Gene Stratton Porter | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Herbert

August 22, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “bright army”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bert, Bertie, Berto, Berty, Herb, Herberto, Herbie, Herby, Heribert, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Herbert Crane, one of the snobbish Jessica Hurstwood’s schoolmates, scorned for not being rich, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Herbert Kennedy, who hopes to make Ruth forget about David Langston, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

WRITERS:
– Herbert Agar (1897-1980), American editor, journalist, and historian.
– Herbert S. Scott (1931-2006), American editor and poet.
– Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), English philosopher, scientist, and writer.
– Herbert George (H.G.) Wells (1866-1946), English writer.

Emmeline

August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
From the Germanic name “Amelina”, meaning “work”. Sometimes used as a variation of “Emily“, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amalina, Em, Emelina, Emeline, Emma, Emmaline, Emmalyn, Emmie, Emmy, Lena, Lina, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Emmeline Moreland, John Moreland’s wife, who doesn’t appreciate the beauty of Granny Moreland’s antiques, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

WRITERS:
– Emmeline B. Wells (1828-1921), American activist, diarist, editor, journalist, and poet.
– Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), English activist, suffragette, and writer.
– Lady Emmeline Stuart-Wortley (1806-1855), English poet and writer.

Amos

August 22, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “burden” or “bearer of a burden”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Um . . . Amy? Actually, no, probably shouldn’t do that.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Amos Peters, a local farmer, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

Lizy

August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Eliza” or “Elizabeth“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ella, Ellie, Elissa, Eliza, Elsa, Elsie, Elyse, Libby, Liddy, Lisa, Lise, Lisette, Liz, Liza, Lizette, Lizzie, Lizzy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lizy Crofter, a hired woman, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

Marcella

August 22, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Feminine form of “Marcellus”, a Roman last name ultimately derived from Mars, the god of war.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Marcela, Marcelina, Marceline, Marcelle, Marcellette, Marcellina, Marcelline, Marcelyn, Marcie, Marcy, Marsaili, Zella, Zellie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Marcella Herron, Ruth Jameson’s grandmother, “a gentle woman”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

Alexander

August 22, 2014 § 14 Comments

ORIGIN:
Latin version of the Greek “Alexandros”, meaning “defender of men”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ace, Al, Alasdair, Alastair, Alastar, Ale, Alec, Alejandro, Aleks, Aleksander, Aleksandr, Alessandro, Alex, Alexandre, Alexandros, Alexis, Alick, Alisander, Alistair, Alister, Ally, Eskandar, Iskandar, Lexi, Olek, Oleksander, Oleksandr, Sacha, Sander, Sandor, Sandy, Sandro, Sascha, Saunder, Sawney, Sender, Shura, Sikandar, Skender, Xander, Xandinho, Zander, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of James Alexander Creighton (1849-1852), one of the three young Creighton boys who died of “paralysis” the year Jethro was born, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Alexander Herron, Ruth Jameson’s grandfather, “who made a concession”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

WRITERS:
– Alexander Brown (1843-1906), American historian and writer.
– Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757- 1804), American essayist, economist, and political leader.
– Alexander King (1899-1965), Austrian-American humorist and memoirist.
– Alexander Mollin (b. 1947), pen name of English author Jim Williams, who also publishes as “Richard Hugo”.
– Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet.
– Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), Russian author and poet.
– Alexander Ross (c.1590-1654), Scottish writer.
– Alexander Scott (c.1520-1582/83), Scottish poet.
– Alexander Scott (1920-1989), Scottish poet and scholar.
– Alexander Tayler (1870-1937), British author and historian who published under the pen name of “Alasdair Tayler”, and often published jointly with his sister, Hetty.
– Alexander Wilson (1893-1963), English writer and spy.

Ruthie

August 22, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Ruth“, meaning “friend” or “companion”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ruta, Rute, Ruut, Ruth, Ruthy.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ruthie (Ruth) Jameson, “a girl of the city” who cannot see herself as the Harvester’s dream girl, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

David

August 22, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “beloved”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dai, Daividh, Dauid, Dave, Daveth, Davey, Davide, Davie, Davis, Davit, Davy, Daw, Dawid, Dawud, Dewie, Dewey, Dewydd, Dovid, Taavetti, Taavi, Tavi, Taffy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Brother David, the stonemason, one of the monks at St. Mark’s in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– David Langston, the titular clean-living “harvester of the forest”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– David Wyburn, Esther’s cousin, who works as a clerk at Weyman & Co.’s importing-house, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– David Craig (b. 1929), pen name of Welsh novelist James Tucker, who also publishes as “Bill James” and “Judith Jones”.
– David Herbert (D.H.) Lawrence (1885-1930), English critic, essayist, novelist, painter, playwright, and poet.
– David Malouf (b. 1934), Australian novelist, playwright, and short story writer.
– David McCullough (b. 1933), American author, historian, and lecturer.
– David Mitchell (b. 1969), English novelist.
– David Sedaris (b. 1956), American author and humorist.
– David Foster Wallace (1962-2008), American essayist, novelist, professor, and short story writer.
– David Walliams (b. 1971), English activist, actor, children’s book writer, and comedian.

May

August 17, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Name for the hawthorn flower, or referencing the month of May, named after “Maia”, the Roman goddess of spring. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Mary“, “Margaret“, “Mabel”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mabella, Madge, Mae, Maggie, Maggy, Maia, Maisie, Maisy, Malia, Mame, Mamie, Manon, Mara, Maralyn, Maret, Margaux, Marge, Margie, Margo, Margot, Margy, Mari, Mariel, Marilyn, Marilynn, Marinda, Marise, Maja, Marlyn, Marylyn, Maya, Maybell, Maybella, Maybelle, Maybelline, Mayme, Meg, Megeen, Meggie, Meggy, Mele, Meri, Merilyn, Merrilyn, Metta, Mette, Mia, Miep, Mies, Miia, Midge, Moll, Mollie, Molly, My, Mya, Peg, Pegeen, Peggie, Peggy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– May, a married woman who befriends Ruth while she spends the winter with her grandparents in the city, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– May Franklin, a little girl who lives near the Bell’s boarding-house, in “What Hope Bell Found in Her Stocking”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

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.

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