Charleworth
September 15, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Possible variation of “Charlesworth”, an English place name meaning “jagged or jaw-like enclosure”, or “Charlton”, an English place name meaning “Charles’ town”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chalesworth, Charlie, Charles, Charley, Charleston, Charlesworth, Charlton, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Charleworth Doone (called “Charlie“), who tries to compete with Carver for Lorna’s hand, though she despises them both for their violence and cruelty, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
Marwood
September 13, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
One of those “last names as first names” that were once a quite popular way for a mother’s maiden name to be passed on to her sons, “Marwood” is possibly from Old French, meaning “evil eye”, or it could be simply an English place name, meaning “boundary wood”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Malregard, Malreward, Merode, Merwood, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Marwood de Whichehalse, Baron Hugh de Whichehalse’s son, who tries to woo Annie Ridd, but keeps bad company in the form of Charlie Doone and his clan, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
Carver
September 12, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Old English last name, meaning “wood carver” or “stone carver”, or Anglo-Norman, meaning “ploughman”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Kerver, Keruer.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Carver Doone, the vengeful and wicked villain who earns his name from his cruelty, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
Ensor
September 12, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Anglo-Saxon place name meaning “Eden’s ridge” or “ridge of prosperity”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Edensor, Endser, Endsor, Enser, Ensie, Ensy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Ensor Doone, captain and progenitor of the murderous band of Doones who terrorize Exmoor, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Ensor Doone (called “Ensie“; later re-named Jones), Carver’s young son, who adores and is adopted by John Ridd following the assault on the Doone stronghold, in Lorna Doone.
Windlow
August 29, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Possibly a variation of “Winslow”, an old English place name meaning “friend’s hill”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Winnie, Winny, Windslow, Winselow, Winsloe, Winslow, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Windlow Aplin, who was given his mother’s maiden name as a first name, a snobbish, bragging boy from a snobbish, bragging family, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
Berkeley
August 27, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Anglo-Saxon place name, meaning “from the birch meadow”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bar, Barclay, Barklay, Barkley, Barklie, Barrclay, Berk, Berke, Berkie, Berklee, Berkley, Berky, Birk, Birkeley, Birkley, Bourke, Burk, Burke, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Berkeley Pelham, Margaret’s uncle, who lives in Brazil, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Berkeley Pelham (called “Berk“), Margaret’s older brother, in “That Little Smith Girl” from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
Benning
August 27, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
English last name, from the Roman name “Benedictus”, meaning “blessing”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Banish, Benech, Benedict, Benedicte, Beneit, Benet, Bening, Bennet, Bennett, Benoit, Benyt, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– General Benning Wentworth, a venerable ancestor who married his kitchen maid, an act Will Wentworth takes pride in, while his cousin Fanny dislikes to speak of it, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
St. John
August 26, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
A Norman last name (pronounced “SIN-jun”), possibly referring to any one of the many, many Saint Johns or to one of the many places named for them.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Singen, Sinjin, Sinjon, Sinjun, St. Jean, Stjohn, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– St. John Eyre Rivers, Jane’s hard, cold, deeply religious cousin, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
Damer
August 26, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Variation of the Dutch last name “Dammer”, meaning “lives by the dyke”, or of the German name “Dahmer”, meaning “famous day” or “famous thought”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dagomar, Dahme, Dahmer, Dammer, Daukmar, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– 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.
Broughton
August 25, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
English place name, meaning “brook town”, “fortress town”, or “hill town”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Broctune, Broghtone, Browton, Burghton, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Master Broughton Brocklehurst, oldest son of the formidable and hypocritical supervisor of Lowood Institute, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 