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.
Edwin
August 25, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Old English, meaning “rich friend”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Eadwine, Ed, Edd, Eddi, Eddie, Eddy, Edvin, Edwyn, Ned, Nedd, Neddie, Neddy, Ted, Tedd, Teddie, Teddy, Win, Winnie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lord Edwin Vere, the young man Georgiana Reed nearly elopes with, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838-1926), English educator, novelist, and theologian.
– Edwin Balmer (1883-1959), American writer.
– Edwin Corle (1906-1956), American writer.
– Edwin Gilbert (1907-1976), German-American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter.
– Edwin DuBose Heyward (1885-1940), American dramatist, novelist, and poet, who wrote under the pen name “DuBose Heyward”.
– Edwin Honig (1919-2011), American poet, playwright, and translator.
– Edwin Palmer Hoyt (1923-2005), American writer.
– Edwin Markham (1852-1940), American poet.
– Edwin Morgan (1920-2010), Scottish poet and translator.
– Edwin Muir (1887-1959), Scottish author.
– Edwin O’Connor (1918-1968), American broadcaster, journalist, and novelist.
– Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935), American poet.
– Edwin Rolfe (1909-1954), pen name of American poet and writer Solomon Fishman.
– Edwin Way Teale (1899-1980), American naturalist, photographer, and writer.
Sophie
August 25, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Sophy“, a diminutive of “Sophia“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fifi, Sofi, Sofia, Sofie, Sofiya, Sonia, Sonja, Sonya, Sophia, Sophy, Vivi, Zophi, Zophia, Zophie, Zosia, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sophie, Adèle Varens’ French nursemaid, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Sophie Leyton (1928-2009), pen name of English romance author Sheila Walsh.
Alexander
August 22, 2014 § 14 Comments
ORIGIN:
Latin version of the Greek “Alexandros”, meaning “defender of men”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ace, Al, Alasdair, Alastair, Alastar, Ale, Alec, Alejandro, Aleks, Aleksander, Aleksandr, Alessandro, Alex, Alexandre, Alexandros, Alexis, Alick, Alisander, Alistair, Alister, Ally, Eskandar, Iskandar, Lexi, Olek, Oleksander, Oleksandr, Sacha, Sander, Sandor, Sandy, Sandro, Sascha, Saunder, Sawney, Sender, Shura, Sikandar, Skender, Xander, Xandinho, Zander, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of James Alexander Creighton (1849-1852), one of the three young Creighton boys who died of “paralysis” the year Jethro was born, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Alexander Herron, Ruth Jameson’s grandfather, “who made a concession”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
WRITERS:
– Alexander Brown (1843-1906), American historian and writer.
– Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757- 1804), American essayist, economist, and political leader.
– Alexander King (1899-1965), Austrian-American humorist and memoirist.
– Alexander Mollin (b. 1947), pen name of English author Jim Williams, who also publishes as “Richard Hugo”.
– Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet.
– Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), Russian author and poet.
– Alexander Ross (c.1590-1654), Scottish writer.
– Alexander Scott (c.1520-1582/83), Scottish poet.
– Alexander Scott (1920-1989), Scottish poet and scholar.
– Alexander Tayler (1870-1937), British author and historian who published under the pen name of “Alasdair Tayler”, and often published jointly with his sister, Hetty.
– Alexander Wilson (1893-1963), English writer and spy.
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.
Job
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew name “Iyyov”, meaning “afflicted” or “hated”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Iob, Iyov, Iyyov, Joby.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Job Long-pate, a farrier who lives in Dancing Marston, spoken of as a friend by Humfrey Lemon and Bered Turnip, 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.
Robin
August 22, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Medieval diminutive of “Robert“. For girls, usually a reference to the small, red-breasted songbird.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Bobbie, Robbie, Robbin, Robinett, Robinette, Robena, Robenia, Roberta, Robina, Robyn, etc.
For boys: Bob, Bobbie, Bobby, Rab, Rob, Robbie, Robby, Robert, Roberto, Robi, Rupert, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Robin, the little boy whose illness prevents him from following the path laid out for him, but who manages to find the door in the wall nevertheless, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Robin (Lord Robert of Amhurste), a brave and generous young man, in “A Brother to Dragons” (written in 1886, set in 1586), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
– Robin (Robert) Racket, a handsome and charming lad who steals the hearts of cousins Keren Lemon and Ruth Visor, in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888).
– Robin Snell (called “Bob“), the little schoolboy whose fight with young John Ridd is momentarily disrupted by news of the elder Ridd’s death, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
WRITERS:
– Robin Ddu o Fon (c.1744-1785), Welsh poet also known as “Robert Hughes”.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 