Now more than ever, television is a form of escapism and refuge for many of us—thank you, streaming services! Just like famous writers, or even artists, TV shows can debut an abundant source of inspiration for unique baby names for your lil’ bundle of joy. It feels like the perfect time to brainstorm this list, especially in today’s age, when it seems like every show we grew up obsessing over is getting a reboot (which we aren’t complaining about BTW).
If you’re an avid TV consumer like us, then you’re probably wondering how we trimmed our list down to only 50 names. Well, let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. Instead, we decided to focus on the best quirky names to come out of primetime TV, Netflix, HBO, you get the idea. However, if reading about popular baby names does peak your interest, we’ve got you covered right here!
Here are 50 of the best quirky TV-inspired names.
Girl names inspired by TV shows
- Quinn (Scandal)
- Gloria (Modern Family)
- Phoebe (Friends)
- (Miranda) Bailey (Grey’s Anatomy)
- Moira (Schitt’s Creek)
- Eloise (Bridgerton)
- Reagan (New Girl)
- Love (YOU)
- Serena (Gossip Girl)
- Piper (Orange Is the New Black)
- Rainbow (Black-ish)
- Arya (Game of Thrones)
- Eleanor (The Good Place)
- Daphne (Bridgerton)
- Stevie (Schitt’s Creek)
- Annalise (How to Get Away with Murder)
- Noreen (Sweet Magnolias)
- Elena (The Undoing)
- Penny (The Big Bang Theory)
- Pearl (Little Fires Everywhere)
- Zoey (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)
- Sami (Blue Bloods)
- Charmaine (Virgin River)
- Sylvie (Emily in Paris)
- Tully (Firefly Lane)
Boy names inspired by TV shows
- Toby (The Office)
- Homer (The Simpsons)
- Aidan (Sex and The City)
- Gunther (Friends)
- Randall (This Is Us)
- Ziggy (Big Little Lies)
- Archie (Riverdale)
- Dustin (Stranger Things)
- Owen (Grey’s Anatomy)
- Winston (New Girl)
- (Cal) Maddox (Sweet Magnolias)
- Jonah (Superstore)
- Rufus (Gossip Girl)
- Manny (Modern Family)
- Raj (The Big Bang Theory)
- Sheldon (Young Sheldon)
- Shaun (The Good Doctor)
- Trip (Little Fires Everywhere)
- (A.C.) Slater (Saved by the Bell)
- Mitch (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)
- Dre (Black-ish)
- Wes (How to Get Away with Murder)
- Ty (Heartland)
- Marty (Ozark)
- Dwight (The Office)
A version of this post was published March 12, 2021 . It has been updated.