Gene Stratton Porter | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Ruth

August 7, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “friend” or “companion”.

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

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ruth Bowen, the noble, sea-loving young heroine of “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Ruth Huckabuck, Reuben’s dwarfish granddaughter and heir, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Ruth Jameson (sometimes called “Ruthie“), “a girl of the city” who cannot see herself as the Harvester’s dream girl, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Ruth Varnum (later Mrs. Ned Hale), a friend of Ethan’s and Mattie’s, who, as landlady to the narrator, is able to fill him in on some of the details surrounding Ethan’s tragic life, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Ruth Visor, Keren Lemon’s cousin, who fears she will be forced to compete with Keren for Robert Racket’s love, 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:
– Ruth Gordon (1896-1985), American actress and writer.
– Ruth Prowler Jhabvala (1927-2013), German-born British-American writer.
– Ruth Edna Kelley (1893-1982), American author and librarian.
– Ruth Rendell (b. 1930), English author.
– Ruth Stout (1884-1980), American author.
– Ruth Plumly Thomson (1891-1976), American children’s book author.

Clara

August 6, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternate version of “Clare”, from the Latin name “Clarus”, meaning “clear” or “bright”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chiara, Claire, Clare, Claretta, Claribel, Clarice, Clarinda, Clarissa, Clarette, Kiara, Kiera, Klare, Klara, Klarissa, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Clara, the “honest and quiet; but heavy, mindless, and unimpressible” German woman Mr. Rochester took as a mistress following Céline Varens’ betrayal, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Clara, Rosamond Carey’s mother, who sends her to stay with three maiden cousins, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Clara Carey, wife of Dr. Carey, David Langston’s dearest friend, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Clara, Ella Carver’s cousin, for whose baby she buys pretty little things made by Almira Miller, in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls.
– Clara Harrington, a girl who unknowingly assisted in the trick on Tilly Drake, in “An April Fool”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Clara Jeffreys (née Partridge), one of Augusta Elton’s friends from Bath that she cites as an example of how married women always give up their pursuit of music, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).

Molly

August 4, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
Like “Polly“, a diminutive of “Mary“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Maille, Malle, Manon, Moll, Molle, Mollie, Pol, Pola, Poll, Pollie, Polly, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Molly, an old serving-woman who works for the Ridd’s, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Molly, the cook in the Crawley-Sharp household, who little Master Rawdon loved because she “crammed him with ghost stories at night, and with good things from the dinner”, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Molly Barnet, “a hospital nurse with a heart”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– “Major” Molly Elliston, whose determination to keep a promise helps save a garrison, in “Major Molly’s Christmas Promise” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Molly Gair, a resourceful and diligent young lady, in “Molly Gair’s New Dress”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Molly Grue, the “drab” who knows quite a lot about unicorns, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
– Molly Jameson, Ruth’s aunt, who has borne all that she can bear, in The Harvester.
– Molly (Maria) Mirvan, Evelina’s dearest friend, with whom she enters into London society, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Molly (Mary) Porter, a shopgirl Anna Winslow helps in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Molly Price, one of the guests the Lambert children invite for dinner, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.

WRITERS:
– Molly Childers (1875-1964), Irish activist and writer.
– Molly Holden (1927-1981), English poet.
– Molly Ivins (1944-2007), American writer, political critic, and humorist.
– Molly Kazan (1906-1963), American dramatist and playwright.
– Molly Keane (1904-1996), Irish novelist and playwright.
– Molly Lefebure (1919-2013), English writer.
– Molly Elliot Seawell (1860-1916), American historian and writer.
– Molly Weir (1910-2004), Scottish actress and memoirist.

Peter

August 1, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Greek “petros”, meaning “stone”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Boutros, Peadar, Pedro, Pejo, Pete, Petey, Petie, Petri, Petruccio, Petruchio, Petrus, Piero, Pierre, Piers, Piet, Pieter, Pietro, Piotr, Peer, Per, Pere, Pero, Pyotr, etc.

REFERENCES in LITERATURE:
– Peter the bowman, a retainer of Sir Peter’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Peter the Hayward, a local laborer in Robin’s city, in The Door in the Wall.
– Peter Bailey, one of Sir Pitt Crawley’s tenants, who is sent to the workhouse, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Peter Blundell, the charitable gentleman who founded the Tiverton grammar school young John Ridd is sent to for his education, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Peter Butt, the young man Rose Dawson throws over in order to marry Sir Pitt, in Vanity Fair.
– Rev. Mr. Peter Kronborg, Thea’s minister father in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Sir Peter de Lindsay, the nobleman who takes Robin in to train him up to become a knight, in The Door in the Wall.
– Peter Moreland, one of Granny Moreland’s sons in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Peter Mouldy, a young man born on the same night as Keren Lemon, who perhaps got her share of femininity and she his share of masculinity, 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:
– Peter Held (1916-2013), pen name of American author Jack Vance, who also published under the pen names Alan Wade, Ellery Queen, Jay Kavanse, and John van See.

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: “—Peter the Third—illustrious peer! / Great autocrat of half the sphere! / . . . Thy brief existence, hapless Peter! / Had doubtless longer been, and sweeter, / But that thou wilfully disturb’dst / The harmless name she brought from Zerbst.”

Abram

July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “high father”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Abe, Abey, Abie, Abraham, Avram, Avrom, Bram, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Abram Johnson, a farmer who looks after the titular bird in The Song of the Cardinal, by Gene Stratton Porter (1903).

John

July 30, 2014 § 16 Comments

ORIGIN:
The Anglicization of “Johannes”, which is the Latin form of “Ioannes”, the Greek version of the Hebrew “Jochanan”, meaning “Jehovah has been gracious”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
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. So, so many variations.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– John, the Gray’s stableman while in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– John, a coachman who helps Captain Mirvan and Sir Clement pull their highwayman prank on Madame Duval, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– John, the manservant at Thornfield (and later, Ferndean), in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– John, a house-servant at the Elliston’s, in “Major Molly’s Christmas Promise” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– John, one of Sir John and Lady Middleton’s children, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– John, a local boy Robin went to school with, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– John-go-in-the-Wynd, a minstrel who befriends Robin and escorts him to Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall.
– John-the-Fletcher, who was supposed to take Robin to Sir Peter’s for training, in The Door in the Wall.
– Big John, the ambulance driver at the hospital, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Captain John, the honest and amiable hero of “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– John (b. 1919), the tenth 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.
– John Abdy, whose father was clerk to Mrs. Bates’ husband, and who goes to Mr. Elton to ask for relief from the parish in caring for the old man, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Sir John Belmont, who marries and afterwards rejects Caroline Duval, compelling her to leave their daughter, Evelina, in the care of the kind Rev. Mr. Villars, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– John Birch, the local farmer who is arrested for harboring the rebel, Major Wade, following the Monmouth Rebellion, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– John Blackmore, a ne’er-do-well local to Queen’s Crawley in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sir John Buckskin, who canes Becky’s traveling companion, Major Loder, for cheating at cards, in Vanity Fair.
– John Coney, a real-life master silversmith mentioned in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– John Churchill Crawley was Sir Pitt’s grandfather in Vanity Fair.
– John Robert Creighton (b. 1837), Jethro’s oldest brother remaining at home, “more impatient, quicker to anger” than his beloved brother Bill, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Sir John de Bureford, Robin’s father, who is away at war, fighting with King Edward III against the Scots, in The Door in the Wall.
– John Dashwood, the greedy, selfish older half-brother of Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, in Sense and Sensibility.
– John Thomas Dawson was the father of Sir Pitt Crawley’s second wife, Rose, in Vanity Fair.
– John Elliott (called “Jack“), Edith’s cousin, who Dolly embarrasses herself in front of, in “Dolly Varden”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– John Eyre, Jane’s uncle, who spends years searching for her, in Jane Eyre.
– John Faggus, Tom and Annie’s little boy, named for his uncle and godfather, the goodly John Ridd, in Lorna Doone.
– John Fleming, Ally’s uncle, who realizes he hasn’t been understanding enough, in “Ally”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– John Fry, a longtime servant at the Ridd farm, known for being lazy and prone to dishonesty, in Lorna Doone.
– John Fry, his son, whose warts compel his cowardly father to seek the help of the local witch, Mother Melldrum, in Lorna Doone.
– John Green, parish clerk near Millcote and Thornfield, in Jane Eyre.
– John Hancock, a real-life historical figure, the richest man in Boston, who figures into the story of Johnny Tremain.
– John Horrocks, Sir Pitt Crawley’s butler and right-hand man in Vanity Fair.
– John Johnes, First Baron Helvellyn, father of the Hon. Joan, who marries Lord Steyne’s son, George, in Vanity Fair.
– John Jones, a rich gentleman from Llandaif who inherits Watchett Grange after the Countess of Dugal’s death at the hands of the Doones, in Lorna Doone.
– John Paul Jefferson Jones, a guest of Lord Steyne’s who spreads Becky’s fame far and wide in an article he writes for his American newspaper, in Vanity Fair.
– John Knightley, the second of John and Isabella Knightley’s three sons, who takes after his mother, in Emma.
– John Krescott, who is, with his twin brother Alan, included in the “irregular” kids at Lily’s school, due to their having been born prematurely and continuing to be undersized, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– John Kriszinski, Sheila’s twin brother, in Sleeping Arrangements.
– Mr. John Knightley, a rather anti-social young man; George Knightley’s younger brother, who lives in London with his wife Isabella, who is Emma Woodhouse’s older sister, in Emma.
– John Lambert, whose unfortunate financial advice leads to a rift in the family, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– John Lovering, who holds the mortgage to much of the De Whichehalse property, in Lorna Doone.
– Sir John Middleton, a relative of Mrs. Dashwood, a friendly, likeable sportsman who finds no greater pleasure in life than to play the host at Barton Park, in Sense and Sensibility.
– John Moreland, one of Granny Moreland’s sons, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– John Odam, the English pottery-maker who marries the Italian nursemaid Benita after she is stranded in Exmoor by the Doone’s attack on her employer’s coach, in Lorna Doone.
– John Pimlico, a “friend” whose marriage draws comment on the tendency of old ladies to cry at weddings, in Vanity Fair.
– Sir John Redhand, a gentleman gossiped about in Vanity Fair.
– John Reed (sometimes called “Jack“), one of Jane’s spoiled, mean-spirited cousins, in Jane Eyre.
– John Ridd (sometimes called “Jack” or “Johnny“), the large and deliberate yeoman who is the narrator and hero of Lorna Doone.
– John Ridd, young John’s father, who is murdered by the Doone’s, in Lorna Doone.
– John Runninghorse, Lily’s first college boyfriend, in Sleeping Arrangements.
– John Saunders, a local silversmith Miss Bates talks of taking her mother’s broken spectacles to, were it not for Mr. Frank Churchill’s kind attentions, in Emma.
– John Sedley, Amelia’s father in Vanity Fair.
– John Scroggins, Sir Pitt Crawley’s second keeper, in Vanity Fair.
– Dr. John Simson, who does not believe in ghosts, but is shaken by a mysterious juniper bush, in “The Open Door” (1881), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Sir John Trenyan, Lord Robert and Lady Margaret’s uncle, 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.
– Squire John Whichehalse, who helped capture the rebel Major Wade, an act the fair-dealing Exmoor locals can’t approve of, in Lorna Doone.
– John Willoughby, the handsome and charming Casanova who courts Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility.
– John Wybern, Esther’s artist uncle in “Esther Bodn”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.

WRITERS:
– John Bonett (1906-1989), pen name of English mystery author John Hubert Arthur Coulson, who often published jointly with his wife, Emery.
– John S. Browning (1907-1977), pen name of American science fiction author Robert Moore Williams, who also wrote under the pen names “E.K. Jarvis”, “H.H. Hermon”, “Robert Moore”, and “Russell Storm”.
– John Bunyan (1628-1688), English Christian writer and preacher.
– John Anthony Devon (1911-1983), pen name of Cornish biographer, historian, lecturer, novelist, poet, and professor Robert Payne, who also used the pen names “Howard Horn”, “Richard Cargoe”, “Robert Young”, and “Valentin Tikhonov”.
– John L. Carter (1880-1959), English author and playwright who published under the pen names “Compton Irving”, “Compton Irving Carter”, and “J.L.J. Carter”.
– John Donne (1572-1631), English poet and cleric.
– John Keats (1795-1821), English Romantic poet.
– John Locke (1632-1704), English philosophical writer and “Father of Classical Liberalism”.
– John Masefield (1878-1967), English Poet Laureate and author.
– John Milton (1608-1674), English poet and polemicist.
– John Neal (1793-1876), American author and critic who also published under the pen name “Jehu O’Cataract”.
– John Ruskin (1819-1900), English writer, critic, social thinker, and philanthropist.
– John Steinbeck (1902-1968) American author and Pulitzer Prize-winner.
– John Philip Thackray (1938-2002), English journalist, poet, singer, and songwriter who published under the pen name “Jake Thackray”.
– John van See (1916-2013), pen name of American author Jack Vance, who also published under the pen names “Alan Wade”, “Ellery Queen”, “Jay Kavanse”, and “Peter Held”.
– John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), American Quaker poet and abolitionist.
– John Wyndham (1903-1969), English science fiction author.

QUOTATIONS:
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Elizabeth” (published in 1873, but set in 1701-02; from Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part the Third: The Theologian’s Tale) tells the love story of John Estaugh (1676-1742) and Elizabeth Haddon (1680-1762), with her servants Joseph and Hannah as supporting characters, and John himself described thusly: “. . . a young man, a stranger, John Estaugh, / Moved by the Spirit, rose, as if he were John the Apostle, / Speaking such words of power that they bowed our hearts, as a strong wind / Bends the grass of the fields, or grain that is ripe for the sickle. / . . . Youthful he was and tall, and his cheeks aglow with the night air; / . . . with staid and quiet behavior . . . / . . . ‘When the Lord’s work is done, and the toil and the labor completed / He hath appointed me, I will gather into the stillness / Of my own heart awhile, and listen and wait for his guidance.’ / . . . Meanwhile John Estaugh departed across the sea, and departing / Carried hid in his heart a secret sacred and precious . . . / And on the First-Day that followed, he rose in the Silent Assembly, / Holding in his strong hand a hand that trembled a little, / Promising to be kind and true and faithful in all things.”

Martha

July 30, 2014 § 6 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Aramaic for “lady” or “mistress”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Madge, Maddie, Maddy, Marita, Mart, Marta, Marte, Marty, Mat, Mattie, Matty, Pat (from Mat, I guess), Patsy, Pattie, Patty, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Martha, the chambermaid hired to work at the orphanage, in “Polly’s Valentine” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Martha Abbott, a servant Jane once overheard Bessie gossiping with on the subject of presentiments, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Martha Crawley, née MacTavish, the Rev. Bute Crawley’s wife in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Miss Martha Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair.
– Martha G., mentioned in the Child’s Guide pamphlet Mr. Brocklehurst gives to Jane at their first meeting, urging her to “read it with prayer, especially that part containing ‘An account of the awfully sudden death of Martha G—, a naughty child addicted to falsehood and deceit'”, in Jane Eyre.
– Martha Gilbreth (b. 1909), the fourth 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.
– Martha Griswold, one of snobbish Jessica Hurstwood’s schoolmates, who is scorned for her poor family, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Martha Hilton, the kitchen maid Gen. Benning Wentworth married, mentioned in “That Little Smith Girl” from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Martha Jocelyn, Angela’s older sister, whose disillusionment has made her slightly bitter, in “An April Fool”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Martha Langston, David’s dear departed mother, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Martha Pierce, the aunt Zeena Frome stays with while in Bettsbridge to see the doctor, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Martha Sharpe, a friend of Miss Anne Steele’s, with whom she shared many confidences for her sister Lucy to eavesdrop on, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).

WRITERS:
– Martha Finley (1828-1909), American author and educator who sometimes wrote under the pen name “Martha Farquharson”.
– Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998), American journalist, novelist, and travel writer.

Frank

July 30, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Francis“, from the Late Latin word “Franciscus” (meaning “Frenchman”), from the Germanic / Old French word for “free”, or referring to the Germanic tribe settled in Europe known as the Franks.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chica, Chico, Ferenc, Feri, Fran, Franca, Francesco, Francis, Francisco, Franciscus, Franco, Francois, Franka, Frankie, Franky, Franny, Frans, Franz, Franzi, Paca, Paco, Pancho, Paquita, Paquito, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Frank, Ida Standish’s uncle, on whose farm she, the Kennedy family, and Miss Sarah Parsons will work all summer, in order to “pick berries, and get strong”, in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston’s son, adopted by his wealthy aunt and uncle; a very friendly and engaging young man who is looked on as a possible match for Emma, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Frank Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s sons, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Frank Gilbreth (b. 1911), the fifth child, and oldest boy, 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.
– Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr. (b. 1868), the industrial engineer and efficiency expert whose family life is related in Cheaper By the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes.
– Frank A. Hale, manager of the Standard Theatre in Chicago, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Dr. Frank Harmon, whose generosity once saved Ruth’s soul, and “who concludes to leave the city”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Frank Lyman, Lucretia Harper’s fiancée, in “Pansies” from A Garland for Girls.
– Frank Smithson, an “arch-schemer and swindler” who flees to Rio, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Frank L. Taintor, a friend of Hurstwood’s, in Sister Carrie.
– Frank Tuchek, the blond Ukrainian boy Lily has a crush on at school, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).

WRITERS:
– Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. (1911-2001), American author and memoirist.
– Frank Loesser (1910-1969), American composer and lyricist.

Maria

July 28, 2014 § 11 Comments

ORIGIN:
Pronounced either “ma REE’ a” or “ma RYE’ a”, this is the Latin form of Mary.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Maia, Maike, Maja, Malia, Mara, Mairen, Mari, Mariah, Marie, Mariele, Mariella, Marietta, Marijeke, Marika, Mariska, Marita, Mary, Maureen, Maya, Mia, Mimi, Mirele, Moira, Reena, Reeta, Ria, Riele, Riella, Rina, Rita, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Maria, maid-of-all-work for Maggie Bradford’s family in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Maria Johnson, the farmer’s wife in The Song of the Cardinal, by Gene Stratton Porter (1903).
– Maria Lucas, the younger sister of Lizzie Bennet’s best friend Charlotte in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Maria Mirvan (called “Molly” or “Moll” by her father), Evelina’s dearest friend, with whom she enters into London society, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Maria Frances Osborne, the younger of George Osborne’s sisters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Maria Porter (called “Ria“), a shopgirl Anna Winslow helps in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls.
– Miss Maria Temple, head teacher and superintendent of Lowood Institute, whose kindness to Jane encourages and consoles her, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Maria Todd, Miss Osborne’s goddaughter and sister to Osborne Todd, Georgy Osborne’s friend, in Vanity Fair.

QUOTATIONS:
– “They Call The Wind Maria” is a song from the 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe: “Away out here they got a name / For rain and wind and fire / The rain is Tess, the fire Joe / And they call the wind Maria”. (Obviously, you have to go with the “ma RYE’ a” pronunciation for this song, or it doesn’t really rhyme. Also, I have serious doubts about anyone actually calling fire “Joe”.)
– “Maria” is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim: “The most beautiful sound I ever heard. / Maria! . . . Say it loud and there’s music playing, / Say it soft and it’s almost like praying.”
– “(How Do You Solve a Problem Like) Maria” is a song from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II: “How do you solve a problem like Maria? / How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? / How do you find a word that means Maria? / A flibbertigibbet! A will-o’-the-wisp! A clown! / Many a thing you know you’d like to tell her / Many a thing she ought to understand / But how do you make her stay / And listen to all you say / How do you keep a wave upon the sand? / How do you solve a problem like Maria? / How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?”

Mary

July 28, 2014 § 18 Comments

ORIGIN:
The common Anglicized version of the Hebrew name “Miriam”, which may mean “rebellious” or “obstinate”. Or it may not. No one really knows. By now, “Mary” has more meaning due to connotation than to whatever the denotation may be.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Maaike, Maia, Mair, Mairenn, Mairi, Mairin, Mairwen, Maja, Malia, Maille, Mame, Mamie, Manon, Mara, Mari, Maria, Mariah, Mariamne, Marian, Marianne, Marie, Mariele, Mariella, Marielle, Marietta, Marika, Mariona, Marise, Mariska, Marissa, Marita, Maritza, Marjo, Marjut, Marya, Maryam, Marzena, Maura, Maureen, Masha, Mele, Mere, Meri, Mia, Mieke, Miep, Mies, Mimi, Mirele, Miriam, Mitzi, Moira, Moireen, Moll, Molle, Molly, Myriam, Ona, Poll, Pollie, Polly, Ria, etc. So many variations. So, so many.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mary, Carrie’s older sister, expected to marry soon, in “Pansies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Mary (b. 1906), the second 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.
– Mary, wife of John, the manservant at Thornfield (and later, Ferndean), in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Mary, the name of a succession of inept maidservants employed by the Hurstwoods, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Lady Mary, the old woman whose laid-back approach to business nearly ruins her goddaughter, in “Old Lady Mary” (1884), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Mary, the Hungarian housemaid at Thea’s boarding house in Chicago, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Mary, the housemaid at Grandpa Bennet’s, in “That Ridiculous Child”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Mary Arkwright, the friend whose birthday party Dolly Lorton writes about in her diary, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.
– Aunt Mary Balcarres, whose house lies opposite the College Library, in “The Library Window” (1896), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen.
– Mary Bennet, the serious and often-overlooked third Bennet daughter in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Mary Box, a girl local to Queen’s Crawley, with a reputation for fighting with her sister, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Lady Mary Caerlyon, the unhappy wife of Lord Steyne in Vanity Fair.
– Mary Clapp (nicknamed “Polly“), 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.
– Mary Ellen Creighton (b. 1844-46), Jethro’s older sister, “pretty as Jenny, only blond and more delicate”, who was killed in a carriage accident caused by a drunken Travis Burdow in 1859, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Mary Erroll, the beautiful and elegant neighbor who captures Jack Roden’s attention, and Virginia Herrick’s enmity, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.
– Mary Fleming, Ally’s cousin, whose actions don’t always reflect her intentions, in “Ally”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Mary Garrett, one of Jane’s students at the charity school in Morton, in Jane Eyre.
– Mary Grant, Kitty’s sister in “Esther Bodn”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Mary Ingram, Blanche’s younger sister, one of the elegant people who make up Mr. Rochester’s social set, in Jane Eyre.
– Mary Jordan, an impoverished woman who turns to Philip Canning for aid, in “The Portrait” (1885), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen.
– Mary King, the young heiress who attracts Wickham’s attentions away from Elizabeth, in Pride and Prejudice.
– Mary Leslie, a little girl who needs to have a better example set for her by the older girls, in “A Little Boarding-School Samaritan”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Lady Mary Mango (daughter of the Earl of Castlemouldy), to whom Amelia is favorably compared in Vanity Fair.
– Mary Marcy, a shrewd, spirited girl whose Quaker mother isn’t enough to keep her from wanting to fight back against injustice, in “An April Fool”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Mary McGuire, one of Sidney’s patients at the hospital, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Mary, Lady Middleton, Mrs. Jennings’ daughter and Sir John’s wife, an elegant, though dull, woman who has little to offer besides devotion to her children and to the politesse of hostessing, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Mary Peters, wife of local farmer Amos Peters, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Mary Porter (called “Molly“), a shopgirl Anna Winslow helps in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls.
– Mary Rivers (later Wharton), one of St. John’s sisters, who befriend Jane after she leaves Thornfield, in Jane Eyre.
– Miss Mary Scott, the pleasant old lady who hopes to see a rare flower bloom in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls.
– Mary Sedley is Amelia Sedley’s mother (although later her husband refers to her as “Bessy“) in Vanity Fair.
– Mary Turner, Ed’s wife and Sam’s mother, in Across Five Aprils.
– Mary Vivian, Lady Mary’s goddaughter, who is nearly left destitute through simple procrastination, in “Old Lady Mary” (1884), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen.

WRITERS:
– Mary Cowden Clark (1809-1898), English author and scholar.
– Mary Higgins Clark (b. 1927), American novelist.
– Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823-1886), American diarist and socialite.
– Mary Stewart Doubleday Cutting (1851-1924), American activist and author.
– Mary McCarthy (1912-1989), American activist, author, and critic.
– Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958), American mystery novelist.
– Mary Shelley (1797-1851), English writer.
– Mary Somerville (1780-1872), Scottish science writer and polymath.
– Mary Stewart (1916-2014), English author.
– Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), English activist, philosopher, and writer.

QUOTATIONS:
– Classic nursery rhymes such as “Mary, Mary, quite contrary” and “Mary had a little lamb“. Probably the most popular girl’s name for nursery rhymes, really. When it comes to rhyming, Mary is very ordinary.
– “Bring Flowers of the Rarest” is a hymn to the Virgin Mary, written by Mary E. Walsh in 1871: “Oh! Thus shall we prove thee / How truly we love thee, / How dark without Mary / Life’s journey would be. / O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today, / Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May!”

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