Charles
July 28, 2014 § 10 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the German “Karl”, meaning “man”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Carl, Carlos, Carroll, Charlie, Charley, Chas, Chaz, Chick, Chip, Chuck, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Charles Bingley, the amiable young gentleman whose pending residence at Netherfield Park kicks off the events of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Charles Stuart “Barebones” Crawley was a twig on the Crawley family tree in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Charles H. Drouet (sometimes called “Charlie“), the traveling salesman who first offers Carrie a way out of her poverty, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Charles Lambert, who encourages his children in the lovely tradition of inviting someone in need to join them for Thanksgiving dinner every year, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Lord Charles Radnor, Lady Elizabeth’s brother, who leaves her the care of his son, Ernie, to be raised with her daughters, 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.
– Mr. Charles Raggles, the former butler to Miss Crawley who later becomes Rawdon and Becky’s landlord, much to his disadvantage, in Vanity Fair.
– Charles Raggles is also the name of Mr. Raggles’ son, sent to boarding school on the strength of his father’s presumed prosperity as landlord, in Vanity Fair.
WRITERS:
– Charles Bukowski (1920-1944), German-American novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English writer and social critic.
– Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), English writer, poet, mathematician, logician, deacon, and photographer who wrote under the pen name “Lewis Carroll”.
– Charles Frazier (b. 1950), American historical novelist.
– Charles Hamilton (1876-1961), English writer.
– Charles R. Jackson (1903-1968), American author.
– Charles Johnson (1679-1748), English playwright and tavern keeper.
– Charles Lamb (1775-1834), English essayist and writer.
– Charles Morris (1833-1922), American journalist, novelist, and historical author.
– Charles Reade (1814-1884), English novelist and dramatist.
– Charles Shaw (1900-1955), Australian journalist and novelist.
– Charles Burr Todd (1849-1928), American historian.
– Charles Williams (1886-1945), English critic, novelist, playwright, poet, and theologian.
– Charles Williams (1909-1975), American crime writer.
– Charles Norris (C.N.) Williamson (1859-1920), British author who often collaborated with his wife, Alice Muriel Williamson.
Caroline
July 28, 2014 § 9 Comments
ORIGIN:
The French feminine version of the Latin “Carolus”. Like “Charlotte,” a feminine version of “Charles.”
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cady, Caddie, Caddy, Calleigh, Callie, Cari, Carla, Carrie, Carry, Carlyn, Carol, Carola, Carolina, Carolyn, Carrie, Caryl, Charlize, Coraline, Kaja, Kaia, Kallie, Karla, Karolina, Karrie, Karry, Kaya, Keri, Kerri, Kerrie, Kerry, Lili, Line, Lina, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Caroline Belmont, née Evelyn, Mme. Duval’s daughter (by her first husband), Evelina’s mother, and Sir John Belmont’s spurned and forsaken wife, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Caroline Bingley, Mr. Bingley’s proud and spiteful sister with designs on Darcy, in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Caroline Lambert, who encourages her children in the lovely tradition of inviting someone in need to join them for Thanksgiving dinner every year, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Caroline Meeber (usually called “Carrie“, sometimes “Cad”; “Miss Madenda” in her acting career), the titular self-interested dreamer of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Miss Caroline Otway, a member of the Otway clan, guests at Mr. and Mrs. Weston’s ball, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
WRITERS:
– Caroline Courtney (1946-2011), pen name of English romance author Penelope Halsall, who also published under the pen names “Annie Groves”, “Lydia Hitchcock”, “Melinda Wright”, and “Penny Jordan”.
QUOTATIONS:
– From “Dainty June and Her Farmboys” from the 1959 Broadway musical Gypsy, by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents: “I have a moo cow / a new cow / a true cow / named Caroline / she’s an extra-special friend of mine / I like everything about her fine”
Louisa
July 28, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Along with “Louise”, the feminine variation of “Lewis” / “Louis”, the French version of “Ludovicus”, which is the Latin version of the German “Ludwig”, meaning “famous warrior” or “warrior prince”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lou, Lula, Lulu, Luise, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Louisa Box, a girl local to Queen’s Crawley, with a reputation for fighting with her sister, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Louisa Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair.
– Louisa Cutts, the girl Edward Dale marries, in Vanity Fair.
– Louisa Eshton, the youngest of the Eshton girls, members of Mr. Rochester’s social set, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Louisa Hurst, Mr. Bingley’s snobbish married sister in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Louisa Bailey Joy, Berry and Tom Joy’s mother, who has much money but little taste or gentility, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Lady Louisa Larpent, Lord Orville’s snobbish, shallow sister, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
WRITERS:
– Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American novelist and short story writer.
– Louisa Anne Meredith (1812-1895), Anglo-Australian illustrator and writer, also known as Louisa Anne Twamley.
Maria
July 28, 2014 § 11 Comments
ORIGIN:
Pronounced either “ma REE’ a” or “ma RYE’ a”, this is the Latin form of Mary.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Maia, Maike, Maja, Malia, Mara, Mairen, Mari, Mariah, Marie, Mariele, Mariella, Marietta, Marijeke, Marika, Mariska, Marita, Mary, Maureen, Maya, Mia, Mimi, Mirele, Moira, Reena, Reeta, Ria, Riele, Riella, Rina, Rita, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Maria, maid-of-all-work for Maggie Bradford’s family in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Maria Johnson, the farmer’s wife in The Song of the Cardinal, by Gene Stratton Porter (1903).
– Maria Lucas, the younger sister of Lizzie Bennet’s best friend Charlotte in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Maria Mirvan (called “Molly” or “Moll” by her father), 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.
– Maria Frances Osborne, the younger of George Osborne’s sisters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Maria Porter (called “Ria“), a shopgirl Anna Winslow helps in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls.
– Miss Maria Temple, head teacher and superintendent of Lowood Institute, whose kindness to Jane encourages and consoles her, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Maria Todd, Miss Osborne’s goddaughter and sister to Osborne Todd, Georgy Osborne’s friend, in Vanity Fair.
QUOTATIONS:
– “They Call The Wind Maria” is a song from the 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon by Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe: “Away out here they got a name / For rain and wind and fire / The rain is Tess, the fire Joe / And they call the wind Maria”. (Obviously, you have to go with the “ma RYE’ a” pronunciation for this song, or it doesn’t really rhyme. Also, I have serious doubts about anyone actually calling fire “Joe”.)
– “Maria” is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim: “The most beautiful sound I ever heard. / Maria! . . . Say it loud and there’s music playing, / Say it soft and it’s almost like praying.”
– “(How Do You Solve a Problem Like) Maria” is a song from the 1959 musical The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II: “How do you solve a problem like Maria? / How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? / How do you find a word that means Maria? / A flibbertigibbet! A will-o’-the-wisp! A clown! / Many a thing you know you’d like to tell her / Many a thing she ought to understand / But how do you make her stay / And listen to all you say / How do you keep a wave upon the sand? / How do you solve a problem like Maria? / How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?”
William
July 28, 2014 § 12 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Germanic “Wilhelm”, meaning “will-helmet”. Which you probably could not have guessed was what “Wilhelm” meant. Yep. That is your shocked face.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bil, Bill, Billie, Billy, Gillermo, Guglielmo, Guillaume, Guillem, Guillermo, Gwil, Gwilim, Gwillym, Gwilym, Illiam, Liam, Lyam, Pim, Ulick, Uilleag, Uilleam, Uilliam, Vila, Vilhelm, Vili, Viliam, Vilim, Viljem, Viljo, Ville, Villem, Vilmos, Wil, Wilhelm, Wilkie, Wilkin, Wilky, Willem, Williamon, Willie, Willis, Willy, Wim, etc. Not Billiam, though. Well, I mean, I guess Billiam. If you really, really want it so.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– William (called “Bill“, b. 1912), the sixth 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.
– William, 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.
– William the Farrier, a blacksmith under Sir Peter’s employ in The Door in the Wall.
– William, one of Sir John and Lady Middleton’s children, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Mr. William Collins, the obsequious cousin/suitor, in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– William Coxe (or Cox), a “pert young lawyer” Emma briefly considers as a possible match for her beloved Harriet Smith, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– William Taylor Creighton (called “Bill“; b. 1838), Jethro’s favorite older brother, “a big, silent man who was considered ‘peculiar’ in the neighborhood”, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– William Dobbin, the plain yet generous soldier and friend who pines after Amelia in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sir William Dobbin is the father of Capt. Dobbin in Vanity Fair.
– Sir William Howe, governor and military commander of the New England province, who is responsible for many of the parties and dances Sibyl attends in Tory society, in “Sibyl’s Slipper”, a story of the American Revolutionary War, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– William Larkins, Mr. Knightley’s farm manager in Emma.
– Sir William Lucas, the kindly (if slightly foolish) country squire in Pride and Prejudice.
– William Wise, a woodworker under Sir Peter’s employ in The Door in the Wall.
WRITERS:
– William Blake (1757-1827), English painter, poet, and printmaker.
– William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), American poet, journalist, and editor.
– William Congreve (1670-1729), English poet and playwright.
– William Douglas (c. 1672-1748) Scottish poet.
– William Ellis (c. 1700-1758), English farmer and agricultural writer.
– William Ellis (1794-1872), English missionary and author.
– William Faulkner (1897-1963), American writer and Nobel Prize laureate.
– William Gilbert (1544-1603), English physicist, natural philosopher, and writer.
– Sir William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert (1836-1911), English dramatist, librettist, and poet.
– William Hazlitt (1778-1830), English writer.
– William Kennedy (b. 1928), American writer and journalist.
– William (W.) Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), English playwright, novelist, and short story writer.
– William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English poet, playwright, and actor.
– William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863), English novelist.
– William J. Whalen (1926-2008), American writer and educator.
– William Hale White (1831-1913), English civil servant, translator, and writer who published under the pen name “Mark Rutherford”.
– William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English poet.
– William Butler (W.B.) Yeats (1865-1939), Irish poet and playwright.
QUOTATIONS:
– From the popular ballad “Black Ey’d Susan, or Sweet William’s Farewell“, by John Gay, first published in 1730: “‘O Susan, Susan, lovely dear, / My vows shall ever true remain; / Let me kiss off that falling tear, / We only part to meet again. / Change, as ye list, ye winds; my heart shall be / The faithful compass that still points to thee. / ‘Believe not what the landsmen say, / Who tempt with doubts thy constant mind: / They’ll tell thee, sailors, when away, / In every port a mistress find. / Yes, yes, believe them when they tell thee so, / For thou art present wheresoe’er I go. / . . . ‘Though battle call me from thy arms, / Let not my pretty Susan mourn; / Though cannons roar, yet safe from harms, / William shall to his dear return.'”
Lydia
July 28, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Latin, meaning “a woman from Lydia”, which was an ancient country on the west coast of Asia Minor, once ruled by the famously wealthy Croesus. Perhaps not the most deeply meaningful name origin, but whatevs.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lidia, Liddy, Lidya, Lydda, Lydie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lydia Bennet, the foolish and frivolous youngest of the five Bennets in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Lydia Creighton (b. 1834), one of “the twin girls, long since married and moved to Ohio” who are among Jethro’s far-distant older siblings, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Lydia Hancock, the aunt for whom Mr. Hancock goes to Mr. Lapham to have a silver sugar bowl made, in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
WRITERS:
– Lydia Becker (1827-1890), English activist, publisher, and scientist.
– Lydia Yudifovna Berdyaev (1871-1945), Russian poet.
– Lydia T. Black (1925-2007), American anthropologist and author.
– Lydia Cabrera (1899-1991), Cuban anthropologist and poet.
– Lydia Cacho (b. 1963) Mexican activist, author, and journalist.
– Lydia Campbell (1818-1905), Anglo-Canadian diarist.
– Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880), American activist, journalist, and novelist.
– Lydia Chukovskaya (1907-1996), Russian/Finnish author and poet.
– Lydia Davis (b. 1947), American essayist, novelist, short story writer, and translator.
– Lydia Gregory (b. 1954), pen name of American children’s book author and novelist Diane Carey, who also publishes as “D.L. Carey”.
– Lydia Grigorieva (b. 1945), Ukrainian poet.
– Lydia Hitchcock (1946-2011), pen name of English romance author Penelope Halsall, who also published as “Annie Groves”, “Caroline Courtney”, “Melinda Wright”, and “Penny Jordan”.
– Lydia Jannsen (1843-1886), Estonian poet who published under the pen name “Lydia Koidula”.
– Lydia Kwa (b. 1959), Canadian novelist, poet, psychologist, and short story writer.
– Lydia Mackenzie Falconer Miller (1812-1876), English children’s book author who also published under the pen name “Harriet Myrtle”.
– Lydia Millet (b. 1968), American novelist.
– Lydia Sargent (b. 1942), American activist, actor, author, playwright, and writer.
– Lydia Sigourney (1791-1865), American poet who published as “Mrs. Sigourney”.
– Lydia Tomkiw (1959-2007), American poet, singer, and songwriter.
– Lydia Wahlström (1869-1954), Swedish activist, author, and historian.
– Lydia Wevers (b. 1950), New Zealander critic, editor, historian, and writer.
– Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal (1866-1907), Russian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 