There is an illustration of William Shakespeare and the title is 150+ Shakespeare names

Shakespeare wrote the famous line “What is in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Old Will loved to use unique names and even created some of his own. Here is a sampling of Shakespearean names categorized by work. If you’re a Shakespeare fan, or just an avid theater-goer, you might want to consider these character names when choosing a name for your baby. Which names are your favorite?

All’s Well that Ends Well

As You Like It

Comedy of Errors

Cymbeline

Hamlet

King Lear

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Macbeth

Measure for Measure

Merchant of Venice

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Much Ado About Nothing

Othello

Romeo & Juliet

Taming of the Shrew

The Tempest

Timon of Athens

Twelfth Night

Two Gentlemen of Verona

Winter’s Tale

What are your impressions of these Shakespearean names? Join us in our Facebook Group to chat about them!

Photo of Kees Andersen smiling

Kees Andersen (they/them) is a longtime BabyNames.com member and content creator for the site. They first became interested in names when researching for stories they were writing as a young child and it snowballed into a lifelong passion. Kees attended Western Washington University and majored in history, which helped inspire a love of historical names.

Kees resides in Washington state with husband Peyton and two cats Nimue and Caspian. In their spare time they love to travel, read, fawn over their cats, and take photos.