Edward Gorey names: Basil, Neville, Zillah

Edward Gorey book cover

Author Edward Gorey, born on February 22, 1925, would have been 86 today. To celebrate his birthday, let’s check out the names he used in his most famous book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies (1963):

Boy NamesGirl Names
Basil
Desmond
Ernest
George
Hector
James
Leo
Neville
Quentin
Titus
Victor
Xerxes
Yorick
Amy
Clara
Fanny
Ida
Kate
Maud
Olive
Prue
Rhoda
Susan
Una
Winnie
Zillah

He used interesting (sometimes odd) names in his many other books/stories as well, such as Ortenzia, Gertrúdis, Jasper, Ambrogio, Herakleitos, Agnes and Basil in The Blue Aspic (1968), Embley and Yewbert in The Epiplectic Bicycle (1969), Lambert, Amanda, Augustus, Emily and Neville in The Dwindling Party (1982), and Theoda in The Tuning Fork (1983).

Do you happen to own anything by Gorey? If so, please comment with a few character names!

Image: Cover of The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey

3 thoughts on “Edward Gorey names: Basil, Neville, Zillah

  1. I love Edward Gorey. I have a couple of his books, including the delightful Gashlycrumb Tinies. And the Amphigorey which includes the memorably named Clavius Earbrass.

    Although I never, ever, hear the name Basil without mentally adding ‘…was assaulted by bears’, I think ‘N is for Neville who died of ennui’ is my favorite of all the Tinies.

    Mr Gorey had a definite affinity for names – old fashioned, odd or made up. He even used them for himself, among the aliases he used for his writings was Ogdred Weary.

  2. @Victoria Anne Weinstein – Thank you!

    @Ellyn – I love the concept of dying of ennui. So hilarious. :) I also love the idea of Titus flying into bits — that’s probably my favorite illustration of the bunch.

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