Children's Fiction Featuring Characters with Uncommon or Unusual Names

Forest World by Margarita Engle

• Pub Date: 2017
• Grades 4-6 interest
• See also: In Verse, Multiple Narrators
• Edver, whose name is Verde, changed his name when kids made fun of him for being named "green."

Body of Water by Sarah Dooley

• Pub Date: 2011
• Grades 5-8 interest
• Ember is embarrassed by her family's religion and her unusual name.

The Truth about Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh

• Pub Date: 2015
• Grades 6-8 interest
• See also in Teen: Food/Cooking, Sisters, Secrets 
• Gigi, which is short for Galileo Galilei, learns some family secrets.  

Counting Thyme by Melanie Conklin

• Pub Date: 2016
• Grades 4-6 interest
• See also: Moving/New Kid 
• On the blog: More New Kid Stories 
•  The kids in Thyme's family are each named for spices.

The Voyage to Magical North by Claire Fayers

• Pub Date: 2016
• Grades 4-6 interest
• Brine Seaborne accidentally becomes a pirate in this fantasy adventure. All the pirates have funny names. 

The Lifters by Dave Eggers

• Pub date: 2018
• Grades 4-6 interest
• See also: New Kid 
• Gran (short for Granite) and his family move to a small town called Carousel where he meets a strange girl named Catalina. 

The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

• Pub Date: 2018
• Grades 4-6 interest
• See also: Summer 
• Brothers Caleb and Bobby Gene meet Styx, who was named for the river, and have an adventure over the summer. 

Annie's Life in Lists by Kristin Mahoney 

• Pub Date: 2018
• Grades 3-6 interest
• Annie (whose real name is Andromeda) and her family move from NYC to a small town, which is a big adjustment. 

The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner

• Pub Date: 2019
• Grades 4-7 interest 
• Graphic Novel 
• See also: Mothers and Daughters 
• Moth discovers that she is a witch but her mother forbids her to learn magic. 

Most Perfect Thing in the Universe by Tricia Springstubb

• Pub Date: 2021
• Grades 4-6 interest
• See also: Animals 
• Loah is named after a (fictional) bird by her ornithologist mom.