy from Plum Blossoms in Paris because there is a story and a love/hate relationship behind each.
Rebecca Kiel says
I'm going with Hok, Lok, and Siew in Jon Muth's Stone Soup. They just roll off the tongue when you read the book aloud!
Anonymous says
Django Twip
Yat-Yee says
I'm with Munk: scout.
shadowkindrd says
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Anonymous says
Chicken Little
Riley Redgate says
Wow, tough question. I'm going to have to Harry-Potter it up as well. I love all the Founders' names – Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw. I have a real thing for Minerva McGonagall, too. Every single name just feels right for who the character is.
(Also, I love names that are alliterative, because yours truly has one. :P)
David Jace says
Warren Peace
If you haven't seen Sky High, he's the child of a union between a super villian and a super hero. (Inner conflict pre-birth, people!) And that inner conflict is so wonderfully reflected in his name: War 'en Peace.
John Durvin says
My personal favorites are Prospero, Ubu, and the majority of things others have already said. The Duke of Crows is an amazingly evocative name, too, from the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy. If we're including movies, I'm going to have to nominate Lazlo Soot of "Smokin' Aces".
Incidentally, Rowling, Dickens, and Shakespeare seem to be topping the list, and all three use obscure words and other languages as sources for their characters, almost without exception. For example, Dumbledore is Old English for a bumblebee (presumably because he's so busy), Scrooge was an old term for 'steal', and, I dunno, Dogsberry meaning 'poo.' Makes you think about how to name your own characters, doesn't it?
David Jace says
Lyn, how do you get away with booking a train under a fictional character's name from a security standpoint? Don't they ask for ID? Planes and such certainly do…
But thanks, now I just want to do that!
Mark Evans says
Stormy Llewellyn immediately came to mind, even though it was years ago when I read Odd Thomas. I've always been fond of Wilhelmina Murray since it rolled off Winona Ryder's tongue in Dracula–I reckon she practised.
David Jace says
John, one of my own favorite characters's names is Gerard Tombé. He's a fallen angel hiding in a metropolitan homeless shelter. Tombé means fallen in French.
Anonymous says
Dracula!
Mira says
Bertie Wooster
Jeeves
Pip
Miss Havesham
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Wanda Vaughn says
Flewdur Fflam of the Prydain books
Gwydion of the Prydain books
Con – short for Constantine of McKinley's Sunshine
and
of course
Bartimaeus from his trilogy. 🙂
John says
Mrs. Frisby.
Allen B. Ogey says
I'm 15 minutes late to be the first to say Jeeves!
Robert Michael says
Melisande Shahrizai–Kushiel's Dart
Dirk Pitt–Clive Cussler's Novels
Pip–Great Expectations
Raistlin Majere–Dragonlance Books
Luke Skywalker–Star Wars
Iago–Othello (Shakespeare was GREAT with names)
Lestat De Lioncourt–Interview with A Vampire/The Vampire Lestat/Queen of the Damned
Menion Leah and Walker Boh–Shannara Series (Terry Brooks)
I love names almost as much as the characters since many authors imbue the character with traits inherent in the name. And I can't pick a favorite…although Dirk Pitt just resonates: Hero with a dark edge.
NRH says
Horselover Fat, from VALIS, by Philip K. Dick.
Jan Priddy, Oregon says
Pecola Breedlove… for the irony.
Courtney Odell says
Willy Wonka
Charlie Bucket
Violet Beauregarde
Veruca Salt
Mike Teavee
Augustus Gloop
I love many of the names already mentioned!
I always thought Odd Thomas was a great name too!
Seabrooke says
Anything from Terry Pratchett – somewhat surprised not to see his name mentioned even once here! For instance: Moist von Lipwig, or the city of Ankh-Morpork.
Chuck H. says
Tregonsee and Worsel. The other two second stage lensmen from the lensman series.
Cynthia says
Serious Black from Harry Potter is a favorite of mine.
Amy says
Hero Protagonist
It's pretty self explanitory
abc says
Maybe Jean Valjean. Just cause I like to say it out loud.
"I am Jean Valjean."
But I also quite like Pippi Longstocking.
And you are not so bad with names yourself, Mr. Bransford. Moonman McGillicutty! (my kid and I got into giggle fits over the 30 seconds of night and day and the whole tree of life bit).
The Desert Rocks says
Wonderful choices…too many to choose from…I can't believe no one said, Rhett Butler
or Howard Roark…Heathcliff!
Ruth Donnelly says
My first thought was Atticus Finch, but I see several people were ahead of me! I'll throw out some great middle grade girl names instead:
Calpurnia Tate
Ramona Quimby
Molly Moon
Theodosia Throckmorton
Constance Contraire
Zan Marie says
James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser
If you don't know who he is, go get OUTLANDER immediately. ; )
Kourtnie McKenzie says
I'm going with Pinocchio.
Thanks for such a fun topic! The comments were a blast to read.
Samantha Manzella says
Alaska Young from LOOKING FOR ALASKA. I just feel like it suits her character perfectly. 🙂
Aimee Bea says
I'm going to go with Major Major Major Major from Catch-22.
Kevin Lynn Helmick says
Sebastian Cross, of course.
and Huckleberry Finn, has got to be the all the greatest character name. In American literature anyway.
literaryellymay says
My favorite was The Artful Dodger–it's kinda badass when your name both includes a descriptive adjective and implies the action he regularly performs ("to dodge").
Though I agree with Robert Michael that Melisande Shahrizai (from Kushiel's Dart)is pretty awesome, too.
Redleg says
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged.
Lyn says
@David Jace – Well they obviously need your real name when you're putting in your credit card details. But the name above your seat is more of a place holder – a lot of people just use their initials. They never ask for I.D, just your ticket, which also has the fake name on it. I also have the bonus of a cool collection of train tickets with literary names on them.
A. Lockwood says
Mogget and The Disreputable Dog from the Abhorsen books.
Pretty much every name in Ender's Game.
And sometimes it's not just about the name but also about who is saying it. Mike Wazowski!