Baby Name: Dirk

The godfather of Gothic fiction, Edgar Allan Poe, was born 202 years ago today.

He may have been master of the macabre, but he wrote widely — far beyond horror. His other works fall into genres such as humor/satire, science fiction, detective fiction, and adventure fiction.

To celebrate Poe’s birthday, let’s check out some of the character names he used in his short stories, poetry, and longer works:

Girl Names

• Ada, from the poem “Tamerlane” (1827)
• Alessandra, from the play Politian (1835)
• Annabel Lee, from the poem “Annabel Lee” (1849)
• Annie, from the poem “For Annie” (1849) and the short story “Landor’s Cottage” (1849)
• Arabella, from the short story “The Man That Was Used Up” (1839)
• Berenice, from the short story “Berenice” (1835)
• Camille, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Eleonora, from the short story “Eleonora” (1842)
• Ermengarde, from the short story “Eleonora” (1842)
• Estelle, from the short story “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842)
• Eugenie, from the short stories “The Spectacles” (1844) and “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether” (1845)
• Eulalie, from the poem “Eulalie – A Song” (1845)
• Evangeline, from the poem “Evangeline” (1848)
• Fanny, from the poem “Fanny” (1833)
• Grettel, from the short story “The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall” (1835)
• Helen, from the poems “To Helen” (1831) and “To Helen” (1849)
• Ianthe, from the poem “Al Aaraaf” (1829)
• Isabel, from the poem “Fairy-Land” (1829)
• Jacinta, from the play Politian (1835)
• Jane, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Kate, from the short story “Three Sundays in a Week” (1841)
• Kathleen, from the short story “The Man That Was Used Up” (1839)
• Lalage, from the play Politian (1835)
• Lenore, from the poems “Lenore” (1843) and “The Raven” (1845)
• Ligeia, from the poem “Al Aaraaf” (1829) and the short story “Ligeia” (1838)
• Madeline, from the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839)
• Marian, from the short story “The Oblong Box” (1844)
• Marie, from the short story “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842)
• Miranda, from the short story “The Man That Was Used Up” (1839)
• Morella, from the short story “Morella” (1835)
• Pauline, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Psyche, from the short story “A Predicament” (1838)
• Rowena, from the short story “Ligeia” (1838)
• Stephanie, from the short story “The Spectacles” (1844)
• Tabitha, from the piece “How to Write a Blackwood Article” (1838) and the short story “The Man That Was Used Up” (1839)
• Ulalume (rhymes with tomb), from the poem “Ulalume” (1847)
• Una, from the short story “The Colloquy of Monos and Una” (1841)
• Zanthe, from the poem “Al Aaraaf” (1829)

Boy names

• Adolphe, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Adolphus, from the short story “The Spectacles” (1844)
• Alberto, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Alexander, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Alexandre, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Alfonzo, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Andrew, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Angelo, from the poem “Al Aaraaf” (1829)
• Arthur, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) and the short story “Some Words with a Mummy” (1845)
• Auguste, from the short stories “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841), “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842), and “The Purloined Letter” (1844)
• Augustus, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) and the short story “A Tale of the Ragged Mountains” (1844)
• Baldazzar, from the play Politian (1835)
• Barnabas, from the short story “Thou Art the Man” (1844)
• Benito, from the play Politian (1835)
• Charles, from the short story “Thou Art the Man” (1844)
• Cornelius, from the short story “The Oblong Box” (1844)
• Dirk, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)
• Egaeus, from the short story “Berenice” (1835)
• Emmet, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)
• Ernest, from the short story “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” (1845)
• Ethelred, from the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839)
• Fortunato, from the short story “The Cask of Amontillado” (1846)
• Frank, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Frederick, from the short story “Metzengerstein” (1832)
• Gordon, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)
• Hans, from the short story “The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall” (1835)
• Henri, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Isidore, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Israfel, from the poem “Israfel” (1831)
• Jacques, from the short story “The Mystery of Marie Roget” (1842)
• James, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• John, from the short story “The Man That Was Used Up” (1839) and the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Jules, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Julius, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Jupiter, from the short story “The Gold-Bug” (1843)
• Meredith, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Napoleon, from the short story “The Spectacles” (1844)
• Paul, from the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Pedro, from the short story “The Oval Portrait” (1842)
• Peter, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) and the short story “The Business Man” (1840)
• Pierre, from the short story “Bon-Bon” (1832), the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840), and the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841)
• Poindexter, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Politian, from the play Politian (1835)
• Prospero, from the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” (1842)
• Richard, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838)
• Robert, from the novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) and the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840)
• Roderick, from the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839)
• Rupert, from the play Politian (1835)
• Tamerlane, from the poem “Tamerlane” (1827)
• Theodore, from the short story “The Man That Was Used Up” (1839)
• Toby, from the unfinished novel The Journal of Julius Rodman (1840) and the short story “Never Bet the Devil Your Head” (1841)
• Ugo, from the play Politian (1835)
• Victor, from the short story “The Spectacles” (1844)
• William, from the short stories “William Wilson” (1839), “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841), and “The Gold-Bug” (1843)
• Zoilus, from the short story “Shadow – A Parable” (1835)

Though they aren’t character names, Raven and Poe could be added to this list as well, as both are closely associated with Edgar Allan Poe. And both are bird-related, incidentally: the surname Poe can be traced back to the Middle English word for “peacock.”

Which of the above names do you like best? Which would you considering using in real life?

Sources:

• Edgar Allan Poe – Wikipedia
• Fictional Characters in Poe’s Works – Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore
• Mckinley, Richard. A History of British Surnames. New York: Routledge, 2013.

[Latest update: 10/2022]