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”.
Walpole
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, “Walpole” is an old English place name meaning either “pool with a wall” or “pool of the Britons / foreigners”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Wally? Poley?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Walpole Crawley, the late first Baronet, was Sir Pitt Crawley’s father in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Emmy
August 1, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Amelia“, “Emma“, “Emilia”, “Emily“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amy, Amie, Em, Emmie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Family nickname for Amelia Sedley, the naive and gentle heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
QUOTATIONS:
– From the poem “Emmy” by Arthur Symons (from an 1892 collection of poetry): “Emmy’s laughter rings in my ears, as bright / Fresh and sweet as the voice of a mountain brook”
– The same Arthur Symons, in the same poetry collection, includes “Emmy at the Eldorado“: “Child, child, what will you do, / Emmy, now love has come to you?”
Reginald
August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Reynold”; from the Germanic for “powerful ruler”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Raghnall, Ranald, Reg, Reggie, Reggy, Reinhold, Reynold, Reynaldo, Renaud, Reynaud, Reynault, Rheinallt, Rinaldo, Ronald, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Reginald Cuff, the school bully Dobbin saves young George Osborne from in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Reginald Hill (1936-2012), English crime writer.
Sophy
August 1, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Sophie“, a diminutive of “Sophia“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fifi, Sofi, Sofia, Sofie, Sofiya, Sonia, Sonja, Sonya, Sophia, Sophie, Vivi, Zophi, Zophia, Zophie, Zosia, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sophy Cutler, a girl Joseph Sedley claims to have attracted while in India (possibly, though, entirely imaginary, like Jan Brady’s George Glass), in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Joseph
August 1, 2014 § 10 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Latin / Greek form of “Yosef”, a Hebrew name meaning “He will add”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Beppe, Giuseppe, Jo, Joe, Joep, Joey, Jojo, Joop, Joos, Jos, José, Josef, Josephus, Josip, Osip, Pepe, Pepito, Peppe, Peppi, Peppino, Pino, Seph, Sepp, Sjef, Youssef, Zef, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Joseph Sedley (sometimes called “Jos“), Amelia’s silly, conceited older brother in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Joseph Scott (called “Joe“), an odorous and odious young man who considers himself a candidate for Virginia Herrick’s heart, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.
WRITERS:
– Joseph Addison (1672-1719), English essayist, poet, and playwright.
– Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), Polish-English author.
– Joseph Meek (b. 1951), one of the many pen names of American mystery and Western author Robert J. Randisi, who also publishes as “Cole Weston”, “Joshua Randall”, “Lew Baines”, “Paul Ledd”, “Robert Lake” “Spenser Fortune”, “Tom Cutter”, and “W.B. Longley”, among other pseudonyms.
– Joseph Ward Moore (1903-1978), American novelist and short story writer who published under the pen name “Ward Moore.”
QUOTATIONS:
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Elizabeth” (published in 1873, but set in 1701-02; from Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part the Third: The Theologian’s Tale) tells the love story of John Estaugh (1676-1742) and Elizabeth Haddon (1680-1762), with her servants Joseph and Hannah as supporting characters, and Joseph described thusly: “. . . A good lad and cheerful is Joseph; / In the right place his heart, and his hand is ready and willing. / . . . Meanwhile Joseph sat with folded hands, and demurely / Listened, or seemed to listen, and in the silence that followed / Nothing was heard for a while . . . / Inwardly Joseph laughed, but governed his tongue, and was silent. / . . . And not otherwise Joseph, the honest, the diligent servant, / Sped in his bashful wooing with homely Hannah the housemaid . . .”
Pitt
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, “Pitt” was an Old English / Flemish surname given to one who lived or worked near a “pytt”, or hollow.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
I can think of nothing. Well, nothing flattering or attractive, anyway.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Pitt Crawley, the crude, dissolute old baronet who hires clever little Becky Sharp as governess in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Mr. Pitt Crawley, Sir Crawley’s eldest son and heir, in Vanity Fair.
– Master Pitt Crawley, son of Mr. Pitt and Lady Jane, in Vanity Fair.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 