Ebenezer
August 21, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “stone of help”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ben, Bennie, Benny, Eb, Ebb, Eben, Eben-ezer, Ebeneezer, Ez, Eez, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ebenezer Carron (called “Eb“; b. 1843), Jethro’s cousin, a hot-headed young man who joins Tom in running off to enlist in the Union Army, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
WRITERS:
– Ebenezer Beesley (1840-1906), Anglo-American composer and hymn-writer.
– E. (Ebenezer) Cobham Brewer (1810-1897), English lexicographer and writer.
– Ebenezer Cooke (c.1665-c.1732), English poet and satirist.
– Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), English activist and poet.
– Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754), Scottish minister and writer.
– Ebenezer Forrest (fl. 1774), English attorney, dramatist, and writer.
– Ebenezer Jones (1820-1860), English poet.
– Ebenezer Landells (1808-1860), English artist, children’s book writer, illustrator, and publisher.
– Ebenezer Joseph Mather (1849-1927), English philanthropist and writer.
– Ebenezer Porter (1772-1834), American minister, translator, and writer.
– Ebenezer Prout (1835-1909), English composer, teacher, and writer.
– Ebenezer Rhodes (1762-1839), English artist, editor, poet, publisher, topographer, and writer.
– Ebenezer Platt Rogers (1817-1881), American author and minister.
– Ebenezer Sibley (1751-c.1799), English astrologer, physician, and writer.
– Ebenezer Syme (1825-1860), Scottish-Australian journalist and publisher.
– Ebenezer Thomas (1802-1863), Welsh poet and teacher who also published under the pen name “Eben Fardd”.
Ward
August 20, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From an Old English last name, meaning “guard” or “watchman”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Varde, Warda, Warde, Warden, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of Thomas Ward Creighton (b. 1843), Jethro’s older brother, who, at just 18 years of age, runs off to join the Union Army, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
WRITERS:
– Ward Churchill (b. 1947), American activist, author, and professor.
– Ward Costello (1919-2009), American actor, composer, and lyricist.
– Ward Hawkins (1912-1990), American author, producer, and screenwriter.
– Ward Moore (1903-1978), pen name of American novelist and short story writer Joseph Ward Moore.
– Ward Morehouse (1895-1966), American author, columnist, critic, and playwright.
– Ward Ruyslinck (1929-2014), pen name of Belgian novelist, poet, translator, and writer Raymond De Belser.
Shad
August 17, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Shadrach“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Shadd, Shaddo, Shadoe, Shadrak, Shadrach, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Shad (Shadrach) Yale (b. 1841), the well-educated and eminently reasonable, though tender-hearted, schoolmaster Ellen “adopts”, Jethro idolizes, and Jenny adores, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Shadrach
August 17, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “commander of Aku (Babylonian god of the moon)”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Shad, Shadd, Shaddo, Shadoe, Shadrak, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Shadrach Yale (sometimes called “Shad“; b. 1841), the well-educated and eminently reasonable, though tender-hearted, schoolmaster Ellen “adopts”, Jethro idolizes, and Jenny adores, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Hallam
August 17, 2015 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
An English last name, meaning “at the rocks”, “at the nook”, “from the hills”, or “remote valley”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hal, Hall, Hallum, Halm, Halum.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of Jethro Hallam Creighton (b. 1852), the young boy through whose eyes we view the events of Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Jeth
August 14, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Jethro“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jethro, Yitro.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jeth (Jethro) Creighton (b. 1852), the young boy through whose eyes we view the events of Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Jethro
August 14, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew name “Yitro”, meaning “abundance” or “pre-eminence”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jeth, Yitro.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jethro Hallam Creighton (sometimes called “Jeth“; b. 1852, so 9 years old at the start of the war), the young boy through whose eyes we view the events of Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Jethro Hallam, the “old doctor that the folks set such store by”, who young Jeth was named after, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Benjamin
May 24, 2015 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew name “Binyamin”, meaning “son of the south” or “son of the right hand”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ben, Beniamin, Beniamino, Benj, Benja, Benji, Benjie, Benjy, Bennie, Benny, Benyamen, Beryamen, Binyamin, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Benjamin Hardin Creighton (b. 1832), oldest of the Creighton children, “left for Californy 1849”), in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Middle name of Matthew Benjamin Creighton, Ellen’s husband and Jethro’s father, a well-respected farmer of integrity and compassion, in Across Five Aprils.
– Benjamin Norton, the president of the trolley company Hurstwood attempts to work for, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
WRITERS:
– Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), English novelist and politician.
– Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American activist, author, diplomat, inventor, politician, publisher, scientist, and statesman.
Lily
November 15, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the lily flower, a symbol of purity. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Lillian” or “Elizabeth“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lil, Lili, Lillie, Lilly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lily Fisher, Thea’s rival in Moonstone, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Lily Hiles, the amiable and generous proprietor of Newton’s only restaurant, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Lily Pearl (sometimes also known as “Lily Moore” and “Lily Shaine”, and called “D” or “Doll” by her uncles), the young girl whose family life is recounted in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
WRITERS:
– Lily L. Allen (1867-1952), Irish author and missionary.
– Lily Braun (1865-1916), German activist and author.
– Lily Brett (b. 1946), German-Australian essayist, novelist, and poet.
– Lily Brown (b. 1981), American poet.
– Lily Dougall (1858-1923) Canadian activist and author.
– Lily Goddard (1916-2002), Austrian author and designer.
– Lily Koppel (b. 1981), American novelist and nonfiction author.
– Lily Ross Taylor (1886-1969), American academic and author.
– Lily Tuck (b. 1938), American novelist and short story writer.
Billy
November 14, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Like “Bill” and “Willie“, etc., a diminutive of “William“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bil, Bill, Billie, Gwil, Liam, Lyam, Pim, Vila, Vili, Viljo, Ville, Wil, Wilkie, Wilkin, Wilky, Will, Willie, Willis, Willy, Wim, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Uncle Billy Beemer, the benevolent town drunk responsible for Moonstone’s grove of cottonwoods, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Uncle Billy Jeffers, the Creighton’s neighbor down the road, who survived the War of 1812, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
WRITERS:
– Billy Rose (1899-1966), American impresario, lyricist, and showman.
– Billy Strayhorn (1915-1967), American jazz composer, lyricist, musical arranger, and pianist.
– Billy Wilder (1906-2002), Austrian-American artist, filmmaker, journalist, producer, and screenwriter.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 