Dora
August 27, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Dorothy“, “Isadora”, “Theodora”, “Dorcas“, “Doris”, “Dolores”, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dede, Dee, Ditte, Dittie, Ditty, Dodie, Dody, Doll, Dollie, Dolly, Dolores, Dorcas, Doreen, Dorelle, Dorene, Dorete, Doretta, Dorie, Dorinda, Dorine, Doris, Dorit, Dorita, Doro, Dorota, Dorothea, Dorothy, Dorte, Dorthe, Dory, Dosia, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Feodora, Isadora, Isidora, Teodora, Theodora, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Great Aunt Dora, Etka’s kid sister, “maybe the most affectionate woman who ever lived”, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Dora Robson, a good-humored, slightly snobbish Boston girl in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
WRITERS:
– Dora Acuña (1903-1987), Paraguayan journalist and poet.
– Dora (Doralina) Alonso (1910-2001), Cuban journalist and writer.
– Dora Birtles (1903-1992), Australian novelist, poet, short story author, and travel writer.
– Dora d’Istria (1828-1888), pen name of Hungarian activist and writer, the duchess Helena Koltsova-Massalskaya.
– Dora Gabe (1886-1983), Bulgarian essayist, poet, short story writer, translator, and travel writer.
– Dora Read Goodale (1866-1953), American poet and teacher.
– Dora (Dorothy) Greenwell (1821-1882), English poet.
– Dora Heldt (b. 1961), German novelist.
– Dora Maar (1907-1997), Argentinian muse, painter, photographer, and poet.
– Dora Malech (b. 1981), American poet.
– Dora (Dorothy) Montefiore (1851-1933), Anglo-Australian activist, poet, and writer.
– Dora Levy Mossanen (b. 1945), American novelist.
– Dora Pavel (b. 1946), Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Dora Russell (1894-1986), English activist and writer.
– Dora Oake Russell (1912-1986), Canadian editor, educator, and writer.
– Dora Jessie Saint (1913-2012), English novelist who published under the pen name “Miss Read”.
– Dora Sigerson Shorter (1866-1918), Irish poet and sculptor.
– Dora (Theodora) van der Meiden-Coolsma (1918-2001), Dutch children’s book author and columnist who also published under the pen name “Constanze Hazelager”.
– Dora Van Gelder (1904-1999), Dutch-American occultist, theosophist, and writer.
– Dora Wasserman (1919-2003), Ukrainian actress, director, and playwright.
Diana
August 26, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Latin, meaning “divine”, from the Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests, and childbirth.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dajana, Dede, Dee, Di, Diahann, Dian, Diane, Dianna, Dianne, Dijana, Kiana, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Diana, a girl at school Lily befriends, one of the other “irregular” children in her grade, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Diana Duval, one of Lily’s first friends, “a dirty blonde in every sense”, in Sleeping Arrangements.
– Diana Rivers (later Fitzjames), one of St. John’s sisters, who befriend Jane after she leaves Thornfield, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Diana Athill (b. 1917), English editor, novelist, and memoirist.
– Diana Gabaldon (b. 1952), American author.
– Diana Gould (b. 1944), American author and screenwriter.
– Diana Hendry (b. 1941), English author and poet.
– Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011), English writer.
– Diana Mitford, the Hon. Lady Mosley (1910-2003), English socialite and writer.
– Diana Morgan (b. 1913), English novelist.
Damer
August 26, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Variation of the Dutch last name “Dammer”, meaning “lives by the dyke”, or of the German name “Dahmer”, meaning “famous day” or “famous thought”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dagomar, Dahme, Dahmer, Dammer, Daukmar, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Damer de Rochester, an ancestor of Mr. Rochester, “slain at Marston Moor in the time of the civil wars”, whose tomb Jane notices in the church on her wedding day, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
Dionysius
August 26, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Latin spelling of “Dionysios”, derived from the name of the Greek god of wine, dance, revelry, and fertility.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Den, Denes, Denis, Denney, Dennis, Denny, Denys, Deon, Deion, Dinis, Diniz, Dion, Dionisie, Dionisio, Dionysios, Dionyz, Tenney, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dionysius O’Gall of Bitternutt Lodge, Connaught, Ireland, whose family of five daughters Mr. Rochester pretends he his sending Jane to teach, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Dionysius P.A. O’Brien (b. 1934), American singer and songwriter who goes by the pen name “Tom Springfield”.
David
August 22, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “beloved”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dai, Daividh, Dauid, Dave, Daveth, Davey, Davide, Davie, Davis, Davit, Davy, Daw, Dawid, Dawud, Dewie, Dewey, Dewydd, Dovid, Taavetti, Taavi, Tavi, Taffy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Brother David, the stonemason, 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.
– David Langston, the titular clean-living “harvester of the forest”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– David Wyburn, Esther’s cousin, who works as a clerk at Weyman & Co.’s importing-house, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
WRITERS:
– David Craig (b. 1929), pen name of Welsh novelist James Tucker, who also publishes as “Bill James” and “Judith Jones”.
– David Herbert (D.H.) Lawrence (1885-1930), English critic, essayist, novelist, painter, playwright, and poet.
– David Malouf (b. 1934), Australian novelist, playwright, and short story writer.
– David McCullough (b. 1933), American author, historian, and lecturer.
– David Mitchell (b. 1969), English novelist.
– David Sedaris (b. 1956), American author and humorist.
– David Foster Wallace (1962-2008), American essayist, novelist, professor, and short story writer.
– David Walliams (b. 1971), English activist, actor, children’s book writer, and comedian.
Dorothy
August 22, 2014 § 13 Comments
ORIGIN:
English version of “Dorothea”, meaning “gift of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dede, Dee, Deedee, Dodie, Doll, Dolley, Dollie, Dolly, Dora, Doreen, Doretta, Dorinda, Dorine, Dorit, Dorita, Dorotea, Dorothea, Dortha, Dorthy, Dory, Dosia, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Lola, Lollie, Lolly, Moll, Molly, Tea, Thea, Tia, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Dorothy Lennox (called “Dolly“), one of the children in the care of Nurse Crumpet who beg her to tell the sad story of their Aunt Patience, in “Nurse Crumpet Tells the Story” (written in 1887, set circa 1630s-1669), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
WRITERS:
– Dorothy Allison (b. 1949), American writer.
– Dorothy Bryant (b. 1930), American writer.
– Dorothy Day (1897-1980), American activist and journalist.
– Dorothy Dunnett (1923-2001), Scottish historical novelist.
– Dorothy Eden (1912-1982), American author.
– Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879-1958), activist and author.
– Dorothy Gilman (1923-2012), American author.
– Dorothy Hewett (1923-2002), Australian writer.
– Dorothy B. Hughes (1904-1993), American author and critic.
– Dorothy Livesay (1909-1996), Canadian poet.
– Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), American author, critic, poet, and satirist.
– Dorothy Porter (1954-2008), Australian poet.
– Dorothy Richardson (1873-1957), English author and journalist.
– Dorothy Lucy Sanders (1907-1987), pen name used by Australian writer Dorothy McClemans (also as “Lucy Walker” and “Shelley Dean”).
– Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), English writer and humanist.
– Dorothy West (1907-1998), American author.
Dagonet
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Possibly from the Old English “daeg”, meaning “day”, or related to “dagon”, meaning “big fish”, or to “dague”, meaning “dagger”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Daegan, Dagan, Dagen, Dagget, Dagnet, Dagney, Dagon, Daguenet.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Dagonet Balfour, of Balfour Hall, who wishes to make Keren Lemon a lady, 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.
Davy
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “David“, from Hebrew, meaning “beloved”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dai, Daividh, Dauid, Dave, Daveth, Davey, David, Davide, Davie, Davis, Davit, Daw, Dawid, Dawud, Dewie, Dewey, Dewydd, Dovid, Taavetti, Taavi, Tavi, Taffy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Davy Short-hose, a local poulterer, 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.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 