Carrol

August 12, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Carroll”, often used as a last name. Derived either from Irish, meaning “hacking with a weapon”, or related to “Carolus”, the Latin form of “Charles“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Carol, Carolus, Carroll, Caryl, Cearbhall, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Carrol Benton, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Frederic

August 11, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
French version of “Frederick“, from the Germanic for “peaceful ruler”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fedde, Federico, Federigo, Fred, Frederic, Frederik, Freddie, Freddy, Fredo, Fredric, Friedrich, Fritz, Ric, Rick, Ricki, Rickie, Ricky, Rico, Rik, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Frederic, French butler to the Gray family while in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Sir Frederic Granby, grandfather to the estimable young Mr. Granby who Rosamond Oliver elects to marry, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Frederic Raphael (b. 1931), English writer.
– Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) French poet and author.
– Frédéric Vitoux (b. 1944), French journalist and writer.

Court

August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Courtenay” / “Courtney”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cort, Cortnay, Cortney, Courtenay, Courtnay, Courtney, Kort, Kortnay, Kortney, Kourt, Kourtenay, Kourtnay, Kourtney, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Court (Courtenay) Gray, the father of the clan which, after some trials, adopts Candace Arden, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Georgie

August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Georgy“. Diminutive of “Georgia”, “Georgina“, “Georgiana“, “Georgette”, etc. Or, diminutive of “George“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Geena, Gena, Geordie, Georgeanna, Georgia, Georgiana, Georgina, Georgine, Georgette, Georgy, Gigi, Gina, etc.
For boys: Gino, Giorgio, Giorgino, Geordie, Georg, George, Georges, Georgios, Georgi, Georgy, Jordi, Jordy, Jorge, Jorgen, Jorgie, Jorgy, Jori, Jory, Jurgen, Yorgos, Yuri, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Georgie Gray, the oldest of the Gray girls, a bit dreamy and weak and too easily led astray, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Berry

August 11, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Berenice“, “Bernice”, “Beryl”, etc., or simply referring to the fruit. As a masculine name, an alternate spelling of “Barry“, from Irish, meaning “fair hair” or “spear”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Barrie, Berenice, Bernelle, Bernice, Berri, Beryl, Bunnie, Bunny, Vernice, Veronica, Veronika, Veronique, etc.
For boys: Bairre, Barrie, Barry, Berach, Finbar, Finbarr, Finnbar, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
Berry (Berenice) Joy, Georgie Gray’s friend, who is not a good influence, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Henry

August 11, 2014 § 11 Comments

ORIGIN:
From German, meaning “home-ruler” or “leader of the army”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amerigo, Amery, Anri, Arrigo, Emmerich, Emery, Emory, Enrico, Enrique, Enzo, Hal, Hank, Harald, Harold, Harri, Harry, Heimrich, Heinrich, Heinz, Hennie, Henny, Henri, Hendrik, Hendry, Henning, Henrik, Henryk, Herrold, Herry, Imre, Imrich, Imrus, Ric, Rico, Rik, Rikki, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
Uncle Henry, one of the several relatives who always give in to Dolly’s pleading, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
Henry Arden, Cannie’s minister father, who lacks the strength for life on a New England farm, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Henry Biltmer, owner of the small ranch Thea visits in Arizona, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
Henry Pierre Bowdoin, Esther’s artist father, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
Henry Dashwood, father to our heroines Elinor and Marianne, their younger sister Margaret, and their selfish and greedy half-brother John, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
Henry de Lindsay, one of Sir Peter and Lady Constance’s two sons, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
Henry Giles, Israel Thomas’ son-in-law, who joins in the watch over the Creighton farm when it’s threatened by Guy Wortman and his gang, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Henry Jameson, “a trader without a heart”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
Henry Knightley, the oldest of John and Isabella’s children, the heir of Donwell Abbey should Mr. Knightley never wed and have children of his own, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
Henry Lynn, one of the Lynn brothers who are members of Mr. Rochester’s social set, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
Col. Henry Mortimer, who must solve a ghostly mystery to save his son’s life, in “The Open Door” (1881), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
Henry Nathanmeyer, the kindly Jewish businessman whose wife serves as Thea’s patroness in Chicago, in The Song of the Lark.
Mr. Henry Woodhouse, Isabella and Emma’s father, a “much older man in ways than in years”, in Emma.

WRITERS:
– Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918), American historian and writer.
– Henry Beston (1888-1968), American writer and naturalist.
– Henry Cole (b. 1955), American children’s book writer and illustrator.
– Henry Fielding (1707-1754), English novelist and dramatist.
– Henry Green (1905-1972), pen name of English novelist Henry Vincent Yorke.
– Henry James (1843-1916), Anglo-American novelist.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American poet and educator.
– Henry Lucy (1842-1924), English journalist and humorist.
– Henry Louis (H.L.) Mencken (1880-1956), American editor, critic, satirist, and writer.
– Henry Miller (1891-1980), American writer.
– Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American activist, author, poet, and philosopher.

Courtenay

August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Courtney”, an English last name from a French place name, meaning “short” or “short nose”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cort, Cortnay, Cortney, Court, Courtnay, Courtney, Kort, Kortnay, Kortney, Kourt, Kourtenay, Kourtnay, Kourtney, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Courtenay Gray (called “Court” by his wife), the father of the clan which, after some trials, adopts Candace Arden, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Peleg

August 11, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “division” or “channel”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
. . . Pel?

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Captain Peleg King, captain of the steamer Eolus, which carries Candace Arden to her cousins’ home in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Moses

August 10, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “saved” or “son”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mo, Moe, Moey, Moises, Moishe, Moisey, Mose, Moshe, Moss, Musa, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Moses Pennel, Becky Moore’s country suitor in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

Calvin

August 10, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From a French last name “Chauvin”, from Latin, meaning “bald”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cal. And, um… Cal. Maybe Vin?

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Calvin, Cousin Henrietta Carey’s lost love, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Prince Calvin, one of Princess Alison Jocelyn’s three brothers, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.

WRITERS:
– Calvin C. Hernton (1932-2001), American author, poet, and sociologist.
– Calvin Hoffman (1906-1986), American author and critic.
– Calvin Thomas (1854-1919), American educator, scholar, and writer.
– Calvin Trillin (b. 1935), American writer.
– Calvin Ziegler (1854-1930), German-American poet.

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