Polly
August 4, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Molly“, a diminutive of “Mary“. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Pauline“, “Paulette”, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Moll, Mollie, Molly, Paula, Pol, Pola, Poll, Pollie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Polly, one of the Lexington girls clamoring to partner with Rab at the Silsbee country dance in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Polly (Mary) Clapp, daughter of the Sedley’s landlord, who bestows on Dobbin the nickname “Major Sugarplums” owing to his habit of bringing gifts for all at every visit to the house, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Polly Branghton (sometimes called “Poll“), the youngest child of Madame Duval’s (and Evelina’s) cousins, the crude, ill-mannered Branghton clan, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Polly Green, the nurse’s daughter passed off as the child of Sir John Belmont, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– Polly Moore, daughter of a chandler’s-shop woman, who Madame Duval uses as an example of how much life in Paris can “improve” a young lady, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– Polly Price, a generous little girl who learns about Valentines in “Polly’s Valentine” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Polly Snowe, one of Farmer Nicholas’ three lively, comely daughters, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Polly Talboys, a village girl who lives near Queen’s Crawley, in Vanity Fair.
QUOTATIONS:
– The nursery rhyme “Polly Put the Kettle On“, published in 1797: “Polly put the kettle on, / We’ll all have tea.”
Bob
August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN: Diminutive of “Robert“, meaning “bright flame”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES: Bobbie, Bobby, Dob, Dobbie, Dobby, Rob, Robb, Robbe, Robbi, Robbie, Robby, Robi, Robin, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bob, the largest of the unfriendly group of “Kirke’s Lambs” John Ridd runs into, after risking his life to save Tom Faggus from the danger of the Monmouth Rebellion, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Bob Ames, Mrs. Vance’s idealistic cousin, who inspires Carrie to greater things, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Bob (Robert) Gilbreth (b. 1920), the eleventh 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.
– Bob Martingale, subject of one of Rawdon’s sporty stories in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Bob (Robin) Snell, the little schoolboy whose fight with young John Ridd is momentarily disrupted by news of the elder Ridd’s death, in Lorna Doone.
– Bob Suckling, one of Becky’s conquests in Vanity Fair.
Betty
August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Bette, Beth, Betsy, Bette, Bettie, Bettina, Betty, Bettye, Buffy, Let, Lettie, Letty, Pet, Pettie, Tess, Tessie, Tessy, Tetty, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Betty, Madame Duval’s housemaid at her residence in London, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Betty, Mrs. Jennings’ servant, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Betty Flanagan, the Irish maid-of-all-work who finds employment with the Sedley’s post-fall, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Betty Martin, a housemaid who aids and abets Becky Sharp and Rawdon Crawley in their secret courtship in Vanity Fair.
– Betty Muxworthy, a bitter old serving woman who works on the Ridd’s farm, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
WRITERS:
– Betty Friedan (1921-2006), American activist and writer.
– Betty Smith (1896-1972), American author.
Eliza
August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ella, Ellie, Elissa, Elsa, Elsie, Elyse, Libby, Liddy, Lisa, Lise, Lisette, Liz, Liza, Lizette, Lizy, Lizzie, Lizzy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Eliza Brandon, Col. Brandon’s cousin, who is forced to marry his brother, and who leaves him the care of her young daughter, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Eliza Reed (sometimes called “Lizzy“), one of Jane’s spoiled, mean-spirited cousins, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Eliza Ridd (called “Lizzie“), John’s small, strange, and spiteful book-loving youngest sister, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Eliza Spears, a local woman who was miraculously cured by Zeena’s new doctor, Dr. Buck, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Eliza Styles is the false name Rawdon Crawley uses to receive letters from Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Eliza Williams, Col. Brandon’s ward, who follows too closely the example of her unfortunate mother in at least one regard, in Sense and Sensibility.
WRITERS:
– Eliza Acton (1799-1859), English author and cook.
– Eliza Cook (1818-1889), English author, poet, and writer.
– Eliza Haywood (c. 1693-1756), English actress and writer.
– Eliza Tabor Stephenson (1835-1914), English novelist.
Peter
August 1, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Greek “petros”, meaning “stone”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Boutros, Peadar, Pedro, Pejo, Pete, Petey, Petie, Petri, Petruccio, Petruchio, Petrus, Piero, Pierre, Piers, Piet, Pieter, Pietro, Piotr, Peer, Per, Pere, Pero, Pyotr, etc.
REFERENCES in LITERATURE:
– Peter the bowman, a retainer of Sir Peter’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Peter the Hayward, a local laborer in Robin’s city, in The Door in the Wall.
– Peter Bailey, one of Sir Pitt Crawley’s tenants, who is sent to the workhouse, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Peter Blundell, the charitable gentleman who founded the Tiverton grammar school young John Ridd is sent to for his education, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Peter Butt, the young man Rose Dawson throws over in order to marry Sir Pitt, in Vanity Fair.
– Rev. Mr. Peter Kronborg, Thea’s minister father in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Sir Peter de Lindsay, the nobleman who takes Robin in to train him up to become a knight, in The Door in the Wall.
– Peter Moreland, one of Granny Moreland’s sons in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Peter Mouldy, a young man born on the same night as Keren Lemon, who perhaps got her share of femininity and she his share of masculinity, in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
WRITERS:
– Peter Held (1916-2013), pen name of American author Jack Vance, who also published under the pen names Alan Wade, Ellery Queen, Jay Kavanse, and John van See.
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: “—Peter the Third—illustrious peer! / Great autocrat of half the sphere! / . . . Thy brief existence, hapless Peter! / Had doubtless longer been, and sweeter, / But that thou wilfully disturb’dst / The harmless name she brought from Zerbst.”
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 