Charles Dickens Names
Dickens used ordinary names as well as striking inventions. This collection focuses on given names and familiar character names from his novels, with each literary connection identified.
| Save name | Name & connection | History 1926–2025, yearly counts; individually scaled | Babies 2025 · rank | 5-year rank movement | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
David Copperfield, the narrator of the novel of that name. | 6,794#35 | Down 7 rank positions in five years | 1955 | ||
Charles Darnay, a central figure in A Tale of Two Cities. | 5,898#48 | Down 2 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Nicholas Nickleby, the hero of the novel of that name. | 3,115#112 | Down 25 rank positions in five years | 1995 | ||
Amy Dorrit, the heroine known as Little Dorrit. | 1,200#257 | Down 42 rank positions in five years | 1975 | ||
Walter Gay, a young man in Dombey and Son. | 1,381#252 | Up 20 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Arthur Clennam, a central figure in Little Dorrit. | 3,847#87 | Up 76 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Joe Gargery, the blacksmith in Great Expectations. | 230#994 | Down 266 rank positions in five years | 1936 | ||
Eugene Wrayburn, a central figure in Our Mutual Friend. | 249#943 | Down 103 rank positions in five years | 1927 | ||
Pip's formal given name in Great Expectations. | 568#528 | Down 75 rank positions in five years | 1953 | ||
Florence Dombey, the daughter in Dombey and Son. | 796#391 | Up 372 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Martin Chuzzlewit, the name shared by central family members. | 1,009#335 | Down 42 rank positions in five years | 1963 | ||
Clara Copperfield, David's mother. | 3,601#63 | Up 40 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Oliver Twist, the child at the center of the novel of that name. | 14,939#3 | Steady | 2024 | ||
Edwin Drood, the title character of Dickens's unfinished novel. | 798#398 | Down 54 rank positions in five years | 1922 | ||
Agnes Wickfield, a central figure in David Copperfield. | 246#1,016 | Up 231 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Dora Spenlow, David Copperfield's first wife. | 75#2,388 | Up 11 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Abel Magwitch, the convict in Great Expectations. | 1,525#231 | Down 50 rank positions in five years | 2015 | ||
The young woman raised by Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. | 581#509 | Up 222 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Little Nell, the young heroine of The Old Curiosity Shop. | 128#1,628 | Up 645 rank positions in five years | 1917 | ||
Sydney Carton, a central figure in A Tale of Two Cities. | 20#5,020 | Down 1,463 rank positions in five years | 1916 | ||
Mortimer Lightwood, a lawyer in Our Mutual Friend. | —Unranked | — | 1916 | ||
Ebenezer Scrooge, the central figure of A Christmas Carol. | 52#2,544 | Up 396 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
Barnaby Rudge, the title character of the historical novel. | 5#12,269 | Down 30 rank positions in five years | 1974 | ||
Pip's friend and teacher in Great Expectations. | —Unranked | — | 1925 |
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Sources & methodology
Meaning summaries use Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and referenced name histories. Each name’s detail page includes its sources.
Membership on this list is editorial — we chose names that genuinely fit the theme. Every number is from official birth data: "—" means the name had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, which makes it a genuinely rare pick today, not an invalid one. The dot marks whether the stats shown are for the girls' or boys' use of the name.