DIMINUTIVE | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Kate

August 4, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Catherine” / “Katherine“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cadi, Cady, Cait, Cat, Cate, Catey, Cathi, Cathy, Catie, Cato, Caty, Catya, Kady, Kaia, Kaity, Kaja, Kat, Kata, Katey, Kathi, Kathie, Kathy, Katie, Katka, Katri, Katy, Kay, Kaya, Kaye, Kaylee, Kayleen, Kit, Kitti, Kittie, Kitty, Kylee, Kyleen, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Kate, a rather sharp, though kind-hearted, young lady in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Kate Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Kate Fleming, Ally’s aunt, whose misunderstood remark leads to trouble, in “Ally”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Kate Gray (née Catherine Van Vliet), the kind-hearted, motherly woman who accepts her cousin’s daughter, Candace, as one of her own, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

WRITERS:
– Kate Atkinson (b. 1951), English author and playwright.
– Kate Chopin (1850-1904), American author.

QUOTATIONS:
– From “Epistle to Earl Harcourt, on his wishing her to spell her name of Catherine with a K“, by an unknown poet (“F—-“), found in A Collection of Poems, Chiefly Manuscript, and from Living Authors, 1823, edited by Joanna Baillie: “Then cast it in a Grecian mould, / Once modell’d from a living scold; / When from her shelly prison burst / That finished vixen, Kate the curst! / . . . Nor was it even then too late, / When crown’d and register’d a Kate; / When all had trembling heard, and seen, / The shriller voice, and fiercer mien”
– “Kiss Me, Kate“, a song from the 1948 Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter, has Petruchio singing to Katherine: “So, kiss me, Kate, thou lovely loon, / Ere we start on our honeymoon. / So, kiss me, Kate, darling devil divine, / For now thou shall ever be mine.”

Polly

August 4, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN:
Variant of “Molly“, a diminutive of “Mary“. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Pauline“, “Paulette”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Moll, Mollie, Molly, Paula, Pol, Pola, Poll, Pollie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Polly, one of the Lexington girls clamoring to partner with Rab at the Silsbee country dance in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Polly (Mary) Clapp, daughter of the Sedley’s landlord, who bestows on Dobbin the nickname “Major Sugarplums” owing to his habit of bringing gifts for all at every visit to the house, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Polly Branghton (sometimes called “Poll“), the youngest child of Madame Duval’s (and Evelina’s) cousins, the crude, ill-mannered Branghton clan, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Polly Green, the nurse’s daughter passed off as the child of Sir John Belmont, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– Polly Moore, daughter of a chandler’s-shop woman, who Madame Duval uses as an example of how much life in Paris can “improve” a young lady, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– Polly Price, a generous little girl who learns about Valentines in “Polly’s Valentine” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Polly Snowe, one of Farmer Nicholas’ three lively, comely daughters, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Polly Talboys, a village girl who lives near Queen’s Crawley, in Vanity Fair.

QUOTATIONS:
– The nursery rhyme “Polly Put the Kettle On“, published in 1797: “Polly put the kettle on, / We’ll all have tea.”

Betsy

August 4, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Betsey” or “Betsie”, diminutive of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Betsey, Bette, Beth, Bette, Bettie, Betty, Buffy, Elspet, Elspeth, Pet, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Betsy, one of the Lexington girls clamoring to partner with Rab at the Silsbee country dance in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Betsy Barnes, a housemaid who convinces herself that she has seen a ghost, in “Old Lady Mary” (1884), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Betsy Horrocks, known as “Ribbons”, the saucy butler’s daughter who tries to parlay the attention she gets from Sir Pitt into wealth, status, and a ladyship (through marriage), in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Betsy Paramore, the girl Tom Faggus was set to marry before the financial failure that drove him to become a highwayman, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).

WRITERS:
– Betsy Byars (b. 1928), American children’s book author.
– Betsy Colquitt (b. 1927), American poet.

QUOTATIONS:
– “Sweet Betsy from Pike” is an American ballad, written in the 1850s: “Did you ever hear tell of sweet Betsy from Pike / Who crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike?”

Emma

August 4, 2014 § 10 Comments

ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “universal”, or “nurse”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Emily“, “Emilia”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Em, Ema, Emmalyn, Emelina, Emeline, Emmaline, Emmeline, Emmie, Emmy, Ima, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Emma Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Emma Knightley, the youngest of John and Isabella’s two daughters, the baby of the family, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Emma Woodhouse, “handsome, clever, and rich” young match- and mistake-making heroine of Emma.

AUTHORS:
– Emma Goldman (1869-1940), Russian-American activist and writer.
– Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), American poet.

Dolly

August 4, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Dorothy“, from the Greek, meaning “gift of God”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Dolores”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dee, Dodie, Doll, Dolley, Dollie, Dora, Dorit, Dory, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Lola, Lollie, Lolly, Moll, Molly, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dolly, one of the Boston children roused to their chores at the start of Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Dolly, the kindly housemaid who cares for little Rawdon Crawley after his French nursemaid leaves, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Dolly, who foolishly attempts to imitate her famous namesake by “putting on airs”, in “Dolly Varden”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Dolly (Lady Dorothy Lennox), one of the children in the care of Nurse Crumpet who beg her to tell the sad story of their Aunt Patience, in “Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story” (written in 1887, set circa 1630s-1669), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
– Dolly Lorton (sometimes called “Doll“), the heedless, gossiping youngest sister of the Lorton family, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.

Luke

August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
English version of the Greek name “Loukas”, meaning “a person from Lucania” (an area in Italy). Often used as a shortened version of “Lucas”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lluc, Luc, Luca, Lucas, Lucky, Luka, Lukas, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Brother Luke, the kind and patient monk who looks after Robin and helps him to grow strong again, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Rev. Luke Waters, a Wesleyan minister befriended by Lady Southdown in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Fanny

August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Frances” or “Francisca” (feminine versions of “Francis“, meaning “Frenchman”), or of “Stefania”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chica, Cissie, Cissy, Fan, Fannie, Fran, Franca, Franci, Francie, Francka, Franka, Frankie, Franky, Frannie, Franny, Franzi, Paca, Paquita, Sissie, Sissy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Fanny, a cousin of Col. Brandon’s, who Mrs. Jennings guesses may have recently married, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility(set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Fanny Bludyer, a friend of the social-climbing Maria Bullock (née Osborne) Fanny Bludyer, a friend of the social-climbing Maria Bullock (née Osborne) in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Fanny de Butterbrod, a Countess of Pumpernickel who nearly captures Joseph Sedley’s all-too-susceptible heart in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Dashwood (née Ferrars), John Dashwood’s wife and Edward Ferrar’s sister, a cold, greedy, snobbish woman with no consideration for others, in Sense and Sensibility.
– Fanny (called “Fan“) Fletcher, a friend of Jessie Delano who needs dancing lessons, in “An Ivy Spray and Ladies’ Slippers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Fanny Hamlin, Susy’s best friend in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Fanny Magenis, one of the army wives who make up the social circle for Amelia Sedley after her marriage to George Osborne, in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Scape, who, with her sister and mother, “fade away to Boulogne” after her father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny (Frances) Wentworth, Will’s conceited, snobbish cousin in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Fanny (Frances) Burney (1752-1840), English diarist, novelist, and playwright.
– Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), American composer, lyricist, mission worker, and poet.
– Fanny de Beauharnais (1737-1813), French salon-holder, socialite, and woman-of-letters.
– Fanny Fern (1811-1872), pen name of American children’s book writer, columnist, humorist, and novelist, Sara Willis.
– Fanny Howe (b. 1940), American novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Fanny Kemble (1809-1893), English actress and writer.
– Fanny Lewald (1811-1889), German activist and author.

Dan

August 2, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew for “judge”; often used as a shortened version of “Daniel“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dannie, Danny.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nickname for Daniel (b. 1917), the ninth 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.
– Dan Lawrence, George’s son, wounded at Shiloh / Pittsburgh Landing, who brings news to the Creightons of Tom’s death in the battle, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Dan Malony, a cousin of Mrs. Major O’Dowd’s, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Bob

August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN: Diminutive of “Robert“, meaning “bright flame”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES: Bobbie, Bobby, Dob, Dobbie, Dobby, Rob, Robb, Robbe, Robbi, Robbie, Robby, Robi, Robin, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bob, the largest of the unfriendly group of “Kirke’s Lambs” John Ridd runs into, after risking his life to save Tom Faggus from the danger of the Monmouth Rebellion, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Bob Ames, Mrs. Vance’s idealistic cousin, who inspires Carrie to greater things, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Bob (Robert) Gilbreth (b. 1920), the eleventh 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.
– Bob Martingale, subject of one of Rawdon’s sporty stories in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Bob (Robin) Snell, the little schoolboy whose fight with young John Ridd is momentarily disrupted by news of the elder Ridd’s death, in Lorna Doone.
– Bob Suckling, one of Becky’s conquests in Vanity Fair.

Jack

August 2, 2014 § 13 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “John“, from the Hebrew meaning “Jehovah has been gracious.” Used during the Middle Ages as slang for “man”; hence “jack-of-all-trades”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jackie, Jackin, Jacks, Jacky, Jak, Jake, Jakey, Jakie, Jakin, Jaks, Jankin, Jax, Jenkin, Jock, Jocko, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jack, a worker and Jansen & Co., Paper Manufacturers, in “In a Rag-Bag”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Jack Blackball, who promises to look after young Master Rawdon while at school, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Jack Brooks, Laura’s older brother, who sneers at her new friends until he learns to judge them better, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Jack Coverly, a forward young fop who is a good friend of Lord Merton, Lady Louisa’s fiancé, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Jack (John) Elliott, Edith’s cousin, who Dolly embarrasses herself in front of, in “Dolly Varden”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.
– Jack Fahrway, Eddie’s brother, also a friend of the junior George Hurstwood, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Jack Jingly, the giant woodsman who is second-in-command to the outlaw chieftain Captain Cully, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
– Jack Moody, Tom Moody’s son, in Vanity Fair.
– Jack (John) Reed, one of Jane’s spoiled, mean-spirited cousins, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Jack Richards, Anna’s brother, in “An April Fool”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Jack Roden, the Englishman who decides to try raising horses at Caryston Hall in Virginia, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.
– Jack (Johnny) Rosenfeld, a florist’s delivery boy who lives down the alley near the Page’s house, and who works his way up to the position of chauffeur for Palmer and Christine Howe, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Jack Spatterdash, subject of one of Rawdon’s sporty stories in Vanity Fair.
– Jack Stirthepot, a local chair-mender, who is suggested to (and summarily rejected by) Keren Lemon as a possible husband, in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.

WRITERS:
– Jack Anderson (1922-2005), American author, columnist, and journalist.
– Jack Beeching (1922-2001), English poet.
– Jack Bickham (1930-1997), American author.
– Jack Black (1871-1932?), pen name of an anonymous American author with great influence on the later Beat Generation.
– Jack Brooks (1912-1971), Anglo-American lyricist.
– Jack Caddigan (1879-1952), American lyricist.
– Jack Cady (1932-2004), American author.
– Jack Chalker (1944-2005), American author.
– Jack Clemo (1916-1994), English poet and writer.
– Jack Cope (1913-1991), South African editor, novelist, poet, and short-story writer.
– Jack Davies (1913-1994), English actor, editor, producer, and screenwriter.
– Jack Davis (1917-2000), Australian activist, playwright, and poet.
– Jack Douglas (1908-1989), American humorist and writer.
– Jack Dunphy (1914-1992), American novelist and playwright.
– Jack Finney (1911-1995), American author.
– Jack Foner (1910-1999), American historian.
– Jack Gelber (1932-2003), American playwright.
– Jack Germond (1928-2014), American author, journalist, and pundit.
– Jack Hemingway (1923-2000), Canadian-American conservationist and writer.
– Jack Henley (1896-1958), American screenwriter.
– Jack Higgins (b. 1929), pen name used by English author Harry Patterson, who also published under the pen names “Hugh Marlowe”, “James Graham”, and “Martin Fallon”.
– Jack House (1906-1991), Scottish broadcaster and writer.
– Jack Jevne (1892-1972), American screenwriter.
– Jack Jones (1884-1970), Welsh miner, novelist, playwright, and politician.
– Jack Judge (1872-1938), Anglo-Irish entertainer, lyricist, and songwriter.
– Jack Kahane (1887-1939), English publisher and writer.
– Jack Kent (1920-1985), American cartoonist and children’s book author and illustrator.
– Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), American novelist and poet.
– Jack Kirby (1917-1994), American comic book artist, editor, and writer.
– Jack Lindsay (1900-1990), Australian editor, translator, and writer.
– Jack London (1876-1916), American author, journalist, and social activist.
– Jack Micheline (1929-1998), American painter and poet.
– Jack Natteford (1894-1970), American screenwriter.
– Jack Rosenthal (1931-2004), English playwright and screenwriter.
– Jack Schaefer (1907-1991), American author.
– Jack Sendak (1923-1995), American children’s book author.
– Jack Spicer (1925-1965), American poet.
– Jack Trevor Story (1917-1991), English novelist.
– Jack Townley (1897-1960), American screenwriter.
– Jack Vance (1916-2013), American author, who also published under the pen names Alan Wade, Ellery Queen, Jay Kavanse, John van See, and Peter Held.
– Jack Whittingham (1910-1972), English critic, playwright, and screenwriter.
– Jack Woodford (1894-1971), American author.

QUOTATIONS:
– Classic nursery rhymes such as “Jack and Jill“, “Jack Sprat“, “Jack Be Nimble“, and “Little Jack Horner“. Probably the most popular boy’s name for nursery rhymes. Used for nearly every man jack of them.

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