1900s | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Willie

August 27, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “William“, meaning “will-helmet”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bil, Bill, Billie, Billy, Gwil, Liam, Lyam, Pim, Vila, Vili, Viljo, Ville, Wil, Wilkie, Wilkin, Wilky, Will, Willis, Willy, Wim, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Willie, the poor lost soul whose grief drives young Roland Mortimer to distraction, and nearly to death, in “The Open Door” (1881), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Willie, a shopboy who works at the Chicago shoe factory where Carrie first finds employment, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Willie Gentle, the young minstrel in Captain Cully’s band of freebooters, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
– Willie (Will) Wentworth, a friendly, level-headed Boston boy in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Willie Gilbert (1916-1972), American author and playwright.
– Willie Morris (1934-1999), American editor and writer.
– Willie Rushton (1937-1996), English actor, author, cartoonist, comedian, and satirist.
– Willie Yeadon (1907-1997), English historian.

Dora

August 27, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Dorothy“, “Isadora”, “Theodora”, “Dorcas“, “Doris”, “Dolores”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dede, Dee, Ditte, Dittie, Ditty, Dodie, Dody, Doll, Dollie, Dolly, Dolores, Dorcas, Doreen, Dorelle, Dorene, Dorete, Doretta, Dorie, Dorinda, Dorine, Doris, Dorit, Dorita, Doro, Dorota, Dorothea, Dorothy, Dorte, Dorthe, Dory, Dosia, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Feodora, Isadora, Isidora, Teodora, Theodora, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Great Aunt Dora, Etka’s kid sister, “maybe the most affectionate woman who ever lived”, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Dora Robson, a good-humored, slightly snobbish Boston girl in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Dora Acuña (1903-1987), Paraguayan journalist and poet.
– Dora (Doralina) Alonso (1910-2001), Cuban journalist and writer.
– Dora Birtles (1903-1992), Australian novelist, poet, short story author, and travel writer.
– Dora d’Istria (1828-1888), pen name of Hungarian activist and writer, the duchess Helena Koltsova-Massalskaya.
– Dora Gabe (1886-1983), Bulgarian essayist, poet, short story writer, translator, and travel writer.
– Dora Read Goodale (1866-1953), American poet and teacher.
– Dora (Dorothy) Greenwell (1821-1882), English poet.
– Dora Heldt (b. 1961), German novelist.
– Dora Maar (1907-1997), Argentinian muse, painter, photographer, and poet.
– Dora Malech (b. 1981), American poet.
– Dora (Dorothy) Montefiore (1851-1933), Anglo-Australian activist, poet, and writer.
– Dora Levy Mossanen (b. 1945), American novelist.
– Dora Pavel (b. 1946), Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Dora Russell (1894-1986), English activist and writer.
– Dora Oake Russell (1912-1986), Canadian editor, educator, and writer.
– Dora Jessie Saint (1913-2012), English novelist who published under the pen name “Miss Read”.
– Dora Sigerson Shorter (1866-1918), Irish poet and sculptor.
– Dora (Theodora) van der Meiden-Coolsma (1918-2001), Dutch children’s book author and columnist who also published under the pen name “Constanze Hazelager”.
– Dora Van Gelder (1904-1999), Dutch-American occultist, theosophist, and writer.
– Dora Wasserman (1919-2003), Ukrainian actress, director, and playwright.

Edwin

August 25, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Old English, meaning “rich friend”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Eadwine, Ed, Edd, Eddi, Eddie, Eddy, Edvin, Edwyn, Ned, Nedd, Neddie, Neddy, Ted, Tedd, Teddie, Teddy, Win, Winnie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lord Edwin Vere, the young man Georgiana Reed nearly elopes with, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838-1926), English educator, novelist, and theologian.
– Edwin Balmer (1883-1959), American writer.
– Edwin Corle (1906-1956), American writer.
– Edwin Gilbert (1907-1976), German-American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter.
– Edwin DuBose Heyward (1885-1940), American dramatist, novelist, and poet, who wrote under the pen name “DuBose Heyward”.
– Edwin Honig (1919-2011), American poet, playwright, and translator.
– Edwin Palmer Hoyt (1923-2005), American writer.
– Edwin Markham (1852-1940), American poet.
– Edwin Morgan (1920-2010), Scottish poet and translator.
– Edwin Muir (1887-1959), Scottish author.
– Edwin O’Connor (1918-1968), American broadcaster, journalist, and novelist.
– Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935), American poet.
– Edwin Rolfe (1909-1954), pen name of American poet and writer Solomon Fishman.
– Edwin Way Teale (1899-1980), American naturalist, photographer, and writer.

Agnes

August 25, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Latinized version of the Greek “Hagne”, meaning “pure” or “chaste”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aggie, Aggy, Agi, Agnese, Agnessa, Agneta, Agnete, Agnetha, Agneza, Agnieszka, Aigneis, Annice, Annis, Aune, Hagne, Iines, Ines, Inez, Jagna, Janja, Nainsi, Nance, Nancie, Nancy, Nensi, Nes, Neske, Nessie, Nessy, Nest, Nesta, Neysa, Oanez, Ynes, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dame Agnes, who mends Robin’s clothing in preparation for his journey to Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Agnes Brendan, a fashionable, stuck-up, ill-behaved Boston girl in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Agnes Canning, Philip’s mother and the subject of the portrait of the title, in “The Portrait” (1885), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Agnes (later Canning), the young relative of the elder Agnes, in “The Portrait” (1885), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen.
– Agnes Grant, Kitty’s sister in “Esther Bodn”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Agnes Johnstone, a pupil at Lowood Academy, who, along with her sister Catherine, is invited to tea with some friends at Lowton, resulting in Miss Temple being chastised by Mr. Brocklehurst for allowing “two clean tuckers in the week” when “the rules limit them to one”, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Agnes Newton Keith (1901-1982), American author.
– Agnes Smedley (1892-1950), American journalist and writer.
– Agnes Strickland (c. 1797-1874), English historical writer and poet.

Dorothy

August 22, 2014 § 13 Comments

ORIGIN:
English version of “Dorothea”, meaning “gift of God”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dede, Dee, Deedee, Dodie, Doll, Dolley, Dollie, Dolly, Dora, Doreen, Doretta, Dorinda, Dorine, Dorit, Dorita, Dorotea, Dorothea, Dortha, Dorthy, Dory, Dosia, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Lola, Lollie, Lolly, Moll, Molly, Tea, Thea, Tia, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Dorothy Lennox (called “Dolly“), one of the children in the care of Nurse Crumpet who beg her to tell the sad story of their Aunt Patience, in “Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story” (written in 1887, set circa 1630s-1669), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.

WRITERS:
– Dorothy Allison (b. 1949), American writer.
– Dorothy Bryant (b. 1930), American writer.
– Dorothy Day (1897-1980), American activist and journalist.
– Dorothy Dunnett (1923-2001), Scottish historical novelist.
– Dorothy Eden (1912-1982), American author.
– Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958), activist and author.
– Dorothy Gilman (1923-2012), American author.
– Dorothy Hewett (1923-2002), Australian writer.
– Dorothy B. Hughes (1904-1993), American author and critic.
– Dorothy Livesay (1909-1996), Canadian poet.
– Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), American author, critic, poet, and satirist.
– Dorothy Porter (1954-2008), Australian poet.
– Dorothy Richardson (1873-1957), English author and journalist.
– Dorothy Lucy Sanders (1907-1987), pen name used by Australian writer Dorothy McClemans (also as “Lucy Walker” and “Shelley Dean”).
– Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), English writer and humanist.
– Dorothy West (1907-1998), American author.

Margaret

August 22, 2014 § 15 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Latin “Margarita”, derived from the Greek word “margarites”, meaning “pearl”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Greet, Griet, Greta, Gretchen, Grete, Gretel, Grethe, Gretta, Maarit, Madge, Mae, Mag, Maggi, Maggie, Maggy, Maighread, Mairead, Maisie, Maisy, Mame, Mamie, Mared, Maret, Marga, Margaid, Margalo, Margareeta, Margareta, Margaretha, Margarethe, Margaretta, Margarit, Margarita, Margaux, Marge, Marged, Margery, Margherita, Margie, Margit, Margy, Margo, Margot, Margreet, Margrethe, Margriet, Margrit, Marguerita, Marguerite, Marita, Marjeta, Marji, Marjorie, Marjory, Marketa, Marketta, Marsaili, May, Mayme, Maymie, Meg, Megan, Megeen, Megen, Meggie, Meggy, Mererid, Merete, Meta, Metta, Midge, Mim, Mimi, Mimsie, Mimsy, Mysie, Peg, Pegeen, Peggie, Peggy, Peigi, Reeta, Rita, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Margaret of Amhurste, Lord Robert’s brave and strong-willed twin sister, who saves the wild, cavalier Lord Denbeigh, 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.
– Margaret Dashwood, the third Dashwood sister, “a good-humoured well-disposed girl; but as she had already imbibed a good deal of Marianne’s romance, without having much of her sense, she did not, at thirteen, bid fair to equal her sisters at a more advanced period of life”, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Margaret Pelham (called “Peggy“), a simply-dressed, sweet girl who experiences a case of mistaken identity, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Margaret Atwood (b. 1939), Canadian activist, critic, essayist, novelist, and poet.
– Margaret Blake (1921-1995), pen name of English mystery and romance author Barbara Margaret Trimble, who also published under the pen names “Barbara Gilmour” and “B.M. Gill”.
– Margaret Major Cleaves (b. 1946), American romance author who also publishes under the pen name “Ann Major”.
– Margaret Gibson (b. 1944), American poet.
– Margaret Gibson (1948-2006), Canadian novelist and short story writer.
– Margaret Millar (1915-1994), American-Canadian mystery author.
– Margaret Mitchell (1900-1949), American novelist.
– Margaret Oliphant (1828-1897), Scottish novelist and historical writer.
– Lady Margaret Seymour (1540-????), English writer.
– Margaret Truman (1924-2008), American historian, novelist, and singer.
– Margaret Wilson (1882-1973), American novelist.

Hetty

August 21, 2014 § 5 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Hettie”, diminutive of “Henrietta“, “Hester“, “Harriet“, “Mehetabel”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Essie, Essy, Etta, Ettie, Etty, Halle, Hallie, Hattie, Hatty, Hen, Hennie, Henny, Het, Hettie, Yetta, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Miss Hetty Bates, a silly, chatty, good-hearted woman who is always delighted to talk about anything, particularly her beloved niece, Jane Fairfax, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Aunt Hetty Walker, who used to frighten young John and Bill with “witch stories” when she’d come to help Ellen with work on the farm, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).

WRITERS:
– Hetty Burlingame Beatty (1907-1971), American children’s book author, illustrator, and sculptor.
– Hetty Tayler (1869-1951), pen name of British author and historian Helen Tayler, who also published as “Henrietta Tayler”, and often published jointly with her brother, Alexander.
– Hetty Verolme (b. 1930), Belgian-Australian author and educator.
– Hetty Wright (1697-1750), pen name of English poet Mehetabel Wesley Wright, who was also known as “Kitty Wright”.

Philip

August 21, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Greek “Philippos”, meaning “friend of horses”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Felip, Felipe, Filib, Filip, Filippos, Filippus, Flip, Phil, Phillip, Philippe, Philippos, Pilib, Pip, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Philip Canning, the narrator of “The Portrait” (1885), from Stories of the Seen and Unseen by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant.
– Rev. Mr. Philip Elton, the handsome and seemingly-agreeable vicar of Highbury, who turns out to be rather conceited and inconsiderate, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Philip Frederick Ottenburg (called “Fred“), the dynamic young brewing heir who launches Thea’s operatic career, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).

WRITERS:
– Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), American essayist, novelist, philosopher, and short story writer.
– Philip Freneau (1752-1832), American editor, poet, and polemicist.
– Philip Latham (1902-1981), pen name of American astronomer and science fiction author Robert S. Richardson.
– Philip Pullman (b. 1946), British fantasy author and playwright.
– Philip Roth (b. 1933), American novelist.
– Philip Van Doren Stern (1900-1984), American author, editor, and historian.

Bill

August 18, 2014 § 5 Comments

ORIGIN:
Like “Will“, a diminutive of “William“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bil, Billie, Billy, Gwil, Liam, Lyam, Pim, Vila, Vili, Viljo, Ville, Wil, Wilkie, Wilkin, Wilky, Will, Willie, Willis, Willy, Wim, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bill, a little boy who lives on the Street with the Pages and the Wilsons and the rest in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Bill, the bartender at Schwitter’s road-house in K.
– Bill Blacksmith, a friend of John Fry’s in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Bill (William) Creighton (b. 1838), Jethro’s favorite older brother, “a big, silent man who was considered ‘peculiar’ in the neighborhood”, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Bill Dadds, a workman on John Ridd’s farm, in Lorna Doone.
– Bill Oliver, wealthy owner of a needle-factory and iron-foundry near Morton, whose daughter, Rosamond, is in love with St. John Rivers, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Bill James (b. 1929), pen name of Welsh novelist James Tucker, who also publishes as “David Craig” and “Judith Jones”.

QUOTATIONS:
– The 1902 song “(Won’t You Come Home) Bill Bailey“, written by Hughie Cannon (1877-1912) remains a standard among Dixieland and classic jazz performers: “Won’t you come home, Bill Bailey, won’t you come home? / I’ve moaned the whole night long / I’ll do the cookin’, honey, I’ll pay the rent / I know I done you wrong.”
– In Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s 1927 musical Show Boat, torch singer Julie (working in a nightclub circa 1903), sings “Bill“, a lament for the less-than-perfect man who stole her heart: “But along came Bill / Who’s not the type at all / You’d meet him on the street / And never notice him / His form and face / His manly grace / Are not the kind that you / Would find in a statue / And I can’t explain / It’s surely not his brain / That makes me thrill / I love him because he’s wonderful / Because he’s just my Bill / . . . He’s just my Bill, an ordinary man / He hasn’t got a thing that I can brag about / . . . I love him, because he’s, I don’t know, / Because he’s just my Bill.”
– From the 1945 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical Carousel, set in 1873 or so, erstwhile barker Billy Bigelow sings a “Soliloquy” about his anticipated son: “Bill, my boy Bill, / I will see that he’s named after me, I will. / My boy Bill! He’ll be tall / And as tough as a tree, will Bill! / Like a tree he’ll grow / With his head held high / And his feet planted firm on the ground. / And you won’t see nobody dare to try / To boss him or toss him around.”
– In the “Wedding Bell Blues” (1969), written by Laura Nyro, the singer laments about a lover who won’t marry her: “Bill, I love you so, I always will / . . . I was on your side, Bill, when you were losing / I’d never scheme or lie, Bill, there’s been no fooling / But kisses and love won’t carry me ’til you marry me, Bill.”

Kenneth

August 17, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Anglicized version of either “Coinneach”, meaning “handsome”, or “Cinaed”, meaning “born of fire”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cainneach, Coinneach, Cinaed, Cionaodh, Ken, Kennet, Kennie, Kennith, Kenny, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Kenneth is one of the names K. Le Moyne considers utilizing as his alias in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).

WRITERS:
– Kenneth Anderson (1910-1974), English adventure writer.
– Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), Scottish writer.
– Kenneth Horne (1900-1975), English writer and playwright.
– Kenneth Millar (1915-1983), Canadian-American crime author who published under the pen name “Ross Macdonald”.
– Kenneth Morris (1879-1937), Welsh author and theosophist.
– Kenneth Roberts (1885-1957), American author and journalist.
– Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980), English critic and writer.

Where Am I?