Fred
August 4, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Frederick“, meaning “peaceful ruler”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Alfred“, “Manfred”, “Wilfred”, etc., or, for girls, for names like “Frederica” or “Winifred”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Freda, Freddi, Freddie, Frieda, Fritzi.
For boys: Fred, Fredde, Freddie, Fredo, Fritz.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nickname for Frederick (b. 1916), the eighth 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.
– Fred, a rather snobbish and foppish young man in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Fred (called “Freddy“) Allen, whose wife is a friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, and frequently serves as chaperone for their parties, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Fred (Frederick Augustus) Bullock, the young man Maria Osborne hopes to marry in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Fred (Philip Frederick) Ottenburg, the dynamic young brewing heir who launches Thea’s operatic career, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
WRITERS:
– Fred Thompson (1884-1949), English writer and librettist.
– Fred Urquhart (1912-1995), Scottish short story writer.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 
[…] Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. – Frederick Augustus Bullock (called “Fred” by his family), the young man Maria Osborne hopes to marry in Vanity Fair, by William […]
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[…] inconsiderate, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815). – Philip Frederick Ottenburg (called “Fred“), the dynamic young brewing heir who launches Thea’s operatic career, in The Song of […]
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[…] – Librarian: Abigail, Eleanor, Johanna, Julia, Margot, and Nanette. – Mechanic: Dave, Fred, Jerry, Patrick, Randy, and Rick. – Meteorologist: Bill, Jeff, Joe, Jim, Mike, and Scott. […]
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[…] boys: Arnold, Bernard, Bill, Bruce, Cecil, Clarence, Clifford, Cyril, Donald, Elmo, Ernest, Fred, Gary, Harold, Herbert, Horace, Ian, Icarus, Inigo, Leslie, Llewellyn, Neil, Nigel, Norman, Percy, […]
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