Marian

August 11, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN:
An alternate spelling of “Marion” or “Marianne“, French diminutive forms of “Marie”, ultimately derived from “Maria“. Sometimes used as a masculine form of “Maria“, or as a version of “Marianus”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Mairenn, Mairin, Mairwen, Manon, Manya, Mari, Maria, Mariamne, Mariana, Marianna, Marianne, Marie, Marielle, Mariette, Marion, Mariona, Marise, Marjan, Mary, Marya, Maryana, Maryann, Marzena, Maureen, Maurine, Miren, Mirjana, Mirjane, etc.
For boys: Marianus, Marion, Mariano, Marius, Merrian, Merrion, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
Marian Butter, Anthony Butter’s sturdy and strong-willed wife, who nursed Lady Margaret from childhood, in “A Brother to Dragons” (written in 1886, set in 1586), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
Mistress Marian Every, Lady Elizabeth’s adopted daughter, who grows up with Lady Patience and Lord Ernie, in “Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story” (written in 1887, set circa 1630s-1669), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales.
Marian Gray, the youngest of the Gray girls, fun-loving and strong-willed, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Marian Selwyn, a well-bred young lady who is a good role-model for the girls around her, in “An April Fool”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Marian Engel (1933-1985), Canadian novelist.
– Marian Keyes (b. 1965), Irish author.

Gertrude

August 11, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “spear of strength” or “spear-maiden”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gert, Gertie, Gertrud, Gerty, Trudi, Trudie, Trudy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Gertrude Gray, the middle of the Gray girls, prettiest and most popular of the three, but most prone to hardness and snobbishness, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

WRITERS:
– Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), American novelist, poet, and playwright.

Georgie

August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Georgy“. Diminutive of “Georgia”, “Georgina“, “Georgiana“, “Georgette”, etc. Or, diminutive of “George“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Geena, Gena, Geordie, Georgeanna, Georgia, Georgiana, Georgina, Georgine, Georgette, Georgy, Gigi, Gina, etc.
For boys: Gino, Giorgio, Giorgino, Geordie, Georg, George, Georges, Georgios, Georgi, Georgy, Jordi, Jordy, Jorge, Jorgen, Jorgie, Jorgy, Jori, Jory, Jurgen, Yorgos, Yuri, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Georgie Gray, the oldest of the Gray girls, a bit dreamy and weak and too easily led astray, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Berry

August 11, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Berenice“, “Bernice”, “Beryl”, etc., or simply referring to the fruit. As a masculine name, an alternate spelling of “Barry“, from Irish, meaning “fair hair” or “spear”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Barrie, Berenice, Bernelle, Bernice, Berri, Beryl, Bunnie, Bunny, Vernice, Veronica, Veronika, Veronique, etc.
For boys: Bairre, Barrie, Barry, Berach, Finbar, Finbarr, Finnbar, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
Berry (Berenice) Joy, Georgie Gray’s friend, who is not a good influence, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Myra

August 11, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Invented by English poet Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke (1554-1628) in the 17th century, possibly from the Latin for “myrrh”, or a variation on the name “Mary“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mayra, Maira, Mira, Myrra, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
Aunt Myra, the elderly spinster who looks after young orphan Candace, until Cousin Kate Gray and her family invite the girl to stay with them, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Myra, the name of a lost pig advertised in The Observer in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).

WRITERS:
Myra Bradwell (1831-1893), American activist, lawyer, and publisher.
Myra Kelly (1875-1910), Irish-American educator and children’s book writer.
Myra MacPherson (b. c.1935), American activist, author, and journalist.
Myra Morris (1893-1966), American children’s book author, novelist, and poet.
Myra Sklarew (b. 1934), American biologist, poet, and teacher.

Henry

August 11, 2014 § 11 Comments

ORIGIN:
From German, meaning “home-ruler” or “leader of the army”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amerigo, Amery, Anri, Arrigo, Emmerich, Emery, Emory, Enrico, Enrique, Enzo, Hal, Hank, Harald, Harold, Harri, Harry, Heimrich, Heinrich, Heinz, Hennie, Henny, Henri, Hendrik, Hendry, Henning, Henrik, Henryk, Herrold, Herry, Imre, Imrich, Imrus, Ric, Rico, Rik, Rikki, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
Uncle Henry, one of the several relatives who always give in to Dolly’s pleading, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
Henry Arden, Cannie’s minister father, who lacks the strength for life on a New England farm, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Henry Biltmer, owner of the small ranch Thea visits in Arizona, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
Henry Pierre Bowdoin, Esther’s artist father, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
Henry Dashwood, father to our heroines Elinor and Marianne, their younger sister Margaret, and their selfish and greedy half-brother John, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
Henry de Lindsay, one of Sir Peter and Lady Constance’s two sons, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
Henry Giles, Israel Thomas’ son-in-law, who joins in the watch over the Creighton farm when it’s threatened by Guy Wortman and his gang, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
Henry Jameson, “a trader without a heart”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
Henry Knightley, the oldest of John and Isabella’s children, the heir of Donwell Abbey should Mr. Knightley never wed and have children of his own, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
Henry Lynn, one of the Lynn brothers who are members of Mr. Rochester’s social set, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
Col. Henry Mortimer, who must solve a ghostly mystery to save his son’s life, in “The Open Door” (1881), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
Henry Nathanmeyer, the kindly Jewish businessman whose wife serves as Thea’s patroness in Chicago, in The Song of the Lark.
Mr. Henry Woodhouse, Isabella and Emma’s father, a “much older man in ways than in years”, in Emma.

WRITERS:
– Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918), American historian and writer.
– Henry Beston (1888-1968), American writer and naturalist.
– Henry Cole (b. 1955), American children’s book writer and illustrator.
– Henry Fielding (1707-1754), English novelist and dramatist.
– Henry Green (1905-1972), pen name of English novelist Henry Vincent Yorke.
– Henry James (1843-1916), Anglo-American novelist.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American poet and educator.
– Henry Lucy (1842-1924), English journalist and humorist.
– Henry Louis (H.L.) Mencken (1880-1956), American editor, critic, satirist, and writer.
– Henry Miller (1891-1980), American writer.
– Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American activist, author, poet, and philosopher.

Courtenay

August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Courtney”, an English last name from a French place name, meaning “short” or “short nose”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cort, Cortnay, Cortney, Court, Courtnay, Courtney, Kort, Kortnay, Kortney, Kourt, Kourtenay, Kourtnay, Kourtney, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Courtenay Gray (called “Court” by his wife), the father of the clan which, after some trials, adopts Candace Arden, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Peleg

August 11, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “division” or “channel”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
. . . Pel?

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Captain Peleg King, captain of the steamer Eolus, which carries Candace Arden to her cousins’ home in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Candace

August 11, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Greek “Kandake”, meaning “queen mother”, the title and name of the hereditary Queens of Ethiopia.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Candice, Candis, Candi, Candie, Candy, Candyce, Kandace, Kandice, Kandis, Kandi, Kandie, Kandy, Kandyce, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Candace Arden (called “Cannie“), the “little country girl” of the title, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Candace Van Vliet, Cannie’s mother and Kate’s cousin, who married Henry Arden and settled down in New England for too short a while, in A Little Country Girl.

WRITERS:
– Candace Bushnell (b. 1958), American novelist and producer.
– Candace Camp (b. 1949), American romance novelist.
– Candace Fleming (b. 1962), American writer of children’s books.
– Candace Stevenson (1883-1968), American poet.

 

Moses

August 10, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “saved” or “son”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mo, Moe, Moey, Moises, Moishe, Moisey, Mose, Moshe, Moss, Musa, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Moses Pennel, Becky Moore’s country suitor in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

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