Bert
August 27, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Albert”, “Herbert“, “Robert“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bertie, Bertil, Berto, Berty, Burt, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bert Purcel, Royal’s kid brother, in “The Egg-Boy” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Bert Rice, Anna Kronborg’s beau, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
WRITERS:
– Bert Schierbeek (1918-1996), Dutch writer.
– Bert Stiles (1920-1944), American short story writer.
– Bert Sugar (1937-2012), American sports historian and writer.
– Bert Leston Taylor (1866-1921), American author, columnist, humorist, and poet.
Berk
August 27, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Berkeley” / “Berkley”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bar, Barclay, Barklay, Barkley, Barklie, Barrclay, Berke, Berkeley, Berkie, Berklee, Berkley, Berky, Birk, Birkeley, Birkley, Bourke, Burk, Burke, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Berk (Berkeley) Pelham, Margaret’s older brother, “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
Berkeley
August 27, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Anglo-Saxon place name, meaning “from the birch meadow”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bar, Barclay, Barklay, Barkley, Barklie, Barrclay, Berk, Berke, Berkie, Berklee, Berkley, Berky, Birk, Birkeley, Birkley, Bourke, Burk, Burke, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Berkeley Pelham, Margaret’s uncle, who lives in Brazil, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Berkeley Pelham (called “Berk“), Margaret’s older brother, in “That Little Smith Girl” from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
Benning
August 27, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
English last name, from the Roman name “Benedictus”, meaning “blessing”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Banish, Benech, Benedict, Benedicte, Beneit, Benet, Bening, Bennet, Bennett, Benoit, Benyt, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– General Benning Wentworth, a venerable ancestor who married his kitchen maid, an act Will Wentworth takes pride in, while his cousin Fanny dislikes to speak of it, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
Bertha
August 26, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “bright” or “famous”, possibly related to the name of a goddess of animals and weaving.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Berchta, Berhta, Berta, Berthe, Bertie, Bertille, Bertina, Birdie, Perchta, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bertha Antoinetta Mason, Mr. Rochester’s unfortunate wife in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Bertha Behrens (1850-1912), German novelist.
– Bertha Southey Brammall (1878-1957), Australian writer.
– Bertha Henry Buxton (1844-1881), English novelist and children’s book writer.
– Bertha M. Clay (1836-1884), pen name used by English author Charlotte M. Brame.
– Bertha Eckstein-Diener (1874-1948), Austrian historian, journalist, and writer who also wrote under the pen name “Helen Diner”.
– Bertha Frederich (1825-1882), German novelist who wrote under such pen names as “Georg Dannenberg” and “Golo Raimund”.
– Bertha Harris (1937-2005), American novelist.
– Bertha Damon (c. 1883-c. 1976), American author, editor, humorist, and lecturer.
– Bertha Harmer (1885-1934), Canadian educator, nurse, and writer.
– Bertha Runkle (1879-1958), American novelist and playwright.
– Bertha Muzzy Sinclair (1871-1940), American writer who wrote under the pen name “B.M. Bower”.
– Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914), Austrian novelist and pacifist.
Bobby
August 25, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Robert” or “Roberta“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Bobbi, Bobbie, Roberta, Robertina, Robin, Robina, Robyn, Robynne, etc.
For boys: Bob, Bobbie, Dob, Dobbie, Dobby, Rob, Robb, Robbe, Robbi, Robbie, Robby, Robi, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bobby, the boy Sheila briefly went “steady” with while on summer vacation with her family, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Bobby Leaven, Bessie’s young son, who goes with her when she visits Jane Eyre at Lowood Institute, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
Broughton
August 25, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
English place name, meaning “brook town”, “fortress town”, or “hill town”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Broctune, Broghtone, Browton, Burghton, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Master Broughton Brocklehurst, oldest son of the formidable and hypocritical supervisor of Lowood Institute, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
Beryamen
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Medieval variation of “Benjamin“, from Hebrew, meaning “son of the south” or “son of the right hand”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bairre, Barrie, Barry, Ben, Beniamin, Beniamino, Benj, Benja, Benjamin, Benji, Benjie, Benjy, Bennie, Benny, Benyamen, Berrie, Berry, Bery, Binyamin, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Beryamen Piggin, a local brewer, who is suggested to (and summarily rejected by) Keren Lemon as a possible husband, in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
Bered
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “hail”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
None, really.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bered Turnip, a local farrier whose large family is the subject of Anthony Butter’s envy, in “A Brother to Dragons” (written in 1886, set in 1586), and who meets up with his old friend, Humfrey Lemon, to hear the story of Keren Lemon’s troubles, in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
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.”
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 