Bessy
August 5, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Bessie“, a diminutive of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bess, Bessie, Betje, Bette, Betsy, Bettie, Bettina, Betty, Bettye, Buffy, Let, Lettie, Letty, Pet, Pettie, Tess, Tessie, Tessy, Tetty, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bessy is the name Mr. Sedley uses for his wife after her death (although earlier she is called “Mary“), in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Bedwin
August 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
An English last-name-as-first-name, deriving from Welsh “Bedwyn”, meaning “birch”, or Arabic “Bedouin”, meaning “nomad” or “wanderer”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bedouin, Bedwyn. . . um . . . Beddy?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bedwin Sands, the “elegant dandy and Eastern traveler” who manages Becky’s famous presentation of charades at a party given at Gaunt House, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Beilby
August 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
An English “last name as first name”, by way of the Norse Vikings, meaning “Beli’s farm”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bel, Beli, stuff like that?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Beilby Binny, “the mild and genteel curate of the district chapel” who pays his attentions to the widowed Amelia, much to the chagrin of his proud sister, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Bartholomew
August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From Aramaic via Greek / Hebrew, meaning “son of Talmai (abounding in furrows)”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bart, Barth, Bartie, Bartlett, Bartley, Bartol, Barty, Bertok, Mees, Mies, Tolly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rev. Bartholomew Irons, an “awakening man” befriended by Lady Southdown in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Bartholomew of Lucca (also known as “Bartolomeo Fiadóni”, “Tolomeo da Lucca”, or “Ptolemy da Lucca”; c.1236-c.1327), Italian historian and monk.
– Bartholomew Dowling (1823-1863), Irish author, editor, and poet, who sometimes published under the pen names “Masque” or “Southern”.
– Bartholomew MacCarthy (1843-1904), Irish author, chronologist, curate, and scholar.
– Bartholomew Mastrius (also known as “Bartholomaeus” or “Bartolomeo Mastri”; 1602-1673), Italian monk, philosopher, theologian, and writer.
QUOTATIONS:
– The poem “Bartholomew“, written by Norman Rowland Gale in the 1910s, starts: “Bartholomew is very sweet, / From sandy hair to rosy feet. / Bartholomew is six months old, / And dearer far than pearls or gold.”
Blanche
August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From French, meaning “white” or “fair”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bianca, Blanca, Blanch.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– The Hon. Blanche Ingram, a beautiful, elegant, and accomplished young woman, who is presumed to be Mr. Rochester’s chosen bride, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Lady Blanche Thistlewood, Lord Bareacre’s snobbish daughter, who George Osborne pays court to while in Belgium, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Blanche Oelrichs (1890-1950), American actress, playwright, and poet, who wrote under the pen name “Michael Strange”.
Bob
August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN: Diminutive of “Robert“, meaning “bright flame”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES: Bobbie, Bobby, Dob, Dobbie, Dobby, Rob, Robb, Robbe, Robbi, Robbie, Robby, Robi, Robin, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bob, the largest of 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).
– Bob Ames, Mrs. Vance’s idealistic cousin, who inspires Carrie to greater things, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Bob (Robert) Gilbreth (b. 1920), the eleventh of the dozen Gilbreth children whose upbringing is related in Cheaper By the Dozen (1948) and Belles on Their Toes (1950), written by Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
– Bob Martingale, subject of one of Rawdon’s sporty stories in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Bob (Robin) Snell, the little schoolboy whose fight with young John Ridd is momentarily disrupted by news of the elder Ridd’s death, in Lorna Doone.
– Bob Suckling, one of Becky’s conquests in Vanity Fair.
Betty
August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Bette, Beth, Betsy, Bette, Bettie, Bettina, Betty, Bettye, Buffy, Let, Lettie, Letty, Pet, Pettie, Tess, Tessie, Tessy, Tetty, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Betty, Madame Duval’s housemaid at her residence in London, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Betty, Mrs. Jennings’ servant, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Betty Flanagan, the Irish maid-of-all-work who finds employment with the Sedley’s post-fall, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Betty Martin, a housemaid who aids and abets Becky Sharp and Rawdon Crawley in their secret courtship in Vanity Fair.
– Betty Muxworthy, a bitter old serving woman who works on the Ridd’s farm, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
WRITERS:
– Betty Friedan (1921-2006), American activist and writer.
– Betty Smith (1896-1972), American author.
Belgravia
August 2, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
“Belgravia” is an area of London, named for the Viscount Belgrave. “Belgrave” is Norman, meaning “beautiful grove of trees”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Not sure. Naming someone “Belgravia” is rather like naming them “Brooklyn”. You’ve chosen to name a person after a neighborhood, so perhaps you’re sort of making things up as you go along, anyway.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Belgravia Green Parker is the woman who marries John Pimlico, drawing comment on the tendency of old ladies to cry at weddings, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Bute
August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
One of those “last names as first names” that were once a quite popular way for a mother’s maiden name to be passed on to her sons, “Bute” is a Norman name meaning “thick end” or “stump”, or is perhaps derived from an Old English word for a target for archery.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Um…
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– The Rev. Bute Crawley is Sir Pitt Crawley’s brother in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s). Sir Pitt calls him “Buty” or “Buty and the Beast”.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 