This page lists 52 literary boy names that start with C, running from “Caleb” to “Cratchit”. The names come from the Bible, Shakespeare, Dickens, Greek myth, Irish legend, and modern fantasy. You can use them to name a baby, pick a character for your own story, or find a reading list by following the name.
Literary boy names are first names borrowed from the heroes, villains, and side characters of books, plays, and poems. Many have lasted for centuries, and a few, like “Cedric,” were invented by an author. Walter Scott coined “Cedric” for his 1819 novel Ivanhoe.
Below you’ll find the table with the name, origin, pronunciation, meaning, and description for each entry.
Name: The first name as it appears in the book, play, or poem. You can scan this alphabetical entry to find the one you like.
Origin: The language or culture the name comes from, such as Latin, Hebrew, or Old English. It helps you see the name’s roots and heritage.
Pronunciation: A simple, sound-it-out guide to saying the name aloud. You can use it to avoid mistakes with unusual names like “Coriolanus” or “Cuchulain.”
Meaning: What the name originally meant in its source language. You can use it to match a name to the personality or values you want.
Description: A short note on the famous character who carries the name and the work where you can meet him. It gives you the literary story behind each choice.
Literary boy names
| Name | Origin | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb | Hebrew | KAY-leb | Faithful, devoted |
| Caliban | Shakespearean (possibly from Arabic or Romani) | KAL-ih-ban | Possibly an anagram of “cannibal” |
| Casper | Persian | KAS-per | Treasurer |
| Cassius | Latin | KASH-us | Hollow, vain |
| Cedric | Old English (coined by Walter Scott) | SED-rik | Bounty, chieftain |
| Charles | Germanic | CHARLZ | Free man |
| Charlie | English | CHAR-lee | Free man |
| Chauncey | Norman French | CHAWN-see | Chance, good fortune |
| Chester | Latin | CHES-ter | Fortress, camp |
| Christian | Latin | KRIS-chun | Follower of Christ |
| Christopher | Greek | KRIS-tuh-fer | Bearer of Christ |
| Claude | Latin | KLAWD | Lame |
| Claudius | Latin | KLAW-dee-us | Lame |
| Clarence | Latin | KLAIR-ens | Illustrious |
| Clark | Old English | KLARK | Scribe, clerk |
| Claudio | Italian (from Latin) | KLOW-dee-oh | Lame |
| Clay | Old English | KLAY | Earth, mortal |
| Clive | Old English | KLYV | Cliff, slope |
| Clifford | Old English | KLIF-erd | Ford by a cliff |
| Colin | Gaelic | KOL-in | Young creature, child |
| Conrad | Germanic | KON-rad | Brave counsel |
| Constantine | Latin | KON-stan-teen | Steadfast |
| Cornelius | Latin | kor-NEEL-yus | Horn |
| Corin | Latin or Greek | KOR-in | Spear, maiden |
| Coriolanus | Latin | kor-ee-oh-LAY-nus | From Corioli |
| Corwin | Old English | KOR-win | Heart’s friend |
| Cosimo | Italian | KOZ-ih-moh | Order, beauty |
| Crispin | Latin | KRIS-pin | Curly-haired |
| Crusoe | English (surname) | KROO-soh | From Kreutznaer, “cross” |
| Cyrano | French (from Greek) | SIR-uh-noh | From Cyrene |
| Cyril | Greek | SIR-il | Lordly |
| Cyrus | Persian | SY-rus | Sun, throne |
| Cuthbert | Old English | KUTH-bert | Famous and bright |
| Cain | Hebrew | KAYN | Acquired, spear |
| Calvin | Latin | KAL-vin | Bald |
| Cam | Scottish Gaelic | KAM | Crooked nose |
| Camillo | Italian (from Latin) | kah-MEE-loh | Attendant at a ceremony |
| Casey | Irish Gaelic | KAY-see | Vigilant |
| Cassian | Latin | KASH-un | Hollow |
| Cato | Latin | KAY-toh | Wise |
| Cadmus | Greek | KAD-mus | He who excels |
| Caspian | Place name (Caspian Sea) | KAS-pee-un | From the Caspian Sea |
| Cecil | Latin | SESS-il | Blind, dim-sighted |
| Chad | Old English | CHAD | Battle, warlike |
| Chip | English | CHIP | Short form of Charles |
| Christy | Irish | KRIS-tee | Follower of Christ |
| Cormac | Irish Gaelic | KOR-mak | Charioteer, son of defilement |
| Cuchulain | Irish Gaelic | koo-HUL-in | Hound of Culann |
| Cuthullin | Gaelic (Ossianic) | koo-HUL-in | Variant of Cuchulain |
| Childe | Middle English | CHYLD | Young noble |
| Crichton | Scottish (surname) | KRY-ton | From Crichton |
| Cratchit | English (surname) | KRATCH-it | Surname of uncertain origin |
Descriptions
Caleb
Caleb Garth is the decent, hardworking estate manager in George Eliot’s Middlemarch. The name also appears in Godwin’s Things as They Are, subtitled The Adventures of Caleb Williams.
Caliban
The wild, enslaved islander in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. He is one of the most debated characters in English literature.
Casper
Casper is the name often given to one of the Three Wise Men, and it appears in many modern novels. It is a rare choice with a gentle, storybook feel.
Cassius
Cassius is the lean and scheming conspirator in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Caesar famously says he has “a lean and hungry look.”
Cedric
Walter Scott invented the name in Ivanhoe for Cedric the Saxon, Ivanhoe’s father. Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter gave it new popularity.
Charles
Charles Darnay is the French émigré who is nearly executed in Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. Charles Ryder narrates Brideshead Revisited.
Charlie
Charlie Bucket is the kind-hearted boy who wins the golden ticket in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie also narrates The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Chauncey
Chauncey Gardiner is the alias of Chance the gardener in Jerzy Kosinski’s Being There. The name also features in Gatsby-era fiction.
Chester
Chester Gould and other pulp authors used the name for dependable sidekicks. Chester Cricket is the musical insect in George Selden’s The Cricket in Times Square.
Christian
Christian is the hero of Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, who journeys toward the Celestial City. Christian de Neuvillette also appears in Cyrano de Bergerac.
Christopher
Christopher Robin is the young boy who plays with Winnie-the-Pooh in A. A. Milne’s stories. Christopher Boone narrates The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Claude
Claude Frollo is the troubled archdeacon in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. The name also appears in Balzac and Zola.
Claudius
Claudius is the scheming uncle and new king in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He is also the title narrator of Robert Graves’s I, Claudius.
Clarence
Clarence the angel earns his wings in the film It’s a Wonderful Life. Shakespeare’s Richard III also features the Duke of Clarence.
Clark
Clark Kent is the mild-mannered alter ego of Superman. The name became a symbol of the ordinary hero in American storytelling.
Claudio
Claudio is the young nobleman wrongly led to doubt his bride in Much Ado About Nothing. He also appears in Measure for Measure.
Clay
Clay Jensen is the narrator in Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why. The name gives off a plain, grounded tone.
Clive
Clive is a frequent English character name, including the sensible narrator of Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam. It also recalls Clive of India.
Clifford
Clifford Chatterley is the wounded aristocrat in D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. The name also belongs to the big red dog in a children’s series.
Colin
Colin Craven is the sickly, secluded boy who recovers in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. Colin Firth brought Darcy to life on screen.
Conrad
Conrad is the tragic hero of Byron’s poem The Corsair. Joseph Conrad, the novelist, also used the name as his pen name.
Constantine
Constantine appears in Chekhov’s The Seagull as Konstantin Treplev, the young playwright. The name carries an imperial, serious weight.
Cornelius
Cornelius Fudge is the Minister of Magic in Harry Potter. Cornelius Vanderbilt-style characters also appear across American novels.
Corin
Corin is the old shepherd in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. He speaks plainly about country life.
Coriolanus
Gaius Marcius Coriolanus is the proud Roman general in Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name. He turns against Rome after being banished.
Corwin
Corwin is the prince of Amber in Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber. It is a popular choice for fantasy heroes.
Cosimo
Cosimo Piovasco di Rondò is the baron who lives in the trees in Italo Calvino’s The Baron in the Trees. The name is closely tied to the Medici family.
Crispin
Crispin is the hero of Avi’s Newbery-winning novel Crispin: The Cross of Lead. It is also the saint’s name invoked in Shakespeare’s Henry V.
Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is the shipwrecked sailor in Daniel Defoe’s novel. The surname has become a given name for adventure-loving boys.
Cyrano
Cyrano de Bergerac is the swordsman and poet with a famously large nose in Edmond Rostand’s play. He is a classic romantic hero.
Cyril
Cyril Connolly and other Bloomsbury-era writers used the name for refined characters. Cyril Fairchild appears in Edwardian fiction as a gentle dreamer.
Cyrus
Cyrus Smith is the engineer in Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island. The name also echoes the Persian king in ancient histories.
Cuthbert
Cuthbert is the schoolboy hero of Christopher Isherwood-era comedy and features in Anne of Green Gables as Matthew Cuthbert, the shy farmer.
Cain
Cain is the first murderer in Genesis and a recurring figure in Byron’s drama Cain and Milton’s Paradise Lost. The name suggests dark, brooding heroes.
Calvin
Calvin is the imaginative six-year-old in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. It is also associated with the theologian John Calvin.
Cam
Cam appears as a short form in many young adult books. Cam Jansen and other detective characters use it.
Camillo
Camillo is the loyal Sicilian lord in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. He helps protect Hermione’s family.
Casey
Casey is the proud slugger in Ernest Thayer’s poem Casey at the Bat. The strikeout at the end made him a baseball legend.
Cassian
Cassian is a name used by fantasy authors, including in Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses. It has an old-world, scholarly sound.
Cato
Cato is the stoic Roman senator in Joseph Addison’s tragedy Cato. The name also appears in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games.
Cadmus
Cadmus is the mythic founder of Thebes who sows dragon’s teeth. He appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Caspian
Prince Caspian is the young Narnian king in C. S. Lewis’s Prince Caspian. The name has become a popular fantasy pick.
Cecil
Cecil Vyse is the snobbish fiancé in E. M. Forster’s A Room with a View. Cecil Palmer is also the radio host in Welcome to Night Vale.
Chad
Chad appears in Mark Twain-era and modern fiction as a straightforward all-American character. In The Ambassadors, Chad Newsome is the young man Strether is sent to retrieve.
Chip
Chip is the small teacup in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, based on the French tale. He is a sweet, cheerful boy.
Christy
Christy Brown is the Irish writer in My Left Foot. Christy Mahon is the hero of J. M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World.
Cormac
Cormac McCarthy wrote Blood Meridian and The Road. The name also belongs to a legendary Irish high king.
Cuchulain
Cuchulain is the hero of the Ulster Cycle and a favorite subject of W. B. Yeats’s poems and plays. He is a symbol of Irish heroism.
Cuthullin
Cuthullin is the warrior in James Macpherson’s Ossian poems. They influenced Romantic writers across Europe.
Childe
Childe Harold is the brooding wanderer in Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. “Childe” here is a title for a young knight.
Crichton
The Admirable Crichton is the butler who becomes a leader when stranded on an island in J. M. Barrie’s play. The name has a clever, dependable ring.
Cratchit
Bob Cratchit is Scrooge’s underpaid clerk in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. It is a quirky but warm literary name.