Carrol
August 12, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Carroll”, often used as a last name. Derived either from Irish, meaning “hacking with a weapon”, or related to “Carolus”, the Latin form of “Charles“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Carol, Carolus, Carroll, Caryl, Cearbhall, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Carrol Benton, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Court
August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Courtenay” / “Courtney”, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cort, Cortnay, Cortney, Courtenay, Courtnay, Courtney, Kort, Kortnay, Kortney, Kourt, Kourtenay, Kourtnay, Kourtney, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Court (Courtenay) Gray, the father of the clan which, after some trials, adopts Candace Arden, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Cannie
August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Candace“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Candace, Candice, Candis, Candi, Candie, Candy, Candyce, Kandace, Kandice, Kandis, Kandi, Kandie, Kandy, Kandyce, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Cannie (Candance) Arden, the “little country girl” of the title, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Courtenay
August 11, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Courtney”, an English last name from a French place name, meaning “short” or “short nose”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cort, Cortnay, Cortney, Court, Courtnay, Courtney, Kort, Kortnay, Kortney, Kourt, Kourtenay, Kourtnay, Kourtney, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Courtenay Gray (called “Court” by his wife), the father of the clan which, after some trials, adopts Candace Arden, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Candace
August 11, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Greek “Kandake”, meaning “queen mother”, the title and name of the hereditary Queens of Ethiopia.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Candice, Candis, Candi, Candie, Candy, Candyce, Kandace, Kandice, Kandis, Kandi, Kandie, Kandy, Kandyce, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Candace Arden (called “Cannie“), the “little country girl” of the title, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Candace Van Vliet, Cannie’s mother and Kate’s cousin, who married Henry Arden and settled down in New England for too short a while, in A Little Country Girl.
WRITERS:
– Candace Bushnell (b. 1958), American novelist and producer.
– Candace Camp (b. 1949), American romance novelist.
– Candace Fleming (b. 1962), American writer of children’s books.
– Candace Stevenson (1883-1968), American poet.
Cis
August 10, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Cecily” / “Cicely“, “Cecelia”, etc.
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:
– Cousin Cis (Cecily) Carey, a somewhat frivolous and impatient young lady, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
Calvin
August 10, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From a French last name “Chauvin”, from Latin, meaning “bald”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cal. And, um… Cal. Maybe Vin?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Calvin, Cousin Henrietta Carey’s lost love, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Prince Calvin, one of Princess Alison Jocelyn’s three brothers, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
WRITERS:
– Calvin C. Hernton (1932-2001), American author, poet, and sociologist.
– Calvin Hoffman (1906-1986), American author and critic.
– Calvin Thomas (1854-1919), American educator, scholar, and writer.
– Calvin Trillin (b. 1935), American writer.
– Calvin Ziegler (1854-1930), German-American poet.
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.”
Carrie
August 7, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Caroline“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cady, Caddie, Caddy, Calleigh, Callie, Cari, Carla, Carry, Kallie, Kari, Karla, Karrie, Karry, Keri, Kerri, Kerrie, Kerry, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Carrie, a young guest of Mrs. Warburton’s, rather inclined to be frivolous, in “Pansies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Carrie (Caroline) Meeber (also known as “Cad” or “Miss Madenda”), the titular self-interested dreamer of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
Caddy
August 6, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Caddie” / “Cadi”; diminutive of “Caroline” or “Catrin”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cady, Caddie, Calleigh, Callie, Cari, Carla, Carrie, Carry, Kallie, Kari, Karla, Karrie, Karry, Keri, Kerri, Kerrie, Kerry, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Caddy Kennedy, a poverty-stricken little girl Ida Standish befriends in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 