Hale
August 27, 2015 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From an English last name meaning “nook” or “retreat”, an old Scottish place name meaning “from a faraway valley” or “by the estuary”, or possibly referencing the word meaning “healthy and strong”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Haile, Hails, Hal, Hales, Hallas, Halys, Hayle, Hayles, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of Nathan Hale Creighton (1848-1852), one of the three young Creighton boys who died of “paralysis” the year Jethro was born, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Nate
August 27, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Nathan” or “Nathaniel”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Nat, Natan, Natanael, Natanaele, Natanail, Nataniel, Nathan, Nathanael, Nathanahel, Nathaniel, Nath, Nathe, Natty, Nethanel, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nate (Nathaniel) Creighton (b. 1848), one of the three young Creighton boys who died of “paralysis” the year Jethro was born, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Eb
August 21, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Eben” or “Ebenezer“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ben, Bennie, Benny, Ebb, Eben, Eben-ezer, Ebenezer, Ebeneezer, Ez, Eez, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Eb (Ebenezer) Carron (b. 1843), Jethro’s cousin, a hot-headed young man who joins Tom in running off to enlist in the Union Army, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Ebenezer
August 21, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “stone of help”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ben, Bennie, Benny, Eb, Ebb, Eben, Eben-ezer, Ebeneezer, Ez, Eez, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ebenezer Carron (called “Eb“; b. 1843), Jethro’s cousin, a hot-headed young man who joins Tom in running off to enlist in the Union Army, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
WRITERS:
– Ebenezer Beesley (1840-1906), Anglo-American composer and hymn-writer.
– E. (Ebenezer) Cobham Brewer (1810-1897), English lexicographer and writer.
– Ebenezer Cooke (c.1665-c.1732), English poet and satirist.
– Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), English activist and poet.
– Ebenezer Erskine (1680-1754), Scottish minister and writer.
– Ebenezer Forrest (fl. 1774), English attorney, dramatist, and writer.
– Ebenezer Jones (1820-1860), English poet.
– Ebenezer Landells (1808-1860), English artist, children’s book writer, illustrator, and publisher.
– Ebenezer Joseph Mather (1849-1927), English philanthropist and writer.
– Ebenezer Porter (1772-1834), American minister, translator, and writer.
– Ebenezer Prout (1835-1909), English composer, teacher, and writer.
– Ebenezer Rhodes (1762-1839), English artist, editor, poet, publisher, topographer, and writer.
– Ebenezer Platt Rogers (1817-1881), American author and minister.
– Ebenezer Sibley (1751-c.1799), English astrologer, physician, and writer.
– Ebenezer Syme (1825-1860), Scottish-Australian journalist and publisher.
– Ebenezer Thomas (1802-1863), Welsh poet and teacher who also published under the pen name “Eben Fardd”.
Ward
August 20, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From an Old English last name, meaning “guard” or “watchman”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Varde, Warda, Warde, Warden, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of Thomas Ward Creighton (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).
WRITERS:
– Ward Churchill (b. 1947), American activist, author, and professor.
– Ward Costello (1919-2009), American actor, composer, and lyricist.
– Ward Hawkins (1912-1990), American author, producer, and screenwriter.
– Ward Moore (1903-1978), pen name of American novelist and short story writer Joseph Ward Moore.
– Ward Morehouse (1895-1966), American author, columnist, critic, and playwright.
– Ward Ruyslinck (1929-2014), pen name of Belgian novelist, poet, translator, and writer Raymond De Belser.
Shad
August 17, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Shadrach“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Shadd, Shaddo, Shadoe, Shadrak, Shadrach, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Shad (Shadrach) Yale (b. 1841), the well-educated and eminently reasonable, though tender-hearted, schoolmaster Ellen “adopts”, Jethro idolizes, and Jenny adores, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Shadrach
August 17, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “commander of Aku (Babylonian god of the moon)”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Shad, Shadd, Shaddo, Shadoe, Shadrak, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Shadrach Yale (sometimes called “Shad“; b. 1841), the well-educated and eminently reasonable, though tender-hearted, schoolmaster Ellen “adopts”, Jethro idolizes, and Jenny adores, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Lola
May 24, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Dolores”, meaning “sorrowful”. May also be used (in a roundabout sort of way) as a diminutive of “Dorothy” or “Mary“, through the “Doll” / “Moll” / “Poll” / “Loll” rhyming tradition.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Loleta, Lolette, Lolicia, Lolita, Loll, Lollie, Lolly
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lola Osborne, Carrie’s friend and fellow actress, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
WRITERS:
– Lola Anglada (1893-1984), Spanish illustrator and writer.
– Lola Ridge (1873-1941), Irish-American anarchist, editor, and poet.
– Lola Rodríguez de Tió (1843-1924), Puerto Rican activist and poet.
– Lola Lemire Tostevin (b. 1937), French Canadian poet, novelist, and translator.
Therese
December 3, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Variation of “Teresa” / “Theresa”, possibly from Greek, meaning “summer” or “harvest”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Teca, Tena, Teresa, Terese, Teresia, Teresinha, Tereza, Tera, Tere, Teresita, Teri, Terra, Terri, Terrie, Terry, Tess, Tessa, Tessan, Tessie, Tessy, Thera, Theresa, Theresia, Tracee, Tracey, Traci, Tracie, Tracy, Treasa, Treece, Trees, Treese, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Thérèse, Thea’s French lady’s maid, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
WRITERS:
– Thérèse Bentzon (1840-1907), pen name of French essayist, journalist, and novelist Marie Thérèse Blanc.
– Therese Huber (1764-1829), German author.
– Thérèse-Adèle Husson (1803-1831), French writer.
– Therese von Lützow (1804-1852), German author.
– Therese Albertine Luise Robinson (1797-1870), German-American author, linguist, and translator.
Howard
November 6, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
An English last name, derived either from the Germanic “Hughard”, meaning “brave heart” or “strong mind”, or from Old Norse, meaning “high guardian” or “watchman”, or from Middle English, meaning “herder of ewes”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Howie. That’s pretty much it.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dr. Howard Archie, Thea’s old friend and confidante in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
WRITERS:
– Howard Fast (1914-2003), American novelist and television writer who also wrote under the pen names “E.V. Cunningham” and “Walter Ericson”.
– Howard Glyndon (1839-1923), pen name of American columnist, journalist, and poet Laura Redden Searing.
– Howard Harris (1912-1986), American film and television writer.
– Howard Horn (1911-1983), pen name of Cornish biographer, historian, lecturer, novelist, poet, and professor Robert Payne, who also used the pen names “John Anthony Devon”, “Richard Cargoe”, “Robert Young”, and “Valentin Tikhonov”.
– Howard Hille Johnson (1846-1913), American activist, educator, and writer.
– Howard Lindsay (1889-1968), American actor, director, librettist, playwright, and producer.
– Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft (1890-1937), American author.
– Howard Pyle (1853-1911), American author and illustrator.
– Howard Zinn (1922-2010), American activist, author, historian, and playwright.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 