This page lists 61 literary boy names that start with P, from “Pip” to “Pryderi”. The names come from novels, plays, epics, myths and children’s stories, and they cover many languages and eras. You can use them to name a baby, a pet or a character in your own story, or to find a name with a good tale behind it.
Literary boy names are male names taken from characters in books, poems, plays and legends. Many of them carry a story that readers already know and love. For example, “Pip” is the humble orphan hero of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, and the name still sounds small and friendly today.
Below you’ll find the table with the name, origin, pronunciation, meaning and description of each entry.
Name: the literary boy name itself, listed alphabetically so you can scan quickly and find the ones that catch your eye.
Origin: the language or culture the name comes from, which helps you see whether it is Greek, English, Welsh, Russian or something else.
Pronunciation: a simple phonetic guide with the stressed syllable in capitals, so you can say each name with confidence, even the unusual ones.
Meaning: what the name means or where it comes from, so you can pick one that fits the feeling or idea you want.
Description: the character who made the name famous, with the book or story they come from, so you know the tale behind each name.
Literary boy names
| Name | Origin | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pip | English | PIP | Short for Philip, “lover of horses” |
| Pippin | Old French / English | PIP-in | Little one, or a type of apple |
| Peter | Greek | PEE-ter | Rock or stone |
| Percy | Norman French | PUR-see | From Perci, a place in Normandy |
| Percival | Old French | PUR-sih-vul | Pierce the valley |
| Parzival | German | PAR-tsee-fahl | Variant of Percival |
| Peregrine | Latin | PEH-reh-grin | Traveler or wanderer |
| Phileas | Greek | FIL-ee-us | Friend or lover |
| Philip | Greek | FIL-ip | Lover of horses |
| Phineas | Hebrew / Greek | FIN-ee-us | Mouth of brass, or oracle |
| Pierre | French | pee-AIR | Rock or stone |
| Pyotr | Russian | PYOH-ter | Rock or stone |
| Pavel | Slavic | PAH-vel | Small or humble |
| Paul | Latin | PAWL | Small or humble |
| Pablo | Spanish | PAH-bloh | Small or humble |
| Pascal | French | pas-KAL | Relating to Easter |
| Pelham | English | PEL-um | Homestead of Pella |
| Pelleas | Old French | PEL-ee-us | Uncertain; possibly from Greek pelos, “dark” |
| Perseus | Greek | PUR-see-us | Possibly “to destroy” |
| Priam | Greek | PRY-um | Redeemed or ransomed |
| Paris | Greek | PAIR-is | Uncertain; possibly “wallet” |
| Patroclus | Greek | pa-TROH-klus | Glory of the father |
| Philoctetes | Greek | fil-ok-TEE-teez | Lover of possession |
| Polyphemus | Greek | pol-ih-FEE-mus | Much spoken of |
| Pollux | Greek | POL-uks | Very sweet, from Polydeuces |
| Pygmalion | Greek | pig-MAYL-yun | Uncertain, possibly Phoenician |
| Pyramus | Greek | PIR-uh-mus | Possibly from the river Pyramos |
| Prospero | Italian / Latin | PROS-puh-roh | Fortunate or prosperous |
| Puck | English | PUCK | Mischievous spirit |
| Polonius | Latin | puh-LOH-nee-us | Polish, possibly “of Poland” |
| Pistol | English | PIS-tul | From the weapon |
| Petruchio | Italian | peh-TROO-kee-oh | Little Peter |
| Pandarus | Greek | PAN-dar-us | Possibly “all-bright” |
| Pinocchio | Italian | pin-OH-kee-oh | Pine nut |
| Pangloss | Greek | PAN-glos | All tongue |
| Pickwick | English | PIK-wik | Pike village, or a farm by a pike |
| Pecksniff | English | PEK-snif | Invented surname, from “peck” and “sniff” |
| Poirot | French / Belgian | PWAH-roh | From poireau, “leek” |
| Porthos | French | POR-tohs | Possibly from Greek portho, “to destroy” |
| Pierce | English | PEERS | Rock, a form of Piers |
| Piers | Middle English | PEERZ | Rock or stone |
| Pnin | Russian | NEEN | Surname, no direct meaning |
| Pi | Hindu / Greek | PY | Short for Piscine; also the Greek letter |
| Peeta | Invented | PEE-tuh | Likely from “pita,” a flatbread |
| Percy Jackson | English | PUR-see JAK-sun | Percy means “from Perci” |
| Peter Pan | English / Greek | PEE-ter PAN | Rock, plus Greek god of the wild |
| Peter Rabbit | English | PEE-ter RAB-it | Rock, plus the animal |
| Pooh | English | POO | Possibly from a swan named Pooh |
| Piglet | English | PIG-let | Young pig |
| Piggy | English | PIG-ee | Nickname from “pig” |
| Pilgrim | English | PIL-grim | Traveler to a holy place |
| Phoebus | Greek | FEE-bus | Bright or radiant |
| Pheidippides | Greek | fy-DIP-ih-deez | Sparer of horses |
| Pantagruel | French | pan-tag-roo-EL | Invented, “all-thirsty” |
| Paolo | Italian | PAH-oh-loh | Small or humble |
| Pozzo | Italian | POT-soh | Well or pit |
| Pangborn | English | PANG-born | Surname meaning “pine stream” |
| Prince Myshkin | Russian | prins MISH-kin | Myshkin means “little mouse” |
| Pelagius | Greek | pel-AY-jee-us | Of the sea |
| Pwyll | Welsh | PWITH | Prudence or wisdom |
| Pryderi | Welsh | pruh-DEH-ree | Care or anxiety |
Descriptions
Pip
The orphan hero of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, whose rise from village boy to gentleman drives the novel. The name suggests a small, humble beginning.
Pippin
Peregrin “Pippin” Took is the cheerful, mischievous young hobbit in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings who grows into a brave soldier of Gondor.
Peter
A classic literary name, from the apostle Peter to Peter Pan and Peter Rabbit. It appears across children’s classics and adult fiction alike.
Percy
Best known as Percy Jackson in Rick Riordan’s fantasy series, and as Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel. Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley also carried it.
Percival
A Knight of the Round Table who first appears in Chretien de Troyes’s Arthurian romances and is linked to the quest for the Holy Grail.
Parzival
The hero of Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic, a naive young knight who learns compassion on his path to the Grail.
Peregrine
Used for Peregrine Pickle in Tobias Smollett’s novel and for Peregrin Took in Tolkien. It suits adventurous, wandering characters.
Phileas
Phileas Fogg is the punctual, unflappable English gentleman in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days who bets he can circle the globe.
Philip
A long-standing literary name, borne by Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler’s detective novels and Philip Carey in Maugham’s Of Human Bondage.
Phineas
Phineas Finn is the Irish politician in Trollope’s political novels, and Phineas appears in John Knowles’s A Separate Peace as the charismatic athlete.
Pierre
Pierre Bezukhov is one of the central figures of Tolstoy’s War and Peace, a clumsy, searching aristocrat looking for meaning in life.
Pyotr
The Russian form of Peter, used for many characters in Russian literature, including Pyotr Verkhovensky in Dostoevsky’s Demons.
Pavel
Used for characters in Russian and Czech fiction, including Pavel Vlasov, the revolutionary son in Maxim Gorky’s novel Mother.
Paul
Paul Atreides is the young hero of Frank Herbert’s Dune, who becomes the messianic leader Muad’Dib. Paul Morel in Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers is another notable bearer.
Pablo
The Spanish form of Paul, found in Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, where Pablo is a conflicted guerrilla leader.
Pascal
Recalls the philosopher and writer Blaise Pascal, and appears as a given name for characters in modern French and European fiction.
Pelham
Pelham is the title character of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1828 novel, a witty, fashionable young man who gets drawn into a murder mystery.
Pelleas
A knight in Arthurian legend who loves the lady Ettarre. Maurice Maeterlinck’s play Pelleas and Melisande made the name widely known.
Perseus
The Greek hero who beheaded Medusa and rescued Andromeda. He is a central figure of classical myth and of countless retellings.
Priam
The aged king of Troy in Homer’s Iliad, who begs Achilles for the body of his son Hector in one of the epic’s most moving scenes.
Paris
The Trojan prince in Homer’s Iliad whose abduction of Helen sparked the Trojan War. A different Paris is Juliet’s suitor in Romeo and Juliet.
Patroclus
Achilles’s closest companion in the Iliad, whose death drives Achilles back into battle. He is the narrator of Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles.
Philoctetes
The archer abandoned on an island because of a festering wound, then summoned back to win the Trojan War. He is the subject of a tragedy by Sophocles.
Polyphemus
The one-eyed Cyclops blinded by Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey. He is one of the most famous monsters in all of literature.
Pollux
One of the twin sons of Leda in Greek myth, paired with his brother Castor. The twins appear in poetry from Homer to Macaulay.
Pygmalion
The sculptor in Ovid’s Metamorphoses who falls in love with his own statue. The myth inspired George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion.
Pyramus
The doomed lover in Ovid’s tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, which Shakespeare parodied in the play-within-a-play of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Prospero
The exiled Duke of Milan and magician in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, who controls the island with his art and eventually forgives his enemies.
Puck
The impish fairy servant of Oberon in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, who causes chaos with a love potion and delights in tricks.
Polonius
The long-winded royal advisor in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, father of Ophelia and Laertes. He is remembered for the line “to thine own self be true.”
Pistol
A swaggering, boastful soldier in Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor, who speaks in bombastic, borrowed phrases.
Petruchio
The bold gentleman from Verona who sets out to marry and “tame” Katherina in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
Pandarus
The go-between of Troilus and Cressida in Chaucer and Shakespeare. His name gave English the word “pander.”
Pinocchio
The wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy in Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio. His nose grows whenever he lies.
Pangloss
Dr. Pangloss is the endlessly optimistic philosopher in Voltaire’s Candide, insisting that this is “the best of all possible worlds” despite constant disaster.
Pickwick
Samuel Pickwick is the kindly, naive founder of the Pickwick Club in Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers, his first great success.
Pecksniff
The hypocritical architect in Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit. His name became a byword for smug, false piety.
Poirot
Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie’s fastidious Belgian detective, known for his waxed mustache and his “little grey cells.”
Porthos
The strong, vain musketeer in Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, loved for his appetite, loyalty and enormous strength.
Pierce
Used in English literature as a given name and variant of Piers, as in the narrator of Langland’s Piers Plowman.
Piers
The honest laborer who guides the dreamer in William Langland’s medieval allegory Piers Plowman, one of the great works of Middle English poetry.
Pnin
Timofey Pnin is the awkward, endearing Russian emigre professor in Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Pnin.
Pi
Pi Patel is the narrator of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, a boy who survives a shipwreck on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.
Peeta
Peeta Mellark is the baker’s son who becomes Katniss’s ally and love interest in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games.
Percy Jackson
The teenage son of Poseidon at the heart of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which retells Greek myth in a modern setting.
Peter Pan
The boy who never grows up in J. M. Barrie’s play and novel, living in Neverland with the Lost Boys and fighting Captain Hook.
Peter Rabbit
The mischievous rabbit in Beatrix Potter’s picture books who sneaks into Mr. McGregor’s garden and loses his blue jacket.
Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh is the honey-loving bear in A. A. Milne’s children’s stories, living in the Hundred Acre Wood with his friends.
Piglet
The small, timid pig who is Pooh’s best friend in A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. He proves brave when it counts.
Piggy
The bespectacled, intelligent boy in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, who relies on reason and the conch while the group falls apart.
Pilgrim
Billy Pilgrim is the time-traveling soldier in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, who becomes “unstuck in time” after surviving Dresden.
Phoebus
The dashing captain of the archers in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, who is admired by Esmeralda despite his shallow character.
Pheidippides
The Athenian runner who carried news of the Greek victory from Marathon, and a debt-ridden son in Aristophanes’s comedy The Clouds.
Pantagruel
The good-natured giant in Rabelais’s satirical Gargantua and Pantagruel, known for his huge appetite and wit.
Paolo
Paolo Malatesta is the doomed lover of Francesca in Dante’s Inferno, condemned to drift forever in the whirlwind of the second circle.
Pozzo
The domineering traveler who leads his servant Lucky on a rope in Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot.
Pangborn
Used as a surname-turned-given-name in modern fiction, typically for a minor character in comic and mystery novels.
Prince Myshkin
The gentle, guileless hero of Dostoevsky’s The Idiot, whose goodness and honesty clash with a corrupt society.
Pelagius
A name used for monks, bishops and fictional clerics, notably in medieval and historical fiction of early Christian Britain.
Pwyll
The prince of Dyfed in the Welsh Mabinogion, who trades places with Arawn, king of the otherworld, for a year.
Pryderi
Son of Pwyll and Rhiannon in the Mabinogion, whose birth, loss and recovery form one of the cycle’s central stories.