Here you’ll find 23 Literary girl names that begin with L, organized from “Lalla Rookh” to “Lórien”. They span classic characters, author-coined creations, and myth-inspired names for parents, writers, and literary fans.
Literary girl names that start with L are female names found in poems, novels, plays, and mythic texts. Some, like “Lalla Rookh,” began as poetic creations that later became popular choices for real people.
Below you’ll find the table with Name, Origin, Pronunciation, and Meaning.
Name: The actual literary name as used in the source; you can scan this column to pick favorites at a glance.
Origin: Shows the author, work, and language so you understand where the name appears and its cultural background.
Pronunciation: Gives a simple phonetic respelling so you can say each name confidently and share it correctly.
Meaning: Summarizes etymology or literary significance, helping you weigh symbolism, origin, and suitability for baby or character use.
Literary girl names that start with L
| Name | Source (author, work, year, original language) | Pronunciation (phonetic) | Meaning (etymology or literary significance — max 15 words) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lavinia | Virgil, Aeneid (29–19 BCE), Latin | la-VIN-ee-uh | Roman myth name; etymology uncertain |
| Leda | Ovid, Metamorphoses (~8 CE), Latin | LEE-duh | Greek myth queen of Sparta; mythological origin |
| Lysistrata | Aristophanes, Lysistrata (411 BCE), Ancient Greek | lih-sis-TRAH-tah | Army disbander (Greek) |
| Lucretia | Livy, Ab Urbe Condita (~1st century BCE–1st century CE), Latin | loo-KREE-shuh | Roman noblewoman; symbol of chastity and political change |
| Luthien | J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion (1977 pub; earlier drafts), English/Sindarin | LOO-thee-en | Tolkien-created Elvish name; means enchantress |
| Lalla Rookh | Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh (1817), English | LAH-lah ROOK | Orientalist poetic name; Persian-influenced term |
| Lorna | R.D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone (1869), English | LOR-nah | Invented or popularized by Blackmore; regional inspiration |
| Lucasta | Richard Lovelace, “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” (1649), English | loo-KAS-tah | Poetic construct evoking “light” or purity |
| Lamia | John Keats, “Lamia” (1820), English (from Greek myth) | LAY-mee-ah | From Greek myth; serpent-woman enchantress |
| Lorelei | Heinrich Heine, “Die Lorelei” (1824), German | LOHR-uh-lie | Rhine siren figure from German legend and poetry |
| Ligeia | Edgar Allan Poe, “Ligeia” (1838), English | lih-JEE-uh | Greek-derived meaning “clear-toned” or “shrill” |
| Laurencia | Lope de Vega, Fuenteovejuna (~1614), Spanish | lau-ren-SEE-ah | Dramatic name from Golden Age Spanish drama |
| Lilith | Alphabet of Ben Sira (10th century CE), Hebrew; earlier Mesopotamian myth | LIH-lith | Ancient night-demon/first-woman figure in myth |
| Lucina | Ovid, Fasti (1st century CE), Latin | loo-CHEE-nah | Roman goddess of childbirth; literary deity name |
| Liriope | Ovid, Metamorphoses (~8 CE), Latin | lih-REE-oh-pee | Nymph name; mother of Narcissus |
| Lórien | J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), English/Quenya | LOR-ee-en | Tolkien’s mythic realm name; evokes dreams and rest |
| Leucippe | Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon (~2nd century CE), Ancient Greek | loo-SIP-ee | Greek novel heroine name; “white horse” roots |
| Leucothea | Homer, Odyssey (~8th century BCE), Ancient Greek | loo-koh-THEE-uh | White goddess sea-deity name |
| Leuconoe | Horace, Odes (1st century BCE), Latin | loo-koh-NOH-ee | Possibly “clear-minded” or “white-minded” (Latin/Greek) |
| Laodamia | Greek myth (various classical sources, ancient), Ancient Greek/Latin | lay-uh-DAY-mee-uh | Mythological name associated with devotion and tragedy |
| Lyonesse | Arthurian legend; Tennyson references, Idylls of the King (1859), English | ly-OH-ness | Mythic, sunken Arthurian land-name |
| Lysistrate (variant) | Aristophanes, Lysistrata (411 BCE), Ancient Greek | lih-sis-TRAH-tah | Variant of Lysistrata; “army disbander” (Greek) |
| Lunete (literary character) | Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain (12th century), Old French | loo-NET | Arthurian literary handmaiden name |
Descriptions
Lavinia
Aeneas’s destined bride in Roman epic; symbolizes duty, fate, and the founding myths of Rome.
Leda
Mother of Helen and Clytemnestra, famous for Zeus’s swan transformation; frequent subject in poetry and art.
Lysistrata
The classical comedic heroine who organizes women to end a war by withholding sex; emblem of satirical political protest.
Lucretia
Her tragic rape and suicide spur Rome’s shift from monarchy to republic; a literary symbol of honor and political rupture.
Luthien
An Elvish princess central to Tolkien’s greatest love story; a lyrical, mythic name for fans of high fantasy.
Lalla Rookh
Title heroine of Moore’s popular narrative poem, evoking 19th-century romanticized visions of the East.
Lorna
Romantic heroine whose name, coined or popularized in the novel, became a beloved Victorian given name.
Lucasta
The idealized beloved in Cavalier poetry; the name reads as both intimate and poetic.
Lamia
Keats’s poem reimagines the mythic Lamia as a tragic, magical lover—evokes danger, beauty, and transformation.
Lorelei
Heine’s lyric popularized the Rhine siren; the name suggests enchantment, peril, and river romance.
Ligeia
Poe’s mysterious, learned heroine in a gothic tale of obsession and possible resurrection.
Laurencia
A strong-willed heroine whose story embodies communal justice and resistance in Spain’s classic play.
Lilith
A powerful figure in folklore and later literature, often reclaimed in modern fiction and poetry as independence symbol.
Lucina
Invoked in classical poetry as a protective maternal figure; a name with classical, nurturing resonance.
Liriope
A minor mythic figure tied to Narcissus’s story, used by poets to evoke classical pastoral imagery.
Lórien
Originally a place in Tolkien’s legendarium (Lothlórien), adopted as an ethereal literary-inspired feminine name.
Leucippe
Title heroine of an ancient Greek romance; classical-sounding, romantic, and literary.
Leucothea
A protective sea-goddess who aids Odysseus; used in later poetry to signify salvation at sea.
Leuconoe
Addressed in Horace’s famous carpe diem ode; evokes classical reflection on fate and time.
Laodamia
Appears in multiple classical tales as a devoted, often tragic, wife—used in literature to signify loyal suffering.
Lyonesse
The drowned realm linked to Arthurian romance; as a given-name choice, it conjures melancholy, myth, and romance.
Lysistrate (variant)
Alternate spelling sometimes used in translations; still evokes the comic heroine’s bold political strategy.
Lunete (literary character)
A loyal, clever attendant in medieval romance; a finely literary choice for Arthurian-inspired names.