Part 2 of the ‘character names’ series^^
There will be 10 names each for the girls, boys, and unisex categories. My own genuine tips (updated) and what I consider when naming a book character will also be included in this blog, so I hope you enjoy!! 🎉
(from nameberry.com)
──── For girls ────
Ailany
- Origin: Variation of Ailani, Ailyn, Aileen, or Aylin; Hispanic, Hawaiian, Irish, Turkish
- Meaning: ‘high chief; shining light; of the moon’
- Nickname: Lany
Vietta
- Origin: Short form of Violetta or Viviette
- Meaning: ‘violet; life’
- Nickname: Vi
Kalila
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: ‘beloved’
- Nickname: Kal/Kali
Ione
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: ‘violet flower’
- Nickname: Ony
Enya
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: ‘fire
- Nickname: En/Eny
Cyrene
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: ‘supreme power’
- Nickname: Cyr/Cyra/Rena
Lorelei
- Origin: German
- Meaning: ‘alluring, temptress’
- Nickname: Lor/Rela
Yara
- Origin: Arabic, Persian, Brazilian, Hebrew
- Meaning: ‘friend, helper; strength; water nymph; honeycomb’
- Nickname: Ara/Ray
Loxley
- Origin: English
- Meaning: ‘lynx glade’
- Nickname: Lox
Atchara
- Origin: Thai
- Meaning: ‘angel’
- Nickname: Atch/Chara
──── For boys ────
Kian
- Origin: Irish, Persian
- Meaning: ‘ancient, king’
- Nickname: King/Kingan (yeah idk-)
Rhys
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: ‘ardor’
- Nickname: Rhy-Rhy
Zaire
- Origin: Place name, Congo
- Meaning: ‘the river that swallows all rivers’
- Nickname: Zai/Zair
Calder
- Origin: Nature meaning ‘rocky water’, associated with the sculptor who invented the mobile
- Meaning: ‘rocky water’
- Nickname: Cal
Aidan
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: ‘little and fiery’
- Nickname: Aide
Ivar
- Origin: Norse
- Meaning: ‘yew wood, archer, warrior’
- Nickname: Var
Everett
- Origin: English variation of the German Eberhard
- Meaning: ‘brave as a wild boar’
- Nickname: Ev/Ever/Rett/Retty
Xander
- Origin: Diminutive of Alexander, Greek
- Meaning: ‘defending man’
- Nickname: Xan
Knox
- Origin: Scottish
- Meaning: ’round hill’
- Nickname: Kno/Knoxy
Wes
- Origin: Short name of Wesley, English
- Meaning: ‘West’
- Nickname: Wessy
──── Unisex names ────
(in my opinion !)
Tide
- Origin: (likely tied to the ocean)
- Meaning: Nature name
- Nickname: Tids
Solaris
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: ‘of the sun’
- Nickname: Sol/Solar/Ris
Kestrel
- Origin: (tied to the bird)
- Meaning: Bird name
- Nickname: Kest
Phoenix
- Origin: Arizona place-name and Greek
- Meaning: ‘dark red’
- Nickname: Phoe/Nix
Linden
- Origin: Variation of Lyndon
- Meaning: ‘linden tree hill’
- Nickname: Linds/Den
Shea
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: ‘the stately, dauntless one’
- Nickname: Hea (can also be used as a short form for Séamus or traditional Irish form Séaghdha)
Sidney
- Origin: English from French
- Meaning: ‘Saint Denis’
- Nickname: Sid
Lux
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: ‘light’
- Nickname: Lu
Laken
- Origin: Variation of Lake, English
- Meaning: ‘lake’
- Nickname: Lake/Lakey
Adair
- Origin: Scottish and Irish, Brazilian (usually considered a Scottish surname, derived from the name Edgar, or the place name Adare)
- Meaning: ‘oak tree ford; wealthy spearman; wealth and fame’
- Nickname: Ad/Adai
──── Tips ────
- When I’m trying to find a (relatively) unique name for a character, one of my favorite ways is to consider a diminutive or variation of a popular name! For example, take the name Cecily – a variation of it would be Sicily
- When considering names, I also like associating my character’s personality or anything that relates with her/his name! For example, if my character (let’s say female) had long brownish/reddish hair, I would look for names like Robin or Sienna. If another character (let’s say male) was evil, I would probably consider names like Adrian (meaning ‘dark or rich’)
- For me, how it sounds is also very significant. Take the name Raleigh – I would probably give this name to a character who is quiet and elegant, because it’s soft-sounding. But just like how we discussed in part 1, making names ironic (like for example, naming a ‘secret villain’ with a sweet-sounding name would be very fun / interesting)
- Last but not least, you probably have a favorite letter of the alphabet! Mine is S – which I think I like haha because my name- Sally- also starts with a S. I find myself naming too many characters starting with S sometimes, but yeah, I think having preferences is good.
- I think I also name more of my characters with the starting letters ‘S’, ‘K’, ‘R’, ‘L’, ‘A’ for some reason (?)
- You could also opt for more unusual names if your character has a unique flair. For example, ‘X’ ‘Z’ ‘U’ ‘W’ ‘T’ names are generally less commonly used in my opinion (especially the first three)
- I would say it all comes to instinct too, because sometimes as a writer I just have the urge to name my character with a random letter of the alphabet?
That’s it for this blog <3 thank you so much for reading ’till the end, I hope this was useful ! 😀
Have a wonderful day/night~
7/6/26 ♡
Sources:
Works Cited
“Baby Names 2026.” nameberry, https://nameberry.com/. Accessed 6 July 2026.
