William Shakespeare was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. When coming up to baby names, William Shakespeare has a name for any personality, his characters range from the heroic to the romantic to the diabolical. Check out our selection of 42
Shakespearean baby names for your boys or girls that start with A.
Aaron: An evil moorish character in Titus Andronicus. He incites most of the other evil characters to do violence against the house of Andronicus.
Abhorson: An executioner in Measure for Measure.
Abraham: A Montague servant, fights Sampson and Gregory in the first scene of Romeo and Juliet. Sometimes spelled "Abram".
Achilles: Portrayed as a former hero, who has become lazy and devoted to the love of Patroclus, in Troilus and Cressida.
Adam: A kindly old servant, rumoured to have been played by Shakespeare himself, in As You Like It.
Adrian: A lord, a follower of Alonso, in The Tempest.
Adriana: The frequently angry wife of Antipholus of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors.
Aediles: Appear in Coriolanus. One is a speaking role.
Aemelia: An abbess in The Comedy of Errors. She proves to be the long-lost wife of Egeon, and the long-lost mother of the Antipholus twins.
Aemilius: Roman nobleman who acts as ambassador between Saturninus and Lucius in Titus Andronicus.
Aeneas: A Trojan leader in Troilus and Cressida.
Agamemnon: The general leader of the Greek forces, in Troilus and Cressida.
Agrippa: A follower of Caesar in Antony and Cleopatra, proposes that the widowed Antony should marry Octavia.
Ajax: The champion of the Greeks in Troilus and Cressida.
Alarbus: The eldest son of Tamora, sacrificed by Titus' sons, in Titus Andronicus.
Alcibiades: A soldier who turns renegade when one of his junior officers is sentenced to death, and true friend of Timon in Timon of Athens.
Alexander: Cressida's servant in Troilus and Cressida.
Alice: Alice gives the French princess Katharine an English lesson in Henry V.
Alonso: The King of Naples, an enemy to Prospero, in The Tempest. He mourns for his son, Ferdinand, whom he believes is drowned.
Amiens: A follower of Duke Senior in As You Like It.
Andromache: Hector's wife in Troilus and Cressida.
Angelica: Juliet Capulet's nurse in Romeo and Juliet.
Angelo: A goldsmith who has been commissioned to make a chain by Antipholus of Ephesus, which he delivers to Antipholus of Syracuse in error. Antipholus of Ephesus later refuses to pay for it, causing much consternation, in The Comedy of Errors.
Angus: A thane in Macbeth.
Anne: Anne Bullen, known to history as Anne Boleyn, is a maid of Honour to Katherine who later becomes King Henry's second wife, in Henry VIII.
Antenor: A Trojan leader in Troilus and Cressida.
Antigonus: A courtier of Leontes in The Winter's Tale, who takes the infant Perdita to Bohemia. He famously exits, pursued by a bear, which eats him.
Antiochus: King of Antioch in Pericles, Prince of Tyre; he engages in an incestuous relationship with his daughter. He orders the death of Pericles, who has discovered his secret.
Antipholus: Antipholus of Ephesus, twin of Antipholus of Syracuse – with whom he is often confused, is a central character in The Comedy of Errors.
Antonio: A sea captain who rescues, and loves, Sebastian in Twelfth Night.
Antony: Mark Antony turns the mob against Caesar's killers and becomes a Triumvir in Julius Caesar. His romance with Cleopatra drives the action of Antony and Cleopatra.
Apemantus: A churlish philosopher in Timon of Athens.
Apothecary: A small but vital role in Romeo and Juliet. He sells Romeo the poison which ends his life.
Archbishop: The Archbishop of Canterbury is an important character in the first act of Henry V. He expounds Henry's claim to the French throne.
Archidamus: A Bohemian lord in The Winter's Tale.
Arcite: One of the title characters of The Two Noble Kinsmen. Their friendship endures even though they engage in a mortal quarrel for the love of Emilia.
Ariel: A spirit, controlled by Prospero in The Tempest.
Arragon: The Prince of Arragon is an unsuccessful suitor to Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
Arthur: A child, the nephew of the king in King John. He persuades Hubert not to put out his eyes, but dies in an attempt to escape captivity.
Arviragus: The second son of the king in Cymbeline, stolen away in infancy by Morgan, and brought up as Morgan's child.
Audrey: A country girl who marries Touchstone in As You Like It.
Autolycus: A rogue, singer, and snapper up of unconsidered trifles in The Winter's Tale.
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