Jane

July 28, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
The feminine form of “John“, the Anglicization of “Johannes”, which is the Latin form of “Ioannes”, the Greek version of the Hebrew “Jochanan”, meaning “Jehovah has been gracious”. Whew.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chevonne, Gia, Gianna, Giannina, Giovanna, Giovannetta, Ioanna, Ivana, Jan, Jana, Janae, Janelle, Janet, Janette, Janey, Janie, Janice, Janina, Janine, Janis, Janith, Jayna, Jayne, Jean, Jenelle, Jeanette, Jeanine, Jeanne, Jeannette, Jena, Jeni, Jenna, Jennie, Jenny, Joan, Joanie, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Johannah, Juana, Juanita, Nina, Nita, Seanna, Shavonne, Shayna, Sheena, Shevaun, Siana, Siobhan, Sinead, Vanna, Yana, Yoana, Yoanna, Zhana, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jane, cook for the Gray family while in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Jane, the parlor-maid in the Lorton household, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Aunt Jane, a relative of the Ridd’s, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Aunt Jane, the relative Janey Evans is named after, in “What Hope Bell Found in Her Stocking”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.
– Jane (b. 1922), the youngest of the dozen Gilbreth children whose upbringing is related in Cheaper By the Dozen (1948) and Belles on Their Toes (1950), written by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
– Jane Bassett (called “Jenny“), the quiet, hard-working young lady who makes the most of her trip to Europe, and reaps the benefits, in “Poppies and Wheat”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Jane Bates, Mrs. Bates’ daughter and Miss Hetty Bates’ sister, Jane Fairfax’s mother, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Jane Bennet, the beautiful and kind-hearted eldest of the five Bennet daughters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Jane Dobbin, one of William Dobbin’s sisters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Jane Eyre (sometimes called “Janet” by Mr. Rochester, and “Jeannette” by Adèle), the passionate, principled, independent narrator of Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Jane Fairfax, an elegant, accomplished, and deeply reserved young woman, Emma.
– Jane Firkin, lady’s maid to the wealthy Miss Crawley in Vanity Fair.
– Jane Leaven, Bessie’s young daughter, in Jane Eyre.
– Jane McClane, a strong and sensible older girl who has never had a Valentine, in “Polly’s Valentine” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Jane Osborne, the elder of George Osborne’s sisters in Vanity Fair.
– Jane Reed, the title character’s mother, who marries a clergyman and is disinherited by her family, in Jane Eyre. 
– Lady Jane Sheepshanks, Mr. Pitt Crawley’s long-suffering fiancée in Vanity Fair.

WRITERS:
– Jane Andrews (1833-1887), American author and educator.
– Jane Austen (1775-1817), English novelist.
– Jane Bowles (1917-1973), American writer and playwright.
– Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), Canadian-American activist, author, and journalist.
– Jane Lane (1905-1978), pen name of English biographer and historical novelist Elaine Kidner Dakers.
– Jane Porter (1776-1850), Scottish historical novelist and dramatist.
– Lady Jane Seymour (c. 1541-1561), English writer.

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