The world of celebrity baby-naming is an odd and occasionally alarming one. But we have to say, the latest trend is one we can get down with: Both Neil Patrick Harris and the Beckhams named their baby daughters Harper, after the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. And it got us thinking about other literature-inspired names that might be sweeping the ranks soon. Maybe Eudora will make a comeback in homage to Miss Welty? Perhaps Huck will sweep the naming registers? After all, the current number one names — Isabella and Jacob — have the Twilight series to thank. Below, our abridged list of literary baby names and what they mean.
Anna
Virtuous, but very jealous. Has difficulty changing her career
Literary sources: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Anna Christie by Eugene O’Neill
Anton
Studious, ambitious, and dedicated. Kind of creepy
Literary sources: Anton Chekhov, Anton LaVey, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Atticus
A folk hero, willing to stand up for someone else
Literary sources: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Keeper by Greg Rucka
Auden
Intelligent, detached, a world traveler
Literary source: W.H. Auden
Beckett
Bright, analytic, often frustrated, delights in the absurd
Literary source: Samuel Beckett
Benjy
Has difficulty dealing with people, emotionally perceptive, loves the outdoors
Literary source: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
Boo
Reclusive, lonely, good-hearted
Literary source: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Cormac
Southern, shy, guards his personal life
Literary source: Cormac McCarthy
Daisy
Flighty, beautiful, loves money
Literary source: The Great Gatsby
Emma
Quick-witted, lively, pretty, a little spoiled
Literary source: Emma by Jane Austen
Ernest
Handsome, a wastrel, loves hunting and driving
Literary sources: Ernest Hemingway, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Eudora
Well-read, grounded, warm
Literary source: Eudora Welty
Eugene
A pessimist, lyrical, nervous
Literary sources: Eugene O’Neill, Eugenio Montale
Flannery
Religious, loves peacocks, has difficulties with her health
Literary source: Flannery O’Connor
Florence
Sexually repressed, has serious daddy issues
Literary sources: Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens, On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Ford
Exalted, jealous, a womanizing rake
Literary sources: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
George
Politically active, clever, dramatic
Literary sources: George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw
Gulliver
Adventurous, pioneering, unlucky
Literary source: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Gustav
Philosophical, scrupulous, serious
Literary sources: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, Gustave Flaubert
Harper
Brilliant, Southern, a recluse
Literary sources: Harper Lee
Herman
Under-appreciated in his lifetime, bearded, obsessed with detail
Literary source: Herman Melville
Hester
Courageous, scorned, socially repressed
Literary source: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Holden
Intelligent, angsty, rebellious, ruthless
Literary sources: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Homer
Poetic, mysterious, beloved
Literary sources: Homer, The Cider House Rules by John Irving
Huck
A fun-loving vagabond, carefree, brave
Literary source: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Humbert
Romantic, weak, lecherous
Literary source: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Ishmael
Obsessive, brooding, dark
Literary source: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Jay
New money, has a secret past, good-hearted
Literary source: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Jean-Paul
Well-spoken, smart, but a terrible boyfriend
Literary source: Jean-Paul Sartre
Jim
Shrewd, polite, friendly
Literary source: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Leopold
A chameleon, loves sweetbreads, tolerant
Literary source: Ulysses by James Joyce
Lily
Sweet, hesitant, selfless
Literary sources: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Meg
Beautiful, responsible, happy
Literary source: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Molly, Mollie
Self-centered and vain or faithful but frigid
Literary sources: Ulysses by James Joyce, Animal Farm by George Orwell
Myrtle
Duplicitous, annoying, a downer
Literary sources: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Ophelia
Disheveled, melancholy, passionate, mad
Literary source: Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Oscar
Flamboyant, intellectual, fashionable
Literary source: Oscar Wilde
Roald
Has a dark sense of humor and a fabulous imagination
Literary source: Roald Dahl
Romeo
Sweet, young, and doomed
Literary source: Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare
Rose of Sharon
Fragile, fertile, selfless
Literary source: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Sal
Reckless, restless, on a perpetual search for kicks
Literary source: On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Salman
Precise, sweeping, politically active
Literary source: Salman Rushdie
Stephen
Has an eye for the grotesque, outspoken, intense
Literary sources: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Stephen Crane, Stephen King
Tom
A rambunctious young lad or the source of slave-related stereotypes
Literary sources: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Truman
Loves parties, charming, quippy
Literary source: Truman Capote
Virginia
Anxious, smart, moody
Literary source: Virginia Woolf
Willa
Nostalgic, serious, a loner
Literary source: Willa Cather
William
Masterful, groundbreaking, prone to many vices
Literary sources: William Shakespeare, William Faulkner, William S. Borroughs
Yossarian
Paranoid, compulsive, resourceful
Literary source: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Zola
Liberal, leftist, sharp, successful
Literary source: Emile Zola