1910s | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Ned

August 12, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Edward“, “Edmund”, “Edwin“, “Edgar”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ed, Edd, Eddi, Eddie, Eddy, Nedd, Neddie, Neddy, Ted, Tedd, Teddie, Teddy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ned Hale, Ruth Varnum’s fiancé (and later husband), whose romance fares far better than does Ethan’s, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Ned Hamlyn, the friend and fellow boarder who helps Jim to set right the mess he has impulsively made of his situation, in “The Tragedy of the Unexpected”, from Nora Perry’s The Tragedy of the Unexpected and Other Stories (published in 1880, but set in the 1870s).

WRITERS:
– Ned Buntline (1821-1886), pen name of American journalist, publicist, publisher, and writer Edward Zane Carroll (E.Z.C.) Judson, Sr.
– Ned Calmer (1907-1986), American author and journalist.
– Ned Fairchild (b. 1929), pen name of American songwriter Nelda Fairchild.
– Ned Marin (1896-1955), American producer and screenwriter.
– Ned Miller (b. 1925), American singer and songwriter.
– Ned O’Gorman (1929-2014), American author, educator, and poet.
– Ned Rorem (b. 1923), American composer and diarist.
– Ned Sherrin (1931-2007), English author, broadcaster, and director.
– Ned Vizzini (1981-2013), American novelist.
– Ned (Edward) Ward (1667-1731), English publican and satirist.
– Ned Washington (1901-1976), American lyricist.

Harmon

August 12, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
An English last name derived from the Germanic “Herman”, meaning “army man”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hariman, Harimon, Harm, Harmie, Harmy, Hermon, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Harmon Gow, former stage-driver and town gossip, who fills the narrator in on some of the details of Ethan’s life, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).

Zenobia

August 12, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From Greek, meaning “life of Zeus”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sena, Seena, Senia, Sina, Xena, Xeena, Xenia, Xina, Xenobia, Zena, Zenia, Zenicia, Zenija, Zenovia, Zina, Zinovia, Zinoviya, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Zenobia Frome (called “Zeena“), Ethan’s sickly, caustic wife in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).

Zeena

August 12, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Zena”, possibly a feminine version of “Zeno”, or a variant of “Xenia” / “Zenia”, or a diminutive of names like “Rosina” or “Zenobia“, “Zenaida”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sena, Seena, Senia, Sina, Xena, Xeena, Xenia, Xina, Zena, Zenia, Zenicia, Zenija, Zina, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Zeena (Zenobia) Frome, Ethan’s sickly, caustic wife in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).

Ethan

August 12, 2014 § 5 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “firm” or “enduring”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Eathon, Eitan, Eten, Eth, Ethe, Ethen, Eytan, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ethan Frome, the luckless, careworn farmer of the title in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Ethan Frome, Sr., who frittered away what little wealth the family had, leaving his wife and son to a hardscrabble existence, in Ethan Frome.

Belle

August 12, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Like “Bella“, a diminutive of “Belinda”, “Beulah”, etc., or names ending in “-ella” (such as “Isabella”, “Annabella”, “Arabella“, etc.), or names ending in “-belle” (such as “Maybelle”, “Dorabelle”, etc.) Possibly from French, meaning “beautiful”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Arabel, Arabella, Arabelle, Amabel, Amabella, Amabelle, Anabel, Anabella, Anabelle, Annabel, Annabella, Annabelle, Bell, Belle, Belina, Belinda, Belinha, Beulah, Elizabeth, Isabel, Isabella, Isabelle, Izabel, Izabella, Izabelle, Sabella, Sabelle, Zabel, Zabella, Zabelle, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Belle Archie (née White), Dr. Archie’s unpleasant wife, “one of those people who are stingy without motive or reason”, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Belle Jeffreys, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

Dick

August 12, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of the English name “Richard“, meaning “strong ruler” or “brave power”, or of the Dutch name “Diederick”, meaning “ruler of the people”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dickey, Dickie, Dickon, Dickson, Dicky, Dicun, Dix, Dixon, Ric, Rich, Richie, Rick, Rickey, Rickie, Ricky, Ritchie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dick, the most talented wrestler in the unfriendly group of “Kirke’s Lambs” John Ridd runs into, after risking his life to save Tom Faggus from the danger of the Monmouth Rebellion, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– “Unc’ Dick”, the “ancient wagoner” hired by Jack Roden to carry him to his new estate, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.
– Dick Brisbane, one of Fred’s friends in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Dick Fancy, a member of Captain Cully’s bad of freebooters, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
– Dick Foster, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, brother of Arnold Foster, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Dick Gair, Molly’s brother is who away at college, in “Molly Gair’s New Dress”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Dick (Richard) Mason, Bertha Mason’s brother, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Dick Velacott, who married Betsy Paramore after Tom Faggus’ ruination, in Lorna Doone.

WRITERS:
– Dick Allen (b. 1939), American academic, critic, and poet.
– Dick Diespecker (1907-1973), Canadian journalist and novelist.
– Dick Francis (1920-2010), English jockey and novelist.
– Dick Harrison (b. 1966), Swedish historian and novelist.
– Dick Higgins (1938-1998), Anglo-American artist, composer, poet, and printer.
– Dick Hillis (1913-2005) American author and missionary.
– Dick King-Smith (1922-2011), English children’s book writer.
– Dick Kleiner (1921-2002), American author, columnist, lyricist, and voice actor.
– Dick McBride (1928-2012), American novelist, playwright, and poet.
– Dick Schaap (1934-2001), American author, broadcaster, and sportswriter.
– Dick Wolf (b. 1946), American writer and producer.

QUOTATIONS:
– In “Tom, Dick or Harry“, a song from the 1948 Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter, Bianca and her suitors sing of her eagerness to wed: “I’m a maid who would marry / And would take with no qualm / Any Tom, Dick or Harry, / Any Harry, Dick or Tom. / I’m a maid mad to marry / And will take double-quick / Any Tom, Dick or Harry, / Any Tom, Harry or Dick!”

Edith

August 11, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Old English / Germanic, meaning “rich war” or “blessed war”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Eadie, Edie, Editha, Edita, Edyth, Edytha, Edythe, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Edith, Maud Hallett’s aunt, who took her to Paradise Valley one summer, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Edith Beers, the audacious and scandalous heiress who jilts her fiancé Dick Brisbane for his friend Fred Ottenburg, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Edith Elliott, Dolly’s best friend, in “Dolly Varden”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

WRITERS:
– Edith Carter (fl. 1920s-1930s), English actress and playwright.
– Edith Hamilton (1867-1963), German-American educator and author.
– Edith (E.) Nesbit (1858-1924), English author and poet.
– Edith Pearlman (b. 1936), American short story writer.
– Edith Wharton (1862-1937), American author and designer.

QUOTATIONS:
– From “The Children’s Hour” (1859), by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “From my study I see in the lamplight, / Descending the broad hall stair, / Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, / And Edith with golden hair.”

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.

Cicely

August 10, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Variant of “Cecily” or “Cecilia”, feminine versions of “Cecil”, from the Latin, meaning “blind”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cecile, Cecille, Cece, Cecelia, Cecelie, Cecilia, Cecilie, Cecily, Celia, Cili, Cilla, Cille, Cissie, Cissy, Sheila, Silla, Sille, Sissie, Sissy, Zilla, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Cicely Carey (called “Cis“), Rosamond’s somewhat frivolous and impatient older cousin, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Cicely Hamilton (1872-1952), English activist, actress, journalist, and writer.
– Cicely Saunders (1918-2005), English activist, nurse, physician, social worker, and writer.
– Cicely (C.) Fox Smith (1882-1954), English poet and writer.

QUOTATIONS:
– From “Cicely Bathing” by Norman Rowland Gale: “The brook told the dove / And the dove told me / That Cicely floating on the wave / Woke music in the tree.”

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