Sam
August 1, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Samuel“, “Samson”, or “Samantha”. Or “Samwise”, if you’re a Tolkien fan.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sami, Sammi, Sammie, Sammy.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sam, a footman at Thornfield, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Uncle Sam, who arrives in France to escort his niece, Ethel Amory, and her companion, Jane Bassett, home again in “Poppies and Wheat”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Sam Bowen, Ruth and Sammy Bowen’s brave father in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls.
– Sam Fry, John Fry’s cousin, who is first to bring news of Charles II’s death to the village, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Sam Gardiner, proprietor of one of the two general stores in town, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Sam Green, who sells Tom a wonderful new kite, in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Sam Hicks, a local yeoman in Lorna Doone.
– Sam Miles is a local poacher in the region of Queen’s Crawley in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sam Turner (called “Sammy“), Ed Turner’s 18-year-old son, who gives Jethro a dog (to help keep him company and to protect his family), and who ends up part of Sherman’s army, in Across Five Aprils.
WRITERS:
– Sam Campbell (1895-1962), American lecturer, photographer, and writer.
– Sam Shepard (b. 1943), American actor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and Pulitzer Prize-winner.
Tagged: 1670s, 1680s, 1810s, 1820s, 1840s, 1860s, 1880s, 1890s, 1940s, 1960s, English, S
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