21 Shakespearean baby names that are just as beautiful as they are old fashioned
So we talked about what Disney names we’re going to name our babies, but now let’s jump back a few centuries to the time of Shakespeare. We often forget what an influence the Bard had on modern language — “fancy free,” “devil incarnate,” “break the ice,” “heart of gold,” all of those are terms he invented. What we also don’t pay nearly enough attention to is the fact that Shakespeare’s plays are brimming over with beautiful names. Some of those names are definitely getting put right into the “baby names” spreadsheet we’ve had going since middle school. Here are just a few Shakespearean names we’re loving. (Note, Romeo and Juliet won’t be on this list because, we figure, you totally know those two names already.)
1. Bianca, the beautiful and admired younger sister in Taming of the Shrew.
2. Imogen, the daughter to the king in Cymbeline.
3. Corin, the wise, old shepherd in As You Like It.
4. Duncan, the king who is murdered by Macbeth in Macbeth. Still a great name!
5. Camillo, the king’s right-hand man and advisor in The Winter’s Tale.
6. Celia, one of the main character’s in As You Like It.
7. Rosalind, another of the main characters in As You Like It.
8. Fenton, a young gentleman in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
9. Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and most beloved daughter in King Lear.
10. Hero, Leonato’s daughter in Much Ado About Nothing.
11. Lennox, a nobleman in Macbeth.
12. Cassandra, a prophetess in Troilus and Cressida.
13. Lavinia, Titus’ daughter in Titus Andronicus.
14. Philo, a Roman soldier in Antony and Cleopatra.
15. Ophelia, a noblewoman and Prince Hamlet’s potential wife in Hamlet.
16. Shaw, a doctor in Richard III.
17. Marina, daughter of Pericles, she was born at sea during a tempest in Pericles.
18. Regan, Lear’s second daughter in King Lear.
19. Silvia, Valentine’s love in Two Gentlemen of Verona.
20. Viola, the heroine and protagonist of Twelfth Knight.
