I was trying to find a name for two minor characters in my novel; I don’t think they will make any more than a fleeting appearance, but even so, I want to them to have the right sort of name, and a name which would be ‘normal’ for when they were born. It would be unrealistic having a name like Kourtney for a woman born in 1960, where as for a baby born in 2006 it might be perfect. So, for these two characters, who happen to be twin girls born in the 1940’s I wanted them to have matching first names so i chose Marianne and Sally-Anne, and then thought their mother might have wanted a more fancy name for their middle name, and might have chosen a Shakespearian heroine.
I tried to think of Shakespearian heroines and my mind went a blank, so I looked them up and very soon settled on Juliet and Rosalind… However when I was looking down the lists I found, although there were many names I knew, obviously , having studied and taught Shakespeare, I was rather surprised at how many I didn’t know!
Here is a little quiz… which I am sure you will get right… who are these Shakespearian women and what plays do they appear in?
- Porcia Catonis
- Charmion
- Eleanor
- Emilia
- Margery Jourdemayne
- Maria
- Mariana
- Rosaline
- Virgilia
- Volumnia
Filed under: Names, Naming, Raddy and Syl Tagged: characters, Desdemona, Juliet, names, naming, Ophelia, Shakespeare Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Clik here to view.
