Betty
August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Bette, Beth, Betsy, Bette, Bettie, Bettina, Betty, Bettye, Buffy, Let, Lettie, Letty, Pet, Pettie, Tess, Tessie, Tessy, Tetty, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Betty, Madame Duval’s housemaid at her residence in London, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Betty, Mrs. Jennings’ servant, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Betty Flanagan, the Irish maid-of-all-work who finds employment with the Sedley’s post-fall, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Betty Martin, a housemaid who aids and abets Becky Sharp and Rawdon Crawley in their secret courtship in Vanity Fair.
– Betty Muxworthy, a bitter old serving woman who works on the Ridd’s farm, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
WRITERS:
– Betty Friedan (1921-2006), American activist and writer.
– Betty Smith (1896-1972), American author.
Eliza
August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ella, Ellie, Elissa, Elsa, Elsie, Elyse, Libby, Liddy, Lisa, Lise, Lisette, Liz, Liza, Lizette, Lizy, Lizzie, Lizzy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Eliza Brandon, Col. Brandon’s cousin, who is forced to marry his brother, and who leaves him the care of her young daughter, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Eliza Reed (sometimes called “Lizzy“), one of Jane’s spoiled, mean-spirited cousins, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Eliza Ridd (called “Lizzie“), John’s small, strange, and spiteful book-loving youngest sister, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Eliza Spears, a local woman who was miraculously cured by Zeena’s new doctor, Dr. Buck, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Eliza Styles is the false name Rawdon Crawley uses to receive letters from Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Eliza Williams, Col. Brandon’s ward, who follows too closely the example of her unfortunate mother in at least one regard, in Sense and Sensibility.
WRITERS:
– Eliza Acton (1799-1859), English author and cook.
– Eliza Cook (1818-1889), English author, poet, and writer.
– Eliza Haywood (c. 1693-1756), English actress and writer.
– Eliza Tabor Stephenson (1835-1914), English novelist.
Lionel
August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From the Greek, meaning “little lion”. French diminutive of “Leon”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Leo, Leon, Levon, Linal, Linel, Lionnel, Lynal, Lynel, Lyonel, Lyonnel, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lionel, one of the pageboys Robin befriends during his stay at Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Rev. Lionel Delamere, a friend of Miss Briggs’, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Peggy
August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Meggy”, diminutive of “Margaret“, from Greek via Latin, meaning “pearl”
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Madge, Mae, Maggie, Maggy, Mame, Mamie, Marge, Margie, Margy, May, Meg, Megeen, Meggie, Meggy, Midge, Peg, Pegeen, Peggie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Peggy, 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).
– Peggy (Auralia Margaretta) O’Dowd (née Malony), the Mrs. Major O’Dowd who serves as a sort of de facto queen and hostess of George Osborne’s and William Dobbin’s regiment in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Peggy (Margaret) “Smith”, a simply-dressed, sweet girl who experiences a case of mistaken identity, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
QUOTATIONS:
From “Peggy“, a poem written by Scottish poet Allan Ramsay in the early 18th century: “My Peggy is a young thing, / Just enter’d in her teens, / Fair as the day, and sweet as May, / Fair as the day, and always gay.”
Rose
August 1, 2014 § 9 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning, well, “rose”. Sometimes used as a diminutive for names beginning with “Ros-“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ros, Rosa, Rosabel, Rosaleen, Rosalie, Rosalind, Rosaline, Rosamond, Rosamonde, Rosamund, Rosanne, Roselin, Roselind, Rosella, Roselle, Rosemond, Rosemund, Rosetta, Rosette, Rosie, Rosina, Rosine, Rosita, Roslyn, Rosy, Roz, Roza, Rozelle, Rozie, Rozy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rose Crawley (short for “Rosalind“) is the elder of the two little Crawley girls Becky Sharp is hired to be governess for in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Rosa
August 1, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Latinized version of “Rose“, meaning, well, “rose”. Sometimes used as a diminutive for names beginning with “Ros-“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ros, Rosabel, Rosaleen, Rosalie, Rosalind, Rosaline, Rosamond, Rosamonde, Rosamund, Rosanne, Rose, Roselin, Roselind, Rosella, Roselle, Rosemond, Rosemund, Rosetta, Rosette, Rosie, Rosina, Rosine, Rosita, Roslyn, Rosy, Roz, Roza, Rozelle, Rozie, Rozy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rosa Bullock, one of Fred and Maria Bullock’s children, cousin to Georgy Osborne, who her mother hopes may one day be a means of recapturing her children’s inheritance, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Rosa Dawson, Lady Crawley, is Sir Pitt Crawley’s second wife and mother of the girls clever little Becky Sharp is hired to be governess for in Vanity Fair.
– Rosa Jemima Todd, the younger sister of Osborne Todd, and the Todd family’s hope of uniting with the Osbornes on the chance that young Georgy might grow up to fall in love with her, in Vanity Fair.
WRITERS:
– Rosa Waldeck (1898-1982), pen name of German-American author Rosie Goldschmidt (R.G.) Waldeck.
Emmy
August 1, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Amelia“, “Emma“, “Emilia”, “Emily“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amy, Amie, Em, Emmie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Family nickname for Amelia Sedley, the naive and gentle heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
QUOTATIONS:
– From the poem “Emmy” by Arthur Symons (from an 1892 collection of poetry): “Emmy’s laughter rings in my ears, as bright / Fresh and sweet as the voice of a mountain brook”
– The same Arthur Symons, in the same poetry collection, includes “Emmy at the Eldorado“: “Child, child, what will you do, / Emmy, now love has come to you?”
Sophy
August 1, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Sophie“, a diminutive of “Sophia“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fifi, Sofi, Sofia, Sofie, Sofiya, Sonia, Sonja, Sonya, Sophia, Sophie, Vivi, Zophi, Zophia, Zophie, Zosia, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sophy Cutler, a girl Joseph Sedley claims to have attracted while in India (possibly, though, entirely imaginary, like Jan Brady’s George Glass), in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Becky
July 31, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Rebecca“, from the Hebrew name “Rivkah”, meaning “yoke” or “snare”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Becca, Becka, Beckah, Beckie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Great Aunt Becky, Lily’s elderly relative, who believes her deceased nephew is still alive and living in Alaska because no one in the family has the heart to break the news to her, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Becky Hawkins, a sharp and saucy “parcel-girl” who is as brave and generous as she is quick-witted, in “Becky”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Becky (Rebecca) Moore, the plain, hard-working farm girl with the heart of a poet in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Becky (Rebecca) Sharp, the clever and self-centered anti-heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 