The Names by Florence Knapp

I got The Names by Florence Knapp for my Secret Santa and it was definitely the best Secret Santa ever! I keep a list of books I want to read on my phone and The Names was on there.

Published in 2025 and my first full read of 2026, The Names is a stunning debut novel. In fact, it’s the best book I’ve read for a very long time.

In the storms of 1987, Cora and her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, go to register the birth of her newborn son. Her husband wants the baby to follow family tradition and be named Gordon after him. But does Cora want to name her baby after a long line of abusive and domineering men?

Maia thinks the baby should be called Bear – soft, cuddly and kind, but also brave and strong. Cora would like to name him Julian and thinks she has a way to justify the choice to Gordon. Her choice of name will have long-lasting consequences not just for the baby boy, but for his parents, sister and grandmother…

The Names follows the boy with each of the three names, every seven years until his mid-30s. While there are some crossovers, the three stories are very different.

The Names is beautifully written and very moving. I read it in just two days, because I couldn’t put it down. It is easy to read, although had me in tears a few times. I would recommend The Names to absolutely everyone.