Favorite Shakespearean Names

General Name Discussion
1

I recently saw a production of All’s Well That Ends Well(Shakespeare Globe on Screen series!) and it made me think-what are your favorite names from all of Shakespeare’s works?

Are there names that you would definitely use for a child? Guilty pleasure names? Names that most people wouldn’t think are in Shakespeare’s works (like Olivia or Jessica) but you love even more for having that Shakespearean quality? Names that you love even though the character might not exactly be very likeable?

Some of my favorites:
Emilia
Celia
Cordelia
Helena
Cressida-I like it, but I don’t think this name would work in the US very well.

What are your thoughts? :slight_smile:

2

Yes. In fact, I will use [name]Cordelia[/name] are on a future daughter and [name]Hermione[/name]. I also like [name]Juliet[/name] as a middle name. [name]Othello[/name] is on my list for boys. [name]Iago[/name] and [name]Viola[/name] are stunning.

3

Also forgot to add [name]Rosalind[/name]. That is on my list.

4

Would use, and love:

[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Viola[/name]
[name]Imogen[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]

Guilty pleasures / unsure if would use.
[name]Demetrius[/name] - I have seen it used. And its very handsome. It’s one of the more usable male Shakespearean names [name]IMO[/name].
[name]Balthasar[/name]
[name]Portia[/name] - not a bad name, but people will hear/spell [name]Porsche[/name] and that will make me cranky.
[name]Tamora[/name] - just a really really depressing Shakespearean character, but a pretty name.

5

I’m also fond of [name]Viola[/name], [name]Cordelia[/name], and [name]Rosalind[/name], as well as [name]Miranda[/name]. I like [name]Bianca[/name], but really can’t stand Taming of the Shrew (so much misogyny).

I think it goes without saying that Goneril is a no-fly zone.

6

My favourites would be;
[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Arthur[/name]
[name]Balthazar[/name]
[name]Cassius[/name]
[name]Cato[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]George[/name]
[name]Hector[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Jack[/name]
[name]Lennox[/name]
[name]Leonardo[/name]
[name]Lewis[/name]
[name]Lucius[/name]
[name]Nathaniel[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]
[name]Toby[/name]
[name]Ulysses[/name]
Warwick
[name]William[/name]

[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Andromache[/name]
[name]Audrey[/name]
[name]Beatrice[/name]
[name]Celia[/name]
[name]Constance[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Cressida[/name]
[name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Elizabeth[/name]
[name]Francisca[/name]
[name]Helena[/name]
[name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Imogen[/name]
[name]Iris[/name]
[name]Juno[/name]
[name]Katharina[/name]
[name]Katharine[/name]
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Octavia[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]
[name]Patience[/name]
[name]Perdita[/name]
[name]Rosalind[/name]
[name]Tamora[/name]
and
[name]Ursula[/name]

7

My very favorite Shakespearean name is [name]Olivia[/name]. :slight_smile: Twelfth [name]Night[/name] is my favorite [name]Shakespeare[/name] play period, and while I like [name]Viola[/name] more than [name]Olivia[/name], just love the name and I think, in the end, [name]Olivia[/name] realizes her full potential and finds everything she needs and is looking for in [name]Sebastian[/name]. :slight_smile: I would have loved it if he’d swapped [name]Viola[/name]'s and [name]Olivia[/name]'s characters, though–I think [name]Viola[/name] would have been a kick-butt [name]Olivia[/name]. :slight_smile:

I do love [name]Viola[/name], though, too, although I prefer [name]Violet[/name]… And I love the name [name]Helena[/name] (although I’m not too sure about the character–I’ve only gotten a little bit into A Midsummer’s [name]Night[/name] [name]Dream[/name], but from what I can tell, I don’t expect her to be the best character!).

I really love [name]Emilia[/name], too, and in Comedy of Errors, [name]Emilia[/name] is just the best image of a mother ever, I think. She’s just so loving and she always believed in her twin boys, even though one of them were lost (not to mention her husband!) for so long.

I adore the name [name]Ophelia[/name], too ([name]Violet[/name] [name]Ophelia[/name] [name]Claire[/name] is on my short list–I guess that’s a lot of [name]Shakespeare[/name], but technically [name]Violet[/name] isn’t quite [name]Viola[/name]… :)), but not really the character. As someone who has dealt with depression, and has considered suicide, I really don’t find [name]Ophelia[/name] a very nice namesake, but I love the name too much to let it go. I can’t decide if I like the meaning of “help” or not… :confused:

Much [name]Ado[/name] about Nothing is my second favorite play, I really adore it, so I feel like I should love [name]Beatrice[/name] (and [name]Hero[/name]–I actually do love [name]Hero[/name], but it’s more of a GP love), but I just don’t. If I wanted to name two of my daughters after [name]Shakespeare[/name] characters, though, they would be [name]Viola[/name] and [name]Hero[/name], I just love their noble strength and femininity, as far as [name]Shakespeare[/name] characters, I think they’re probably as good of a role model as you’d get.

I feel like I should like [name]Romeo[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name], seeing that I love so many of [name]Shakespeare[/name]'s plays, but I just don’t. The play feels overdone, and by association, both [name]Romeo[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name] feel a bit cheesy and overglorified to me. I do sort of see the appeal in [name]Juliet[/name], though, it is a lovely name.

8

Favourites (just love the names, not that I’d use them):

[name]Rosaline[/name]
[name]Hero[/name]
[name]Phebe[/name]
[name]Imogen[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]
[name]Nerissa[/name]
[name]Nell[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]

[name]Ferdinand[/name]
[name]Alonso[/name]
[name]Tybalt[/name]
[name]Hal[/name] for [name]Henry[/name]
[name]Edmund[/name]
[name]Corin[/name]
[name]Prospero[/name]
[name]Timon[/name]

If we’re going for awesome character names, then I nominate Mistress Quickly, Dogberry, [name]Puck[/name], Touchstone, Dolabella, and Banquo :slight_smile:

9

I always joke with my other lit friends that having a [name]Sebastian[/name] and a [name]Viola[/name] would have been too strange, so we named her [name]Violet[/name] instead. :wink:

A few years ago we had a cat named [name]Tybalt[/name], you know “the king of the cats”. :wink:

10

Many of these are either GP names or names I can’t use because I know someone with the name, or the character “owns” the name, but a few of them are on my maybe list. * = maybe list

[name]Balthasar[/name]
[name]Benedick[/name] (prefer [name]Benedict[/name])
[name]Caliban[/name]
[name]Cato[/name]
[name]Christopher[/name]
[name]Cinna[/name]
[name]Corin[/name]
[name]Ferdinand[/name]*
[name]Fenton[/name]*
[name]Francis[/name]
[name]Frederick[/name]
[name]Gregory[/name]*
[name]Grey[/name]
[name]Griffith[/name]*
Laertes
[name]Lysander[/name]*
[name]Morgan[/name]
[name]Nathaniel[/name]
[name]Nicholas[/name]
[name]Oberon[/name]
[name]Oliver[/name]*
[name]Oswald[/name]
[name]Osrick[/name]
[name]Peter[/name]*
Petruchio
[name]Quintus[/name]
[name]Robin[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]
Seyward
Shylock
[name]Talbot[/name]
Thaliard*
[name]Theseus[/name]
[name]Tybalt[/name]
[name]Valentine[/name]

[name]Bianca[/name]*
[name]Cassandra[/name]
[name]Celia[/name]
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Desdemona[/name]
Hecate
[name]Hermia[/name]*
[name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Imogen[/name]
[name]Jessica[/name]
[name]Katherine[/name]
[name]Margaret[/name]*
[name]Marina[/name]
[name]Miranda[/name]*
[name]Nerissa[/name]
[name]Octavia[/name]*
[name]Olivia[/name]
[name]Ophelia[/name]*
[name]Regan[/name]
[name]Rosaline[/name]
[name]Tamora[/name]
Thaisa*
[name]Titania[/name]
[name]Viola[/name]*

11

Oh boy, Shakespeare’s works are some of the main sources for names I like, so this will be a long post.

[name]Ariel[/name], in The Tempest.
[name]Arthur[/name], in King John.
[name]Audrey[/name], in As You Like It.
[name]Bianca[/name], in The Taming of the Shrew.
[name]Cassandra[/name], in Troilus and Cressida.
[name]Cathness[/name], in Macbeth.
[name]Cordelia[/name], in King Lear.
[name]Cornelius[/name], in Hamlet.
[name]Cressida[/name], in Troilus and Cressida.
[name]Dionyza[/name], in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
[name]Helena[/name], All’s Well That Ends Well and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
[name]Hermione[/name], in The Winter’s Tale.
[name]Iago[/name], in Othello.
[name]Imogen[/name], in Cymbeline.
[name]Jessica[/name], in The Merchant of Venice.
[name]Juno[/name], in The Tempest.
[name]Katherine[/name], in The Taming of the Shrew
[name]Luciana[/name], in The Comedy of Errors
[name]Marina[/name], in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
[name]Nathaniel[/name], in Love’s Labour’s Lost.
[name]Octavia[/name], in Antony and Cleopatra.
[name]Olivia[/name], in Twelfth Night.
[name]Ophelia[/name], in Hamlet
[name]Robin[/name], in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
[name]Sebastian[/name], in Twelfth Night.
[name]Viola[/name], in Twelfth Night.

12

I love [name]Cordelia[/name]! I don’t have the courage to use [name]Cordelia[/name], but it is lovely. [name]Rosalind[/name] is also beautiful!

13

I also love your favorites! I share your thoughts about [name]Portia[/name]-I think that some people would be a little more likely to spell it [name]Portia[/name] because of [name]Portia[/name] de [name]Rossi[/name]. But I hate the fact that most will probably hear [name]Portia[/name] and spell it [name]Porsche[/name]. I’ve never been a fan of parents giving their children names of recognizable brands (like [name]Mercedes[/name], [name]Chanel[/name], and [name]Armani[/name]) and [name]Porsche[/name] is no exception.

14

You basically just named every Shakespearean name I love, ha!

15

I love how much you love [name]Shakespeare[/name]! Before Nameberry, I had no idea that [name]Olivia[/name] was a Shakespearean name. However, you have inspired me to go read Twelfth [name]Night[/name]!

I also prefer [name]Violet[/name] to [name]Viola[/name]. I haven’t read A Midsummer [name]Night[/name]'s [name]Dream[/name] yet, but I do love [name]Helena[/name] in All’s Well That Ends Well. As for [name]Emilia[/name], I adore the name! It’s currently my second favorite choice for a daughter behind [name]Charlotte[/name].

I also like [name]Ophelia[/name], but I agree that her character isn’t the best namesake, especially as someone who has also dealt with depression. I’m not one to take name meanings too literally, but the fact that [name]Ophelia[/name] means help bothers me a little.

On the Much [name]Ado[/name] About Nothing note,it’s actually next in the Globe on Screen series. I believe it starts playing in certain theaters on [name]October[/name] 23. I see what you’re saying about [name]Beatrice[/name]. I’m more of a [name]Beatrix[/name] fan myself, and I think you are too, right? [name]Beatrice[/name] just doesn’t appeal to me as much as [name]Beatrix[/name].

I also share your thoughts about [name]Romeo[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name]. I’m kind of tired of [name]Romeo[/name] and [name]Juliet[/name]. [name]Juliet[/name] is a lovely name, but personally I’d probably only use it as a middle name.

16

I love all of the names at the bottom of your list-they are definitely awesome! I like the idea of [name]Timon[/name], but the first thing that comes to mind is The [name]Lion[/name] [name]King[/name]. I love that movie, but I’d rather people not think of a meercat first.

17

I think I’ve said this before, but I adore all of your kids’ names.
[name]Sebastian[/name] and [name]Viola[/name] would be a little awkward for siblings, haha. I love that you went for [name]Violet[/name], though!

The part about [name]Tybalt[/name] made me laugh! I remember meeting a woman years ago named [name]Mary[/name], and she had a dog named [name]Pippin[/name]. I thought she was the coolest person for doing that. :slight_smile:

18

I also share a lot of your favorites. I definitely prefer [name]Benedict[/name] to [name]Benedick[/name] (love [name]Benedict[/name] Cumberbatch) and have a soft spot for [name]Lysander[/name].As for girl names, a lot of them are all guilty pleasures, but I could see myself using [name]Celia[/name] or [name]Margaret[/name].

19

I love so many of the names on your list! [name]Audrey[/name],[name]Helena[/name],[name]Cressida[/name],[name]Olivia[/name],[name]Imogen[/name], and [name]Sebastian[/name] are all favorites of mine.