Nance
October 8, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Nancy“, or a medieval Cornish place name, meaning “valley”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Nainsi, Nan, Nancie, Nana, Nancy, Nanice, Nannie, Nanny, Nanse, Nansi, Nansie, Nansy, Nenci, Nensi, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nance, one of the hounds belonging to Sir Peter’s family in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
Roy
October 8, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
English version of the Gaelic name “Ruadh”, meaning “red”, or from the French “roi”, meaning “king”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Leroy”, “Royal“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Leroy, Royal, Ruadh, Ruadhan, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Roy, one of the hounds belonging to Sir Peter’s family in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Roy Campbell (1901-1957), South African poet and satirist.
– Roy Heath (1926-2008), Guyanese author.
– Roy Huggins (1914-2002), pen name of American novelist and television writer and producer John Thomas James.
– Roy Lewis (1913-1996), English writer and small press printer.
– Roy Orbison (1936-1988), American singer and songwriter.
D’Ath
October 8, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
A Flemish place name, meaning “from the town of Ath”, or Old English, meaning “gatherer or seller of kindling”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
D’Aeth, Daeth, Dethe, Dyth, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– D’Ath, Robin’s pet hound, named in honor of his origin, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
Piers
October 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Medieval version of “Peter“, meaning “stone” or “rock”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Peer, Pero, Pier, Pierce, Piero, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Piers Nitingale, a minstrel serving at Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
Jocelyn
October 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Germanic, from the name of the Gaut (or Goth) tribe.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Jocelin, Joceline, Jocelyne, Josceline, Joselyn, Joslyn, Josseline, Josselyn, Josslyn, Joyce, Joycelin, etc.
For boys: Gauzlin, Goscelin, Gosslin, Jocelin, Joscelin, Josceline, Joselyn, Joslyn, Joss, Josselin, Josslyn, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lord Jocelyn, a neighbor of Sir Peter’s who covets the de Lindsay land, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Jocelyn Brooke (1908-1966), English author.
– Jocelyn Lee Hardy (1894-1958), English army officer and author.
– Jocelyn Playfair (1904-1996), English novelist.
Adam
October 4, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “man”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aatami, Adamo, Addy, Adem, Adhamh, Adomas, Akamu, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Adam Bowyer, a guardsman in Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
Alison
October 4, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Medieval French diminutive of “Aalis” (“Alice“).
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ali, Alli, Allie, Allison, Alyson, Ally, Allyson, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Alison de Lindsay, Sir Peter and Lady Constance’s daughter, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Princess Alison Jocelyn, the damsel in distress who needs a hero, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
WRITERS:
– Alison Baker (b. 1953), American short story writer.
– Alison Cockburn (1712-1794), Scottish poet, socialite, and wit (also known as Alison Rutherford or Alicia Cockburn).
– Alison Brackenbury (b. 1953), English poet.
– Alison Des Forges (1942-2009), American activist and historian.
– Alison Fell (b. 1944), Scottish novelist and poet.
– Alison Lester (b. 1952), Australian author and illustrator.
– Alison Lurie (b. 1926), American academic and novelist.
– Alison Plowden (1931-2007), English biographer and historian.
– Alison Uttley (1884-1976), English author.
– Alison Weir (b. 1951), English author, biographer, and historian.
Constance
October 4, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Medieval version of “Constantia”, the feminine form of the Latin “Constantius”, meaning “constant” or “steadfast”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Connie, Constantia, Constanza, Constanze, Konstancja, Konstanze, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Constance, wife of Sir Peter de Lindsay in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Constance Garnett (1861-1946), English translator.
– Constance Gordon-Cumming (1837-1924), Scottish painter and travel writer.
– Constance McLaughlin Green (1897-1975), American historian.
– Constance Cary Harrison (1843-1920), American writer who also wrote under the pen names “Constance Cary”, “Constance C. Harrison”, “Mrs. Burton Harrison”, and “Refugitta”.
– Constance Heaven (1911-1995), English author who also wrote under the pen names “Constance Fecher” and “Christina Merlin”.
– Constance Holme (1880-1955), English writer and playwright.
– Constance Naden (1858-1889), English essayist, lecturer, poet, philosopher, and writer,
– Constance Reid (1918-2010), American author and biographer.
– Constance Lindsay Skinner (1877-1939), Canadian critic, editor, historian, and writer.
– Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840-1894), American novelist, poet, and short story writer.
Bayard
October 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Old French, meaning “bay-colored”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
I don’t know. Bay? Yardie? No, not Yardie, that’s silly.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bayard, the horse Brother Luke and John-go-in-the-Wynd share on the journey to escort Robin to Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Bayard Taylor (1825-1878), American critic, poet, translator, and travel writer.
– Bayard Veiller (1869-1943), American director, playwright, producer, and screenwriter.
Alfred
October 4, 2014 § 7 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Old English “Aelfraed”, meaning “elf-counsel”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aelfraed, Al, Alf, Alfie, Alfredo, Avery, Fred, Fredde, Freddie, Freddy, Fredo, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Alfred, one of the boys Robin plays with during his stay at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Alfred Andersch (1914-1980), German writer, publisher, and radio editor.
– Alfred Austin (1835-1913), English poet.
– Alfred Bester (1913-1987), American author and writer.
– Alfred de Musset (1810-1857), French dramatist, novelist, and poet.
– Alfred de Vigny (1797-1863), French playwright, poet, and novelist.
– Alfred Döblin (1878-1957), German doctor, essayist, and novelist.
– Alfred Hartmann (1814-1897), Swiss writer.
– Alfred Hayes (1911-1985), English novelist, poet, and screenwriter.
– Alfred Edward (A.E.) Housman (1859-1936), English poet and scholar.
– Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), French writer.
– Alfred Kazin (1915-1998), American critic and writer.
– Alfred Kerr (1867-1948), German-Jewish critic and essayist.
– Alfred Lansing (1921-1975), American journalist and writer.
– Alfred Henry Lewis (1855-1914), American editor, journalist, lawyer, novelist, and short story writer.
– Alfred Lichtenstein (1889-1914), German writer.
– Alfred Masson-Forestier (1852-1912), French writer.
– Alfred Neumann (1895-1952), German writer and translator.
– Alfred Noyes (1880-1958), English playwright, poet, and short story writer.
– Alfred Ollivant (1874-1927), English novelist.
– Alfred Perlès (1897-1990), Austrian writer.
– Alfred Reynolds (1907-1993), Anglo-Hungarian writer.
– Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840-1921), English author, journalist, and Theosophist.
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), English poet.
– Alfred Williams (1877-1930), English author and poet.
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: “Alfred, who quell’d th’ unsurping Dane, / And burst, indignant, from his chain; / Who slaves redeemed, to reign o’er men, / Changing the faulchion for the pen, / And outlin’d, with a master’s hand, / Th’ immortal charter of the land; / Alfred, whom yet these realms obey”
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 