Perdita is a feminine given name derived from ''perditus'', meaning '' lost''. It was used by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

for an abandoned princess, the heroine of his 1610 play ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'', and for a canine heroine of

Dodie Smith Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (3 May 1896 – 24 November 1990) was an English novelist and playwright. She is best known for writing '' I Capture the Castle'' (1948) and the children's novel '' The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1956). Other work ...

's 1956 book ''

The Hundred and One Dalmatians ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' is a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies. It was originally serialized in ''Woman's Day'' as ''The Great Dog Robbery'', and details the adventures of t ...

'' and the

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

1961 film adaptation of the book, ''

One Hundred and One Dalmatians ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (also known as ''101 Dalmatians'') is a 1961 American Animated film, animated adventure film, adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions with distribution by Buena Vista Distribution. Adapted fr ...

''.

Women

* Perdita Barran, English chemist * Perdita Buchan (born 1940), Anglo-American author * Perdita Felicien (born 1980), Canadian track athlete * Perdita Huston (1936–2001), American women's rights activist * Perdita Stevens (born 1966), British mathematician and computer scientist *

Perdita Weeks Perdita Rose Weeks (born 25 December 1985) is a British actress who played Juliet Higgins in the CBS/NBC reboot series ''Magnum P.I. (2018 TV series), Magnum P.I.''. Life and education Weeks was born in South Glamorgan, to Robin and Susan (née ...

(born 1985), British actress

Fiction

* Perdita (''The Winter's Tale''), the heroine of Shakespeare's play ''The Winter's Tale'' *Perdita Boyte, a character from the 1936 novel '' And Berry Came Too'' by Dornford Yates *Perdita Halley Reisden, a character in Sarah Smith's historical mystery series''The Vanished Child'', ''The Knowledge of Water'', ''Citizen of the Country'' and ''Crimes and Survivors'' * Perdita Hyde-Sinclair, a character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' *Perdita Nitt, aka Agnes Nitt, a character in the ''

Witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

'' subset of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series *Perdita Willoughby-Lloyd, a minor character from the TV series '' The Haunting of Bly Manor'' *Queen Perdita of Vlatava, a character of the animated superhero series ''

Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen T ...

'' *Perdita, a female Dalmatian dog in ''

'', a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith, and the media franchise based on the novel; see 101 Dalmatians (disambiguation) * The Free Ship Perdita, a sky-sailing ship in the 1999 novel '' Stardust'' (1999) by Neil Gaiman

References

{{reflist Feminine given names