Some Less-Popular Historical Baby Names
October 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
Proof that there have always been parents who want to bestow “unique” names on their progeny. Pity the poor little Spurgeons and Hildreds of years past!
“If you’re looking for a baby name and want something truly original, but with historical precedent, here’s your list:
The Least Popular American Baby Names, According to Early Records” (click through to see where they ranked, and to see more unpopular baby names of yesteryear!)
YEAR – BOY NAMES & GIRL NAMES
1880 – Handey & Parthenia (Sheesh, parents, what are you trying to get at, naming your son “Handey”?)
1881 – Okey & Erie (It’s okay to admire a canal, but maybe don’t name your daughter after it.)
1882 – Ab & Dove (Because sometimes it just takes too long to write “Abe”.)
1883 – Commodore & Lovey (It’s like they were prepping a 1970s soft-rock group . . . )
1884 – Spurgeon & Kathern (“Um, doctor, I think it’s spelled Katherine–” “Shut up, I know what I’m doing!”)
1885 – Fount & Icy (“Fount”? “Icy”? Was there something in the water?)
1886 – Squire & Texie (For when you hope your child will grow up to be a character in a 1950s movie musical.)
1887 – Bliss & Lockie (“Bliss”? Who knew there were hippies in the 1880s?)
1888 – Boss & Indiana (“We named you ‘Junior’; we named your sister ‘Indiana’!”)
1889 – Starling & Easter (Lived in the same commune as Bliss, and probably Dove.)
1890 – Lawyer & Pinkey (Hmm, I wonder what little Lawyer’s folks hoped he’d grow up to be?)
1891 – Manley & Chestina (Was there a sudden influx of machismo in the 1890s?)
1892 – Little & Odell (Nobody had told Little’s parents that he would, eventually, grow.)
1893 – Orange & Leafy (That commune is still going strong!)
1894 – Flem & Ova (The parents overheard the doctors and nurses discussing cases in the hallway . . . )
1895 – Toy & Sister (Presumably Sister is the youngest of a large brood and the parents had simply run out of ideas. And I hope someone told Toy’s parents that he was, in fact, a real baby.)
1896 – Josephine & Clifford (The year of the Great Gender Switch!)
1897 – Henery & Florance (“Um, doctor, I believe it’s Henry and Florence–” “Didn’t I tell you I know what I’m doing?”)
1898 – Pleasant & Tiny (My, weren’t those parents in for an eventual surprise! Doesn’t everyone know not to tempt fate like that?)
1899 – Fate & Cuba (Speaking of “tempting Fate”, how sick do you suppose he got of jokes like that? Also, here we can see the dangers of choosing a baby name from current headlines . . . )
1900 – Gorge & Electa (“Um, doctor, I believe it’s spelled George— oh, never mind.”)
1901 – Joesph & Buelah (“*cough*Joseph*cough*Beulah*cough*”)
1902 – Rolla & Bama (Time traveling Southerners?)
1903 – Ples & Capitola (“Ples”? “Capitola”? Really?)
1904 – Council & Pearly (Possibly Council is Capitola’s little brother?)
1905 – Son & Wava (Guess what name they’d have gone with if it’d been a daughter? Yeah, probably not “Wava”.)
1906 – Virgle & Carry (Scrawled in pencil in the nurse’s handwriting are the names Virgil and Carrie.)
1907 – Geo & Arizona (Indiana’s daughter?)
1908 – Lillian & Lilyan (Here’s hoping they were twins, because that would be weirdly adorable!)
1909 – Murl & Flonnie (The nurse tried to correct Merle, but didn’t have the faintest idea what to do about Flonnie . . . )
1910 – Lemon & Classie (Orange’s little brother? And something about “Classie” seems like an aspirational choice . . . )
1911 – Wash & Lavada (I’m sensing a real “cleanliness” theme, here, 1911 . . . )
1912 – Christ & Almeta (Taken together, this sounds like a bit inappropriate? Christ Almeta!)
1913 – Louise & Louis (The Great Gender Switch II!)
1914 – Stephan & Vella (1914 was a year for smooth operators.)
1915 – Mayo & Dimple (Pretty sure their parents were preparing for a vaudeville act . . . )
1916 – Green & Golden (And under “What color will you be painting the nursery?” the exhausted parents put “Dudley” and “Millicent“.)
1917 – Elza & Loyce (The nurse thought of correcting it to Ezra and Luce, but at this point she was pretty sure the doctor was just messing with her . . . )
1918 – Curley & Ivory (Possibly Curley’s parents were psychics who foresaw the 1943 Broadway musical Oklahoma!, and Ivory’s parents just really, really liked soap.)
1919 – Metro & Louvenia (Time-traveling hipsters?)
1920 – Berry & Merry (Here’s hoping these were also twins!)
1921 – Reno & Glendora (When there was a short-lived law that all children had to be named after towns in the American Southwest . . .)
1922 – Author & Gaynell (Oddly, Author grew up to be a dentist. And Gaynell was an extra in three Hollywood films in the late 1930s.)
1923 – Burley & Dorathy (Burley’s parents were Manley and Chestina, of course. And the nurse didn’t even try to fix Dorothy, because she felt she was getting far too old for this stuff . . . )
1924 – Dorman & Mardell (Their parents had visions of plush bellhop, elevator operator, or movie theater usher uniforms dancing in their heads.)
1925 – Buddie & Bobbye (Later the stars of a collection of detective novels for children. Gee whiz!)
1926 – Wardell & Willodean (It’s like they were trying to give their children names they could change once they reached Hollywood . . . )
1927 – Estel & Gregoria (The nurse tried explaining to the parents that they could just as easily have named the boy “Gregory” and the girl “Estelle” if they really wanted their children to be named after them, but they were too exhausted and stunned by the arrival of twins to understand . . . )
1928 – Gust & Hildred (We’ll overlook Gust in the commune to note that combining “Mildred” with “Hilda” is something you only do to people you hate.)
1929 – Vester & Jettie (Time-traveling Goths?)
1930 – Otho & Charlsie (Why would you give your children those names? Do you want them to end up in an Agatha Christie murder mystery?)
1931 – Early & Ferne (The commune is fading, but still has some stragglers . . . Also, guess what name Early would have ended up with if he’d been born after 9pm?)
1932 – Dock & Jack (For when you want both of your children to grow up to be hard-boiled detectives in a gritty film noir. None of this namby-pamby “Buddie and Bobbye, Kid Detectives” stuff for you!)
Roy
October 8, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
English version of the Gaelic name “Ruadh”, meaning “red”, or from the French “roi”, meaning “king”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Leroy”, “Royal“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Leroy, Royal, Ruadh, Ruadhan, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Roy, one of the hounds belonging to Sir Peter’s family in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Roy Campbell (1901-1957), South African poet and satirist.
– Roy Heath (1926-2008), Guyanese author.
– Roy Huggins (1914-2002), pen name of American novelist and television writer and producer John Thomas James.
– Roy Lewis (1913-1996), English writer and small press printer.
– Roy Orbison (1936-1988), American singer and songwriter.
Alison
October 4, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Medieval French diminutive of “Aalis” (“Alice“).
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ali, Alli, Allie, Allison, Alyson, Ally, Allyson, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Alison de Lindsay, Sir Peter and Lady Constance’s daughter, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Princess Alison Jocelyn, the damsel in distress who needs a hero, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
WRITERS:
– Alison Baker (b. 1953), American short story writer.
– Alison Cockburn (1712-1794), Scottish poet, socialite, and wit (also known as Alison Rutherford or Alicia Cockburn).
– Alison Brackenbury (b. 1953), English poet.
– Alison Des Forges (1942-2009), American activist and historian.
– Alison Fell (b. 1944), Scottish novelist and poet.
– Alison Lester (b. 1952), Australian author and illustrator.
– Alison Lurie (b. 1926), American academic and novelist.
– Alison Plowden (1931-2007), English biographer and historian.
– Alison Uttley (1884-1976), English author.
– Alison Weir (b. 1951), English author, biographer, and historian.
Alfred
October 4, 2014 § 7 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Old English “Aelfraed”, meaning “elf-counsel”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aelfraed, Al, Alf, Alfie, Alfredo, Avery, Fred, Fredde, Freddie, Freddy, Fredo, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Alfred, one of the boys Robin plays with during his stay at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Alfred Andersch (1914-1980), German writer, publisher, and radio editor.
– Alfred Austin (1835-1913), English poet.
– Alfred Bester (1913-1987), American author and writer.
– Alfred de Musset (1810-1857), French dramatist, novelist, and poet.
– Alfred de Vigny (1797-1863), French playwright, poet, and novelist.
– Alfred Döblin (1878-1957), German doctor, essayist, and novelist.
– Alfred Hartmann (1814-1897), Swiss writer.
– Alfred Hayes (1911-1985), English novelist, poet, and screenwriter.
– Alfred Edward (A.E.) Housman (1859-1936), English poet and scholar.
– Alfred Jarry (1873-1907), French writer.
– Alfred Kazin (1915-1998), American critic and writer.
– Alfred Kerr (1867-1948), German-Jewish critic and essayist.
– Alfred Lansing (1921-1975), American journalist and writer.
– Alfred Henry Lewis (1855-1914), American editor, journalist, lawyer, novelist, and short story writer.
– Alfred Lichtenstein (1889-1914), German writer.
– Alfred Masson-Forestier (1852-1912), French writer.
– Alfred Neumann (1895-1952), German writer and translator.
– Alfred Noyes (1880-1958), English playwright, poet, and short story writer.
– Alfred Ollivant (1874-1927), English novelist.
– Alfred Perlès (1897-1990), Austrian writer.
– Alfred Reynolds (1907-1993), Anglo-Hungarian writer.
– Alfred Percy Sinnett (1840-1921), English author, journalist, and Theosophist.
– Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), English poet.
– Alfred Williams (1877-1930), English author and poet.
QUOTATIONS:
– From “Epistle to Earl Harcourt, on his wishing her to spell her name of Catherine with a K“, by an unknown poet (“F—-“), found in A Collection of Poems, Chiefly Manuscript, and from Living Authors (1823), edited by Joanna Baillie: “Alfred, who quell’d th’ unsurping Dane, / And burst, indignant, from his chain; / Who slaves redeemed, to reign o’er men, / Changing the faulchion for the pen, / And outlin’d, with a master’s hand, / Th’ immortal charter of the land; / Alfred, whom yet these realms obey”
Hubert
October 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “bright heart” or “bright mind”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hobart, Hubertus, Hubrecht, Uberto, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Brother Hubert, a monk at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Hubert Aquin (1929-1977), Canadian activist, essayist, filmmaker, and novelist.
– Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918), American ethnologist and historian.
– Hubert Butler (1900-1991), Irish essayist.
– Hubert Crackanthorpe (1870-1896), English writer.
– Hubert Fichte (1935-1986), German novelist.
– Hubert Lampo (1920-2006), Flemish author.
– Hubert Harrison (1883-1927), West Indian-American activist, critic, educator, orator, and writer.
– Hubert Selby, Jr. (1928-2004), American writer.
Geoffrey
October 4, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Jeffrey”, from the French version of a Germanic name, meaning “peaceful land” or “peace of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fredo, Geffrey, Geoff, Geoffroi, Geoffroy, Gjord, Godfrey, Godfried, Goffredo, Goraidh, Gottfrid, Gottfried, Jef, Jeff, Jefferson, Jeffery, Jeffrey, Jeffries, Jeffry, Jep, Jepson, Seafra, Sieffre, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Geoffrey Atte-Water, the little boy who. like Robin, must use crutches, and who gives Robin the nickname “Crookshanks”, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1100-1155), Welsh cleric and chronicler.
– Geoffrey the Baker (died c. 1360), English chronicler, also known as Walter of Swinbroke.
– Geoffrey Blainey (b. 1930), Australian academic, commentator, historian, and philanthropist.
– Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400), English poet, philosopher, alchemist, and astronomer, the “Father of English literature”.
– Geoffrey du Breuil of Vigeois (active 1170-1184), French cleric and chronicler.
– Geoffrey Elton (1921-1994), Anglo-German educator, historian and writer.
– Geoffrey Green (1911-1990), English sports writer.
– Geoffrey Household (1920-1988), English novelist.
– Geoffrey Jenkins (1920-2001), South African journalist, novelist, and screenwriter.
– Geoffrey Moorhouse (1931-2009), English author and journalist.
– Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998), English author.
– Geoffrey Willans (1911-1958), English author and journalist.
Paul
October 3, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
Latin, from the Roman family name “Paulus”, meaning “small” or “humble”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Boulus, Bulus, Pablo, Pal, Pali, Palle, Paol, Paolo, Paulie, Paulo, Paulos, Paulus, Pauwel, Pasha, Pavel, Pavlo, Pavlos, Pavo, Pavol, Pawel, Pol, Poul, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Paul, a new boy at Lily’s school, “imported from Switzerland”, who “soon becomes the Charles Boyer of the fourth grade”, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Brother Paul, one of the monks at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Paul Bowles (1910-1999), American author, composer, and translator.
– Paul Cain (1902-1966), pen name of American author and screenwriter George Caryl Sims.
– Paul Goodman (1911-1972), American intellectual, novelist, philosopher, playwright, poet, psychotherapist, and social critic.
– Paul Jennings (1918-1989), British humorist and writer.
– Paul Jennings (b. 1943), Australian children’s book writer.
– Paul Jordan-Smith (1885-1971), American editor, minister, scholar, and writer.
– Paul Kenyon (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 “Victor Appleton”.
– Paul Ledd (b. 1951), one of the many pen names of American mystery and Western author Robert J. Randisi, who also publishes as “Cole Weston”, “Joseph Meek”, “Joshua Randall”, “Lew Baines”, “Robert Lake” “Spenser Fortune”, “Tom Cutter”, and “W.B. Longley”, among other pseudonyms.
– Paul Smith (1920-1997), Irish playwright and writer.
– Paul Girard Smith (1894-1968), American screenwriter.
– Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), French poet.
– Paul Zindel (1936-2003), American educator, novelist, and playwright.
Alan
September 13, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Celtic or Breton, possibly meaning “handsome” or “harmony”, or “little rock”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ailin, Al, Alain, Alayne, Alen, Allan, Allen, Alleyn, Allyn, Alun, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Alan-at-Gate, the gruff gatekeeper at Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Lord Alan Brandir, Lorna’s dashing young Scottish cousin, who attempts to rescue her, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Alan Krescott, who is, with his twin brother John, included in the “irregular” kids at Lily’s school, due to their having been born prematurely and continuing to be undersized, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
WRITERS:
– Alan Bradley (b. 1938), Canadian writer.
– Alan Burns (1929-2014), English author.
– Alan Dean Forster (b. 1946), American writer.
– Alan Hunter (1922-2005), English author.
– Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986), American librettist and lyricist.
– Alan Marshall (1902-1984), Australian story teller and writer.
– Alan Paton (1903-1988), South African activist and author.
– Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010), English writer.
– Alan Wade (1916-2013), pen name of American author Jack Vance, who also published under the pen names Ellery Queen, Jay Kavanse, John van See, and Peter Held.
Hugh
September 13, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
German, meaning “heart”, “mind”, or “spirit”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hewie, Hudde, Huey, Hughes, Hughie, Hugo, Huw, Shug, Ugo, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Hugh Fitzhugh, Sir Peter’s cousin and neighbor, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Baron Hugh de Whichehalse, a local magistrate and one of those nobleman whose means do not live up to their gentility, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
WRITERS:
– Hugh Cook (1956-2008), English author.
– Hugh Haliburton (1846-1922), pen name of Scottish author, editor, and poet James Logie Robertson.
– Hugh Kingsmill (1889-1949), English journalist and writer.
– Hugh Lofting (1886-1947), English author and engineer.
– Hugh MacLennan (1907-1990), Canadian author and educator.
– Hugh Marlowe (b. 1929), pen name used by English author Harry Patterson, who also published under the pen names “Jack Higgins”, “James Graham”, and “Martin Fallon”.
– Hugh Walpole (1884-1941), English novelist.
– Hugh Walters (1910-1993), English author.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 