Louisa May Alcott | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Ida

August 5, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “work” or “labor”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Idah, Ide, Idella, Idelle, Idina, Iida, etc..

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ida, daughter of the Prime Minister of Pumpernickel, where Amelia, Dobbin, Jos, and Georgy visit for a while on their Grand Tour, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Ida Standish, member of the Mayflower Club in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Ida Pollock (1908-2013), English author who published under her own name, as well as several pseudonyms.
– Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), American author, journalist, and teacher.
– Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), American activist, editor, and journalist.

Florence

August 5, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Latin “Florentia” or “Florentius”, meaning “blooming” or “prosperous”. Sometimes used as a variant of “Flora” or “Florent”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Fiorenza, Fleur, Flo, Flor, Flora, Florentia, Florina, Floris, Florrie, Florry, Floss, Flossie, Flossy, etc.
For boys: Fiorenzo, Florent, Florentius, Floris, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Florence Aplin (called “Flo“), a snobbish, bragging girl from a snobbish, bragging family, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Florence Ellery (called “Floss“), a rather snobbish and conceited young lady in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Florence Fleming, Ally’s cousin, who can be a bit spiteful, in “Ally”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Florence Scape, who, with her sister and mother, “fade away to Boulogne” after her father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

WRITERS:
– Florence Morse Kingsley (1859-1937), American novelist.
– Florence Nash (1888-1950), American actress and poet.
– Florence Scovel Shinn (1871-1940), American artist and metaphysical writer.

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.

Fred

August 4, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Frederick“, meaning “peaceful ruler”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Alfred“, “Manfred”, “Wilfred”, etc., or, for girls, for names like “Frederica” or “Winifred”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Freda, Freddi, Freddie, Frieda, Fritzi.
For boys: Fred, Fredde, Freddie, Fredo, Fritz.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nickname for Frederick (b. 1916), the eighth 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.
– Fred, a rather snobbish and foppish young man in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Fred (called “Freddy“) Allen, whose wife is a friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, and frequently serves as chaperone for their parties, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Fred (Frederick Augustus) Bullock, the young man Maria Osborne hopes to marry in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Fred (Philip Frederick) Ottenburg, the dynamic young brewing heir who launches Thea’s operatic career, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).

WRITERS:
– Fred Thompson (1884-1949), English writer and librettist.
– Fred Urquhart (1912-1995), Scottish short story writer.

Kate

August 4, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Catherine” / “Katherine“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cadi, Cady, Cait, Cat, Cate, Catey, Cathi, Cathy, Catie, Cato, Caty, Catya, Kady, Kaia, Kaity, Kaja, Kat, Kata, Katey, Kathi, Kathie, Kathy, Katie, Katka, Katri, Katy, Kay, Kaya, Kaye, Kaylee, Kayleen, Kit, Kitti, Kittie, Kitty, Kylee, Kyleen, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Kate, a rather sharp, though kind-hearted, young lady in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Kate Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Kate Fleming, Ally’s aunt, whose misunderstood remark leads to trouble, in “Ally”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Kate Gray (née Catherine Van Vliet), the kind-hearted, motherly woman who accepts her cousin’s daughter, Candace, as one of her own, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

WRITERS:
– Kate Atkinson (b. 1951), English author and playwright.
– Kate Chopin (1850-1904), American author.

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: “Then cast it in a Grecian mould, / Once modell’d from a living scold; / When from her shelly prison burst / That finished vixen, Kate the curst! / . . . Nor was it even then too late, / When crown’d and register’d a Kate; / When all had trembling heard, and seen, / The shriller voice, and fiercer mien”
– “Kiss Me, Kate“, a song from the 1948 Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter, has Petruchio singing to Katherine: “So, kiss me, Kate, thou lovely loon, / Ere we start on our honeymoon. / So, kiss me, Kate, darling devil divine, / For now thou shall ever be mine.”

Fanny

August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Frances” or “Francisca” (feminine versions of “Francis“, meaning “Frenchman”), or of “Stefania”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chica, Cissie, Cissy, Fan, Fannie, Fran, Franca, Franci, Francie, Francka, Franka, Frankie, Franky, Frannie, Franny, Franzi, Paca, Paquita, Sissie, Sissy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Fanny, a cousin of Col. Brandon’s, who Mrs. Jennings guesses may have recently married, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility(set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Fanny Bludyer, a friend of the social-climbing Maria Bullock (née Osborne) Fanny Bludyer, a friend of the social-climbing Maria Bullock (née Osborne) in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Fanny de Butterbrod, a Countess of Pumpernickel who nearly captures Joseph Sedley’s all-too-susceptible heart in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Dashwood (née Ferrars), John Dashwood’s wife and Edward Ferrar’s sister, a cold, greedy, snobbish woman with no consideration for others, in Sense and Sensibility.
– Fanny (called “Fan“) Fletcher, a friend of Jessie Delano who needs dancing lessons, in “An Ivy Spray and Ladies’ Slippers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Fanny Hamlin, Susy’s best friend in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Fanny Magenis, one of the army wives who make up the social circle for Amelia Sedley after her marriage to George Osborne, in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Scape, who, with her sister and mother, “fade away to Boulogne” after her father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny (Frances) Wentworth, Will’s conceited, snobbish cousin in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Fanny (Frances) Burney (1752-1840), English diarist, novelist, and playwright.
– Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), American composer, lyricist, mission worker, and poet.
– Fanny de Beauharnais (1737-1813), French salon-holder, socialite, and woman-of-letters.
– Fanny Fern (1811-1872), pen name of American children’s book writer, columnist, humorist, and novelist, Sara Willis.
– Fanny Howe (b. 1940), American novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Fanny Kemble (1809-1893), English actress and writer.
– Fanny Lewald (1811-1889), German activist and author.

Thomas

August 2, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
Greek form of the Aramaic for “twin”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Maas, Tam, Tavish, Thom, Tom, Toma, Tomas, Tommaso, Tommie, Tommy, Twm, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Thomas, the Dashwood’s manservant at Barton Cottage, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Thomas, 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.
– Brother Thomas, one of the monks at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall.
– Thomas Burk (called “T.B.”), Dr. Archie’s secretary in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Thomas Cockram, the foreman of Reuben Huckabuck’s shop, who has designs on young Ruth, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Sir Thomas Coffin, “celebrated as a hanging judge”, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Thomas Ward Creighton (called “Tom“; 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).
– Thomas Dover, missionary neighbor of the Misses Carey, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Thomas Faggus (called “Tom“), the roguishly charming highwayman whose relation to the Ridd family gives them both prestige and trouble, in Lorna Doone.
– Thomas Hancock, Mr. Hancock’s uncle, who originally ordered the silver set Mr. Hancock asks Mr. Lapham to make a replacement piece for, in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Dr. Thomas Harrison (called “Doctor Tom“), who specializes in mending children’s hurt limbs, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.
– Thomas Hooper, a schoolboy who is in John’s corner during his fight with Robin Snell, in Lorna Doone.
– Sir Thomas Liverseege, Governor of Coventry Island before his death opens the position up for Rawdon Crawley to take advantage of, in Vanity Fair.
– Thomas Palmer, husband of Mrs. Jennings’ daughter ebullient daughter Charlotte, in Sense and Sensibility.
– Rev. Thomas Tuffin has a daughter at Miss Pinkerton’s Academy, in Vanity Fair.

WRITERS:
– Thomas Alexander Browne (1826-1915), English author who sometimes published under the pen name “Rolf Boldrewood”.
– Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Scottish essayist, historian, philosopher, and satiricist.
– Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859), English essayist.
– Thomas Stearns (T.S.) Eliot (1888-1965), English critic, essayist, poet, and playwright.
– Thomas Gray (1716-1771), English poet and writer.
– Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), English novelist and poet.
– Thomas Hood (1799-1845), English humorist and poet.
– Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471), German clergyman and writer.
– Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence (1888-1935), British army officer and writer.
– Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859), British historian
– Thomas Mann (1875-1955), German writer.
– Thomas Merton (1915-1968), American activist, monk, mystic, poet, and writer.
– Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Irish poet and songwriter.
– Thomas More (1478-1535), English author and statesman.
– Thomas Paine (1737-1809), British-American author and revolutionary.
– Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938), American novelist.

Emily

August 1, 2014 § 15 Comments

ORIGIN:
English feminine version of “Emil”, from “Aemilius”, a Latinate family name meaning “rival”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Em, Emma, Emmalee, Emelina, Emeline, Emilia, Emilie, Emiline, Emmaline, Emmeline, Emmie, Emmy, Millie, Milly, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Emily Hornblower, née Sheepshanks, Lady Jane’s sister, who “wrote those sweet tracts, ‘The Sailor’s True Binnacle’, and ‘The Applewoman of Finchley Common'”, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Emily Spenser, the invalid girl who learns to appreciate nature in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Emily Brontë (1814-1848), English novelist and poet.
– Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), reclusive American poet.
– Emily Frasier (b. 1965), pen name of American author Laura Albert, who also published under the pen names “Gluttenberg”, “JT LeRoy”, “Laura Victoria”, and “Speedy”.

Sam

August 1, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Samuel“, “Samson”, or “Samantha”. Or “Samwise”, if you’re a Tolkien fan.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sami, Sammi, Sammie, Sammy.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sam, a footman at Thornfield, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Uncle Sam, who arrives in France to escort his niece, Ethel Amory, and her companion, Jane Bassett, home again in “Poppies and Wheat”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Sam Bowen, Ruth and Sammy Bowen’s brave father in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls.
– Sam Fry, John Fry’s cousin, who is first to bring news of Charles II’s death to the village, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Sam Gardiner, proprietor of one of the two general stores in town, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Sam Green, who sells Tom a wonderful new kite, in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Sam Hicks, a local yeoman in Lorna Doone.
– Sam Miles is a local poacher in the region of Queen’s Crawley in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sam Turner (called “Sammy“), Ed Turner’s 18-year-old son, who gives Jethro a dog (to help keep him company and to protect his family), and who ends up part of Sherman’s army, in Across Five Aprils.

WRITERS:
– Sam Campbell (1895-1962), American lecturer, photographer, and writer.
– Sam Shepard (b. 1943), American actor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and Pulitzer Prize-winner.

Rebecca

August 1, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew name “Rivkah”, meaning “yoke” or “snare”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Becca, Becka, Beckah, Beckie, Becky, Reba, Rebecka, Rebekah, Rifka, Riva, Rivka, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rebecca Bowdoin, Esther’s mother, who once modeled for a German artist’s painting of Walter Scott’s Rebecca, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Rebecca Moore (called “Becky“), the plain, hard-working farm girl with the heart of a poet in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Rebecca Sharp (better known as “Becky“), the clever and self-centered anti-heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

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