Giles
August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From Greek by way of Latin, meaning “shield-bearer” or “young goat”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gide, Gil, Gilles, Gyles, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– King Giles, Princess Alison Jocelyn’s father, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
– Rev. Giles Jowls is “an illuminated Cobbler, who dubbed himself Reverend as Napoleon crowned himself Emperor”, befriended by Lady Southdown in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sir Giles Wapshot is a neighbor of Sir Pitt Crawley, in Vanity Fair.
Huddleston
August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
English place name (usually used as a last name) meaning, essentially, “a settlement of huts”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Huds? Huddie? Hudmeister?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Huddleston Fuddleston (which is a fantastic name) is a neighbor of Sir Pitt Crawley, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
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.”
Rose
August 1, 2014 § 9 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning, well, “rose”. Sometimes used as a diminutive for names beginning with “Ros-“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ros, Rosa, Rosabel, Rosaleen, Rosalie, Rosalind, Rosaline, Rosamond, Rosamonde, Rosamund, Rosanne, Roselin, Roselind, Rosella, Roselle, Rosemond, Rosemund, Rosetta, Rosette, Rosie, Rosina, Rosine, Rosita, Roslyn, Rosy, Roz, Roza, Rozelle, Rozie, Rozy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rose Crawley (short for “Rosalind“) is the elder of the two little Crawley girls Becky Sharp is hired to be governess for in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Violet
August 1, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
English, after the small woodland flower, from the Latin “viola”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lette, Lettie, Letty, Vi, Vilet, Vilette, Viola, Violetta, Violette, Vy, Vylet, Vylette, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Violet Crawley is the younger of the two little Crawley girls Becky Sharp is hired to be governess for in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Rawdon
August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Old English place name, meaning “rough hill”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Rawdy, I suppose?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Capt. (later Col.) Rawdon Crawley, the dashing, profligate soldier who is Sir Pitt’s younger son and Becky’s suitor in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Rawdon Crawley, the son of Capt. Crawley and Becky, unofficially adopted by Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane, in Vanity Fair.
Rosa
August 1, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Latinized version of “Rose“, meaning, well, “rose”. Sometimes used as a diminutive for names beginning with “Ros-“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ros, Rosabel, Rosaleen, Rosalie, Rosalind, Rosaline, Rosamond, Rosamonde, Rosamund, Rosanne, Rose, Roselin, Roselind, Rosella, Roselle, Rosemond, Rosemund, Rosetta, Rosette, Rosie, Rosina, Rosine, Rosita, Roslyn, Rosy, Roz, Roza, Rozelle, Rozie, Rozy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rosa Bullock, one of Fred and Maria Bullock’s children, cousin to Georgy Osborne, who her mother hopes may one day be a means of recapturing her children’s inheritance, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Rosa Dawson, Lady Crawley, is Sir Pitt Crawley’s second wife and mother of the girls clever little Becky Sharp is hired to be governess for in Vanity Fair.
– Rosa Jemima Todd, the younger sister of Osborne Todd, and the Todd family’s hope of uniting with the Osbornes on the chance that young Georgy might grow up to fall in love with her, in Vanity Fair.
WRITERS:
– Rosa Waldeck (1898-1982), pen name of German-American author Rosie Goldschmidt (R.G.) Waldeck.
Grizzel
August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Grizel”, the Scottish form of “Griselda”, possibly a Germanic name meaning “grey battle-maid”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Grisel, Griselle, Griselda, Grizel, Grizelle, Grizelda, Zelle, Zelda, Zellie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Grizzel Crawley (née Binkie) was the first wife of Sir Pitt Crawley, and mother of Pitt and Rawdon, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Lady Grizzel Macbeth, daughter of Lord Grey of Glowry, one of the “best” society dames to befriend Becky through Lord Steyne’s patronage, in Vanity Fair.
Bute
August 1, 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, “Bute” is a Norman name meaning “thick end” or “stump”, or is perhaps derived from an Old English word for a target for archery.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Um…
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– The Rev. Bute Crawley is Sir Pitt Crawley’s brother in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s). Sir Pitt calls him “Buty” or “Buty and the Beast”.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 