Kitty

July 28, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
A diminutive of “Catherine” / “Katherine“, from the Greek for “pure”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cadi, Cady, Cait, Caity, Cat, Cate, Catey, Cathie, Cathy, Catie, Cato, Caty, Catya, Kady, Kaia, Kaisa, Kaity, Kaja,  Kat, Kata, Kate, Katey, Kathi, Kathie, Kathy, Kati, Katie, Katja, Katka, Katri, Katy, Katya, Kay, Kaya, Kit, Kitti, Kittie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Kitty, one of the other shop girls at the Chicago shoe factory where Carrie first finds employment, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Kitty (Catherine) Bennet, the somewhat silly and spoiled fourth Bennet girl in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, written in 1797, published in 1813.
– Kitty Carroll, a “chatterer” Maud and Dolly Lorton pay a visit to, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Kitty Grant, a boisterous girl whose love of a joke sometimes outpaces the kindness of her heart, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Kitty Wright, (1697-1750), pen name of English poet Mehetabel Wesley Wright, who was also known as “Hetty Wright”.

Jane

July 28, 2014 § 7 Comments

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

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chevonne, Gia, Gianna, Giannina, Giovanna, Giovannetta, Ioanna, Ivana, Jan, Jana, Janae, Janelle, Janet, Janette, Janey, Janie, Janice, Janina, Janine, Janis, Janith, Jayna, Jayne, Jean, Jenelle, Jeanette, Jeanine, Jeanne, Jeannette, Jena, Jeni, Jenna, Jennie, Jenny, Joan, Joanie, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Johannah, Juana, Juanita, Nina, Nita, Seanna, Shavonne, Shayna, Sheena, Shevaun, Siana, Siobhan, Sinead, Vanna, Yana, Yoana, Yoanna, Zhana, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jane, cook for the Gray family while in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Jane, the parlor-maid in the Lorton household, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Aunt Jane, a relative of the Ridd’s, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Aunt Jane, the relative Janey Evans is named after, in “What Hope Bell Found in Her Stocking”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.
– Jane (b. 1922), the youngest 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.
– Jane Bassett (called “Jenny“), the quiet, hard-working young lady who makes the most of her trip to Europe, and reaps the benefits, in “Poppies and Wheat”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Jane Bates, Mrs. Bates’ daughter and Miss Hetty Bates’ sister, Jane Fairfax’s mother, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Jane Bennet, the beautiful and kind-hearted eldest of the five Bennet daughters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Jane Dobbin, one of William Dobbin’s sisters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Jane Eyre (sometimes called “Janet” by Mr. Rochester, and “Jeannette” by Adèle), the passionate, principled, independent narrator of Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Jane Fairfax, an elegant, accomplished, and deeply reserved young woman, Emma.
– Jane Firkin, lady’s maid to the wealthy Miss Crawley in Vanity Fair.
– Jane Leaven, Bessie’s young daughter, in Jane Eyre.
– Jane McClane, a strong and sensible older girl who has never had a Valentine, in “Polly’s Valentine” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Jane Osborne, the elder of George Osborne’s sisters in Vanity Fair.
– Jane Reed, the title character’s mother, who marries a clergyman and is disinherited by her family, in Jane Eyre. 
– Lady Jane Sheepshanks, Mr. Pitt Crawley’s long-suffering fiancée in Vanity Fair.

WRITERS:
– Jane Andrews (1833-1887), American author and educator.
– Jane Austen (1775-1817), English novelist.
– Jane Bowles (1917-1973), American writer and playwright.
– Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), Canadian-American activist, author, and journalist.
– Jane Lane (1905-1978), pen name of English biographer and historical novelist Elaine Kidner Dakers.
– Jane Porter (1776-1850), Scottish historical novelist and dramatist.
– Lady Jane Seymour (c. 1541-1561), English writer.

Elizabeth

July 28, 2014 § 22 Comments

ORIGIN:
From “Elisabet”, the Greek form of the Hebrew “Elisheva”, meaning “oath of God”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aliza, Alizabeth, Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Betje, Bette, Beth, Bethan, Bethann, Betsy, Bette, Bettie, Bettina, Betty, Bettye, Birdie, Birdy, Buffy, Elisabeth, Elisabetta, Elisaveta, Elise, Elisheva, Elissa, Eliza, Ella, Elle, Ellie, Elsa, Else, Elsie, Elsje, Elspet, Elspeth, Elyse, Erszebet, Ilsa, Ilse, Isa, Isabel, Isabella, Isabelle, Izabela, Let, Lettie, Letty, Liana, Libby, Liddy, Lies, Liesl, Liese, Lilian, Liliana, Lilibet, Lilibeth, Lillian, Lillie, Lilly, Lily, Lis, Lisa, Lisbeth, Lise, Lisette, Liz, Liza, Lizabeth, Lizbeth, Lizette, Lizy, Lizzie, Lizzy, Pet, Pettie, Tess, Tessie, Tessy, Tetty, Ysabel, Ysabet, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Elizabeth, maid-of-all-work for the Gray family while in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Elizabeth Alden (called “Lizzie“), member of the Mayflower Club in A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Elizabeth Bennet (called “Lizzy” or “Eliza” by her nearest and dearest), the clever, “fine-eyed” second Bennet daughter, and heroine of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Middle name of Jenny Elizabeth Creighton (b. 1847), Jethro’s pretty sister, clever and strong-willed, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Elizabeth Horrocks (referred to as “Betsy” or “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).
– Lady Elizabeth Lennox, Dorothy and Humphrey’s grandmother, who hires Nurse Crumpet to care for her daughter Patience, and her adopted daughter Marian, 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.
– Elizabeth Martin, one of Robert Martin’s two sisters, who befriend Harriet Smith while they are students at Mrs. Goddard’s school for young ladies, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Elizabeth de Rochester, wife of Damer de Rochester, an ancestor of Mr. Rochester “slain at Marston Moor in the time of the civil wars”, whose tomb Jane notices in the church on her wedding day, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), American poet and short story writer.
– Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer.
– Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), English poet.
– Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), English classicist, poet, translator, and writer.
– Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893-1986), American poet and author.
– Elizabeth Craig (1883-1980), Scottish home economist, journalist, and writer.
– Elizabeth Dodd (1909-1989), Scottish author and broadcaster who published under the pen name “Lavinia Derwent”.
– Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), English novelist and short story writer.
– Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984), English author.
– Elizabeth Hamilton (1756/58-1816), English essayist, novelist, satirist, and poet.
– Elizabeth Lowell (b. 1944), pen name of American novelist Ann (A.E.) Maxwell, who often collaborates with her husband, Evan Maxwell, and who also publishes under the pen name “Lowell Charters”.

QUOTATIONS:
– The classic children’s rhyming riddle: “Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess, / They all went together to seek a bird’s nest. / They found a bird’s nest with five eggs in, / They all took one and left four in.” Since Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess are all diminutives of Elizabeth, all four names may refer to one person. And now you know how that riddle works.
– “Elizabeth“, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (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 Elizabeth herself described thusly: “But in meekness of spirit, and calmly, Elizabeth answered: / ‘All I have is the Lord’s, not mine to give or withhold it; / I but distribute his gifts to the poor . . . / His, not mine, are the gifts, and only so far can I make them / Mine, as in giving I add my heart to whatever is given . . .’ / . . . And Elizabeth answered with confident voice, and serenely / Looking into his face with her innocent eyes as she answered, / . . . For underneath that roof was no distinction of persons, / But one family only, one heart, one hearth, and one household. / . . . With them, but more sedately and meekly, Elizabeth Haddon / Sang in her inmost heart, but her lips were silent and songless. / . . . And John Estaugh made answer, surprised at the words she had spoken, / ‘Pleasant to me are thy converse, thy ways, thy meekness of spirit; / Pleasant thy frankness of speech, and thy soul’s immaculate whiteness, / Love without dissimulation, a holy and inward adorning. . . ‘ / . . . Patient and unrepining Elizabeth labored, in all things / Mindful not of herself, but bearing the burdens of others, / Always thoughtful and kind and untroubled . . . “

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