Hook
August 5, 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, “Hook” was an Old English surname given to one who lived or worked near a hook, or bend, in a river, or to one who made hooks for a living.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hooke, Hooker, Hookes, Huck, Hucks, Huke, Hukes, Hocke, Hockes, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Hook Eagles, whose wife befriends Becky during her years of exile, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Aurelius
August 5, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Latin, meaning “golden” or “gilded”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aurel, Aurelio, Orel, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Aurelius Victor XV, previously the sovereign of Pumpernickel, where Amelia, Dobbin, Jos, and Georgy visit for a while on their Grand Tour, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Victor
August 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Latin, meaning “conqueror”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Vic, Viktor, Vittorio, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Victor Aurelius XVII, sovereign of Pumpernickel, where Amelia, Dobbin, Jos, and Georgy visit for a while on their Grand Tour, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Victor Appleton (b. 1947), pen name of American fantasy, science fiction, and Western author Robert E. Vardeman, who has also published under the pen names “Cliff Garnett”, “Daniel Moran”, “F.J. Hale”, “Edward S. Hudson”, “Jackson Lowry”, “Karl Lassiter”, and “Paul Kenyon”.
– Victor Hugo (1802-1885), French dramatist, novelist, and poet.
Ida
August 5, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “work” or “labor”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Idah, Ide, Idella, Idelle, Idina, Iida, etc..
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ida, daughter of the Prime Minister of Pumpernickel, where Amelia, Dobbin, Jos, and Georgy visit for a while on their Grand Tour, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Ida Standish, member of the Mayflower Club in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
WRITERS:
– Ida Pollock (1908-2013), English author who published under her own name, as well as several pseudonyms.
– Ida Tarbell (1857-1944), American author, journalist, and teacher.
– Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), American activist, editor, and journalist.
Jos
August 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Joseph“, meaning “He will add”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jef, Jo, Joe, Joep, Joey, Jojo, Joop, Joos, José, Josef, Josip, Jozef, Osip, Pepe, Pepito, Seph, Sepp, Sjef, Zef, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jos (Joseph) Sedley, Amelia’s silly, conceited older brother in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Roger
August 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Variant spelling of “Rodger”, from the Germanic, meaning “famous spear”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hrodger, Rod, Rodge, Rodger, Rodgers, Rogerio, Rogers, Ruggerio, Ruggero, Rutger, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Roger, 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.
– Sir Roger Bassett, who sells Tom Faggus some land at great cost, and is lucky to escape from the legal entanglements with anything left at all, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Sir Roger Bludyer, whose wife befriends Amelia after Dobbin’s and Joseph’s return to England, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Felix
August 5, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Latin, meaning “fortunate” or “successful”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Felice, Feliks, Phelix, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rev. Felix Rabbit, country curate and father of fourteen daughters (including Mrs. Hardyman), eleven of whom are married off during their stay in India, which event is a topic of conversation between Joseph Sedley and his friends, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Felix Francis (b. 1953), English crime novelist.
– Felix Salten (1869-1945), Austrian author and critic.
Florence
August 5, 2014 § 7 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Latin “Florentia” or “Florentius”, meaning “blooming” or “prosperous”. Sometimes used as a variant of “Flora” or “Florent”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Fiorenza, Fleur, Flo, Flor, Flora, Florentia, Florina, Floris, Florrie, Florry, Floss, Flossie, Flossy, etc.
For boys: Fiorenzo, Florent, Florentius, Floris, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Florence Aplin (called “Flo“), a snobbish, bragging girl from a snobbish, bragging family, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Florence Ellery (called “Floss“), a rather snobbish and conceited young lady in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Florence Fleming, Ally’s cousin, who can be a bit spiteful, in “Ally”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Florence Scape, who, with her sister and mother, “fade away to Boulogne” after her father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Florence Morse Kingsley (1859-1937), American novelist.
– Florence Nash (1888-1950), American actress and poet.
– Florence Scovel Shinn (1871-1940), American artist and metaphysical writer.
Walter
August 5, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “powerful warrior” or “ruler of the army”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gautier, Gualtiero, Valter, Waldhar, Wally, Walt, Walther, Wat, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Walter Scape, who is “withdrawn from Eton and put into a merchant’s house” after his father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Walter of Swinbroke (died c. 1360), English chronicler, also known as Geoffrey the Baker.
– Walter Besant (1836-1901), English historian and novelist who sometimes published in collaboration with James Rice.
– Walter Ericson (1914-2003), pen name of American novelist and television writer Howard Fast, who also wrote under the pen name “E.V. Cunningham”.
– Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), English writer and poet.
– Walter Pater (1839-1894), English writer and critic.
– Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish novelist, playwright, and poet.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 