Felix
August 5, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Latin, meaning “fortunate” or “successful”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Felice, Feliks, Phelix, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rev. Felix Rabbit, country curate and father of fourteen daughters (including Mrs. Hardyman), eleven of whom are married off during their stay in India, which event is a topic of conversation between Joseph Sedley and his friends, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Felix Francis (b. 1953), English crime novelist.
– Felix Salten (1869-1945), Austrian author and critic.
Walter
August 5, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “powerful warrior” or “ruler of the army”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gautier, Gualtiero, Valter, Waldhar, Wally, Walt, Walther, Wat, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Walter Scape, who is “withdrawn from Eton and put into a merchant’s house” after his father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Walter of Swinbroke (died c. 1360), English chronicler, also known as Geoffrey the Baker.
– Walter Besant (1836-1901), English historian and novelist who sometimes published in collaboration with James Rice.
– Walter Ericson (1914-2003), pen name of American novelist and television writer Howard Fast, who also wrote under the pen name “E.V. Cunningham”.
– Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), English writer and poet.
– Walter Pater (1839-1894), English writer and critic.
– Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet.
Osborne
August 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Variant of the English last name “Osborn”, meaning “divine bear” or “godly strength”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Asbjorn, Esben, Osbeorn, Osbern, Osborn, Osbourn, Osbourne, Oz, Ozzie, Ozzy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Osborne Todd, Mr. Osborne’s godson and friend, schoolmate, and hanger-on to Georgy Osborne, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Osborne Henry Mavor (1888-1951), Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and surgeon, who wrote under the pen name “James Bridie”.
Bedwin
August 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
An English last-name-as-first-name, deriving from Welsh “Bedwyn”, meaning “birch”, or Arabic “Bedouin”, meaning “nomad” or “wanderer”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bedouin, Bedwyn. . . um . . . Beddy?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bedwin Sands, the “elegant dandy and Eastern traveler” who manages Becky’s famous presentation of charades at a party given at Gaunt House, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Horace
August 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
English / French version of the Latin “Horatio” / “Horatius”, derived from the word for “hour”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Horacio, Horatio, Horatius, Orazio, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Horace Fogey, one of Becky’s high society friends in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sir Horace Fogle, a former partner in Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, who manages to escape his firm’s failure smelling like a rose, though it ruins Mr. Scape, in Vanity Fair.
WRITERS:
– Horace (65 BC-8 BC), English name for the Roman lyric poet, satirist, and critic.
– Horace Gregory (1898-1982), American poet and literary critic.
– Horace Smith (1779-1849), English poet and parodist.
– Horace Walpole (1717-1797), English writer and politician.
Alessandro
August 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
The Italian form of “Alexander“, from Greek, meaning “defender of men”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Al, Ale, Alejandro, Alexander, Alisander, Sandy, Sandro, Sascha, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Alessandro Polonia, whose son marries a Princess and hosts the party at which Becky unluckily meets Lord Steyne once again, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Marchese Alessandro Strachino, one of Becky’s high society friends in Vanity Fair.
Washington
August 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
An English place name, meaning “town belonging to Wassa (the intelligent one)’s people”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Wash, I suppose?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mrs. Washington White is a friend of Becky’s who must be cut after the clever little adventuress is presented at court, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Joan
August 4, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Usually used as the English form of “Johanne”, the Old French feminine version of “John“, meaning “Jehovah has been gracious”. Sometimes used as a masculine variant of “John“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Chevonne, Gia, Gianna, Giannina, Giovanna, Giovannetta, Hanna, Hanne, Ioanna, Ivana, Jana, Janina, Janine, Janne, Jannicke, Jean, Jeanne, Jenna, Jo, Joanie, Joann, Joanna, Joanne, Joetta, Johanna, Jojo, Jolene, Joleen, Jonelle, Jonette, Joni, Jonna, Juana, Juanita, Nana, Sheena, Shevaun, Shona, Siobhan, Sinaid, Vanna, Yoana, etc.
For boys: Eoin, Evan, Ewan, Gianni, Giannino, Giovanni, Hankin, Hans, Ian, Iain, Ioannes, Ivan, Jack, Jackie, Jackin, Jacky, Jan, Janko, Jannick, Jean, Jeannot, Jenkin, Jens, Jo, Joan, Jock, Johan, Johannes, Johnnie, Johnny, Jon, Jonas, Jonel, Jonny, Joop, Jovan, Juan, Juanito, Nino, Sean, Shane, Shawn, Yan, Yannick, Yochanon, Yon, Yvan, Vanya, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Joan Gobble, an arthritic old woman Lady Margaret goes on a charitable visit to, 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.
– Hon. Joan Johnes, who marries Lord Steyne’s son, George, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Joan Didion (b. 1934), American essayist, memoirist, and novelist.
– Joan Austral Fraser (1918-2001), Australian novelist and poet who wrote under the pen name “Amy Witting”.
Macduff
August 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
One of those “last names as first names” that were once a quite popular way for a mother’s maiden name to be passed on to her sons, “Macduff” is a Scottish name meaning “son of the dark man”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Other than Mac? I don’t know.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Macduff McMull, the little son of James McMull and Rhoda Swartz, who “will be Viscount Castletoddy”, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Minos
August 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Greek, meaning “son of Zeus”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mannus, Manu, Menes, Meon, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Minos Smith, “the puisne judge”, whose wife famously quarreled with Mrs. Major O’Dowd, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 