Dear Ken Follett,

I read The Pillars of the Earth 14 years ago when I was pregnant, and when my daughter was born in January of 1994, I named her Alienna for the character in the book! Today my Ali is an eighth-grader and has chosen to read the book for her honors English class assignment on historical fiction! She loves the idea that she was named for such a strong character. What is the origin of the name Aliena?

— Renee D.

Dear Renee,

I keep a dictionary of first names on my desk, and sometimes I like to give unfamiliar ones to the main characters in a story. Aliena means "a foreign girl," and the name appears in Shakespeare's play As You Like It. It struck me as a pretty name as well as an unusual one. I've had several letters over the years from people who have named their children Aliena, and I'm thrilled.

— Ken Follett