Doll
August 14, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Dolly“, a diminutive of “Dorothy” or “Dolores”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dee, Dodie, Dolley, Dollie, Dolly, Dora, Dorit, Dory, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Lola, Lollie, Lolly, Moll, Molly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Doll, the kitchen wench, 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.
– Family nickname for Dolly Lorton, the heedless, gossiping youngest sister of the Lorton family, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Family nickname for Lily Pearl, the little girl whose family life is recounted in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
Tagged: 1500s, 1880s, 1950s, 1980s, D, English
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 
[…] Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).- Dolly Lorton (sometimes called “Doll“), the heedless, gossiping youngest sister of the Lorton family, in “The Youngest Miss […]
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[…] sort of way) as a diminutive of “Dorothy” or “Mary“, through the “Doll” / “Moll” / “Poll” / “Loll” rhyming […]
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[…] as “Lily Moore” and “Lily Shaine”, and called “D” or “Doll” by her uncles), the young girl whose family life is recounted in Sleeping Arrangements, by […]
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