Becky
July 31, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Rebecca“, from the Hebrew name “Rivkah”, meaning “yoke” or “snare”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Becca, Becka, Beckah, Beckie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Great Aunt Becky, Lily’s elderly relative, who believes her deceased nephew is still alive and living in Alaska because no one in the family has the heart to break the news to her, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Becky Hawkins, a sharp and saucy “parcel-girl” who is as brave and generous as she is quick-witted, in “Becky”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Becky (Rebecca) Moore, the plain, hard-working farm girl with the heart of a poet in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Becky (Rebecca) Sharp, the clever and self-centered anti-heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Barbara
July 31, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Greek, meaning “strange” or “foreign”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Babs, Barb, Barbary, Barbera, Barbie, Barbra, Barby, Bobbie, Bobby, Varvara, Varvora, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Barbara, a servant at Lowood Academy, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Barbara, a “severe and devout Princess of the House of Bolkum, widow of the monarch of Pumpernickel, where Dobbin, Amelia, Jos, and Georgy stop for a while on their Grand Tour, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Lady Barbara Fitzurse is an heiress who serves as a topic for gossip between Miss Crawley, Rawdon Crawley, and Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair.
– Barbara Pinkerton, the formidable sister in charge of Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for young ladies in Vanity Fair.
WRITERS:
Want to learn more about writers named “Barbara”? Check out this post for starters.
QUOTATIONS:
– “Barbara Allen” is a traditional folk song with origins in England and Scotland in the 17th century, though it has undergone hundreds of variations since it was first recorded by Samuel Pepys in 1666: “In Scarlet town where I was born / there was a fair maid dwellin’ / and every youth cried Well-a-day / For her name was Barb’ra Allen”.
Amelia
July 31, 2014 § 11 Comments
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Amalia”, from a Germanic name meaning “work”. May also be considered a variant of “Emily” / “Emilia”, the feminine version of “Emil”, from “Aemilius”, a Latinate family name meaning “rival”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amalia, Amelie, Amie, Amy, Emmie, Emmy, Malia, Melia, Melie, Millie, Milly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Princess Amelia of Humbourg-Schlippenschloppen, who marries the Hereditary Prince of Pumpernickel, where Amelia, Dobbin, Jos, and Georgy visit for a while on their Grand Tour, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Amelia Sedley (called “Emmy“), the naive and gentle heroine of Vanity Fair.
QUOTATIONS:
– “Amelia“, a poem written in 1878 by Coventry Patmore, begins: “Whene’er mine eyes do my Amelia greet / It is with such emotion / As, when in childhood, turning a dim street, / I first beheld the ocean.”
Jemima
July 31, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “dove”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jem, Mimi, Yemima, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jemima Pinkerton, the more good-natured of the two sisters who run Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for young ladies in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Jemima Condict (1754-1779), American diarist.
– Jemima Hunt (b. 1969), English author, journalist, and novelist.
Abram
July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “high father”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Abe, Abey, Abie, Abraham, Avram, Avrom, Bram, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Abram Johnson, a farmer who looks after the titular bird in The Song of the Cardinal, by Gene Stratton Porter (1903).
Al
July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Albert”, “Alfred“, “Alexander“, other names beginning with “Al-“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
How much can you possibly vary or shorten “Al”?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Al Lynch, one of the girls’ suitors in Belles on Their Toes (1950), written by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
Morton
July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Anglo-Saxon last name / place name, meaning “village on the moor”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mort, Mortie, Morty.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Morton Dykes, a sometime-suitor of one of the Gilbreth girls in Belles on Their Toes (1950), written by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
Joe
July 30, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Joseph“, from the Latin / Greek version of “Yosef”, a Hebrew name meaning “He will add”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jo, Joey, Jojo, Jos, José, Sep, Seph, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Joe, the under-gardener at Amhurste, in “A Brother to Dragons” (written in 1886, set in 1586), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
– Joe Collins, an old army friend of Marion Warren’s father, in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Joe Drummond, who is love / obsessed with Sidney Page, to a dangerous degree, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Joe Giddy, Ray Kennedy’s brakeman, whose laziness has tragic results, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Joe Marchant, who is in need of a friend now more than ever, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Joe Pebbles, one of Humfrey Lemon’s customers, in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales.
– Joe Scales, the very first suitor for one of the Gilbreth girls in Cheaper By the Dozen (1948), written by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
– Joe (Joseph) Scott, an odorous and odious young man who considers himself a candidate for Virginia Herrick’s heart, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.
– Joe Sibley, the teenaged son of the brash, shallow Sibley clan who encourage Ethel Amory in her frivolity while on their trip to Europe in “Poppies and Wheat”, from A Garland for Girls.
Libby
July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Libbie”, diminutive of “Elizabeth” or “Isabel“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Libbie, Liddy, Liddie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Libby Holton, a friend of the older Gilbreth girls in Cheaper By the Dozen (1948), written by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 