Heroine Names: Worthy Women with Notable Names, Part 2: Cultural Icons

Dec 5, 2025 6:38 AM

　　We looked at trailblazing women in Part One of this blog yesterday—bold and courageous achievers who would prove worthy namesakes for a daughter. Now we turn to those with major accomplishments in the arts—a varied mix of writers, artists, and musicians of the far and fairly recent past—many of whom seem to have appropriately creative names—whether they were born with them or not.

　　Again, remember that the name’s the thing here—so sorry, Mary Cassatt and Elizabeth Barrett Browning–not this time.

　　WRITERS

　　AGATHA Christie

　　ANAIS Nin

　　APHRA Behn (also seen on the trailblazer list)

　　AYN Rand

　　CARSON (born Lula) McCullers

　　CHARLOTTE Bronte

　　COLETTE (born Sidonie–Gabrielle Collette)

　　DJUNA Barnes

　　EDITH Wharton

　　EUDORA Welty

　　FLANNERY (born Mary) O’Connor

　　FREYA Stark

　　GWENDOLYN Brooks

　　HARPER (born Nelle) Lee

　　IRIS (born Jean) Murdoch

　　ISABELLE Allende

　　ISAK Dinesen (born Karen Blixen)

　　IVY Compton-Burnett

　　JESSAMYN (born Mary) West

　　JAMAICA (born Elaine) Kincaid

　　LETITIA Landon

　　LOUISA May Alcott

　　MAEVE Binchy

　　MAYA Angelou (born Margueritte Johnson)

　　NADINE Gordimer

　　NATALIA Ginzburg

　　PENELOPE Fitzgerald

　　RUMER (born Margaret) Godden

　　SAPPHO

　　TILLIE Olsen

　　URSULA Le Guin

　　VIRGINIA Woolf

　　VITA Sackville-West

　　WILLA Cather

　　ZADIE (born Sadie) Smith

　　ZORA Neale Hurston

　　ARTISTS

　　ARTEMISIA Gentileschi

　　BEATRIX Potter

　　BERENICE Abbott

　　CAMILLE Claudel

　　DOROTHEA Lange

　　FRIDA Kahlo

　　GEORGIA O’Keeffe

　　IMOGEN Cunningham

　　MARISOL

　　ROMAINE Brooks

　　ROSA Bonheur

　　ROSEALBA Carriera

　　SONIA Delaunay

　　TAMARA de Lempicka

　　MUSICIANS AND DANCERS

　　ADELINA Patti

　　ALBERTA Hunter

　　ALESSANDRA Ferri

　　ALLEGRA Kent

　　BILLIE Holiday

　　CECILIA Bartoli

　　CLARA Schumann

　　DINAH Washington

　　ELLA Fitzgerald

　　ETTA James

　　FREDERICA von Stade

　　GELSEY Kirkland

　　ISADORA Duncan

　　JOSEPHINE Baker

　　KIRI Te Kanawa

　　LENA Horne

　　LEONTYNE Price

　　LOIE Fuller

　　MONSERRAT Caballe

　　MAHALIA Jackson

　　MARGOT Fonteyn

　　NADIA Boulanger

　　NINA Simone

　　PIERINA Legnani (considered the first Prima Ballerina)

　　TAMARA Tourmanova

　　TANAQUIL LeClerq

　　TWYLA Tharp

Previous Article：Family Names: Naming from the Heart Next Article：Heroine Names: Worthy Women with Notable Names, Part I-Trailblazers

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