Dutch | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Arthur

August 13, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Possibly Celtic, meaning “noble” or “king”, or “bear-hero”, or from Norse, meaning “Thor’s eagle”, or from a Roman last name. No one really knows. Your guess is as good as mine. Unless you are very, very bad at guessing, in which case, mine might be a little bit better.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Art, Artair, Arther, Arthie, Arthy, Artie, Arto, Artur, Arturo, Arty, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rev. Mr. Arthur Villars, guardian to both Evelina and her mother, Caroline, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.

WRITERS:
– Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008), English writer, inventor, and explorer.
– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), Scottish author.
– Arthur Miller (1915-2005), American essayist and playwright.
– Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944), English critic and writer.
– Arthur Ransome (1884-1967), English author and journalist.
– Arthur Stone (1931-2015), pen name of American crime author Ann Rule, who also published as “Andy Stack” and “Chris Hansen”.
– Arthur Stringer (1874-1950), Canadian novelist, screenwriter, and poet.

Dick

August 12, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of the English name “Richard“, meaning “strong ruler” or “brave power”, or of the Dutch name “Diederick”, meaning “ruler of the people”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dickey, Dickie, Dickon, Dickson, Dicky, Dicun, Dix, Dixon, Ric, Rich, Richie, Rick, Rickey, Rickie, Ricky, Ritchie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dick, the most talented wrestler in 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).
– “Unc’ Dick”, the “ancient wagoner” hired by Jack Roden to carry him to his new estate, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.
– Dick Brisbane, one of Fred’s friends in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Dick Fancy, a member of Captain Cully’s bad of freebooters, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
– Dick Foster, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, brother of Arnold Foster, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Dick Gair, Molly’s brother is who away at college, in “Molly Gair’s New Dress”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Dick (Richard) Mason, Bertha Mason’s brother, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Dick Velacott, who married Betsy Paramore after Tom Faggus’ ruination, in Lorna Doone.

WRITERS:
– Dick Allen (b. 1939), American academic, critic, and poet.
– Dick Diespecker (1907-1973), Canadian journalist and novelist.
– Dick Francis (1920-2010), English jockey and novelist.
– Dick Harrison (b. 1966), Swedish historian and novelist.
– Dick Higgins (1938-1998), Anglo-American artist, composer, poet, and printer.
– Dick Hillis (1913-2005) American author and missionary.
– Dick King-Smith (1922-2011), English children’s book writer.
– Dick Kleiner (1921-2002), American author, columnist, lyricist, and voice actor.
– Dick McBride (1928-2012), American novelist, playwright, and poet.
– Dick Schaap (1934-2001), American author, broadcaster, and sportswriter.
– Dick Wolf (b. 1946), American writer and producer.

QUOTATIONS:
– In “Tom, Dick or Harry“, a song from the 1948 Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter, Bianca and her suitors sing of her eagerness to wed: “I’m a maid who would marry / And would take with no qualm / Any Tom, Dick or Harry, / Any Harry, Dick or Tom. / I’m a maid mad to marry / And will take double-quick / Any Tom, Dick or Harry, / Any Tom, Harry or Dick!”

Julia

August 12, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Feminine form of “Julius”, a Roman name possibly derived from the Greek “Ioulos”, meaning “downy-cheeked” or “youthful”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Giulia, Giulietta, Jules, Juli, Juliana, Julianne, Julie, Juliet, Julietta, Juliette, Juliska, Juliya, Yulia, Yuliya, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Julia Bennet, Katy’s oldest sister, who lacks sympathy, in “That Ridiculous Child”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Julia Hurstwood, George Hurstwood’s beautiful-but-cold wife, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Julia Prime, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Julia Severn, a pupil at Lowood Academy, guilty of the unthinkable crime of having naturally curly hair, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Julia Cameron (b. 1948), American writer.
– Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), American activist, poet, and writer.
– Julia Peterkin (1880-1961), American author.
– Julia Sweeney (b. 1959), American actress, comedian, and author.

QUOTATIONS:
– Probably the most famous usage of the name is “Julia“, from The Beatles’ 1968 album The Beatles (known as the White Album), which begins: “Half of what I say is meaningless / But I say it just to reach you, Julia / Julia, Julia, oceanchild, calls me / So I sing of song of love, Julia”
– “Upon Julia’s Clothes“, written in 1630 by Robert Herrick, famously begins: “Whenas in silks my Julia goes, / then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows / That liquefaction of her clothes.” Apparently, this Julia was a favorite of Herrick’s, because he wrote a ton of poetry to her. This should come in super handy to anyone who wants to romance a Julia.
– From “Upon Julia’s Riband“, by Robert Herrick: “As shows the air when with a rainbow grac’d, / So smiles that riband ’bout my Julia’s waist”
– From “The Dream“, by Robert Herrick: “Only remained a little bit, / Which will be burnt up by-and-by; / Then, Julia, weep, for I must die.”
– From “Upon Roses“, by Robert Herrick: “They blush’d, and look’d more fresh than flowers / Quicken’d of late by pearly showers / And all because they were possess’d / But of the heat of Julia’s breast”
– From “How His Soul Came Ensnared“, by Robert Herrick: “My soul would one day go and seek / For roses, and in Julia’s cheek / A richesse of those sweets she found”
– From “To Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “How rich and pleasing thou, my Julia, art / In each thy dainty and peculiar part!”
– From a different “To Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “The saints’-bell calls, and, Julia, I must read / The proper lessons for the saints now dead: / To grace which service, Julia, there shall be / One holy collect said or sung for thee.”
– From “A Ring Presented to Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “Julia, I bring / To thee this ring / Made for thy finger fit; / To show by this / That our love is / (Or should be) like to it.”
– From “His Sailing From Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “But yet for love’s sake let thy lips do this, / Give my dead picture one engendering kiss: / Work that to life, and let me ever dwell / In thy remembrance, Julia. So farewell.”
– From “The Transfiguration“, by Robert Herrick: “Immortal clothing I put on / So soon as, Julia, I am gone / To mine eternal mansion.”
– From “Cherry-Pit“, by Robert Herrick: “Julia and I did lately sit / Playing for sport at cherry-pit”
– Robert Herrick also wrote “The Candour of Julia’s Teeth“, “To Julia In The Temple“, “His Charge To Julia At His Death“, “On Julia’s Picture“, and “His Covenant; Or, Protestation To Julia“. He really dug this Julia chick.

Edith

August 11, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Old English / Germanic, meaning “rich war” or “blessed war”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Eadie, Edie, Editha, Edita, Edyth, Edytha, Edythe, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Edith, Maud Hallett’s aunt, who took her to Paradise Valley one summer, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Edith Beers, the audacious and scandalous heiress who jilts her fiancé Dick Brisbane for his friend Fred Ottenburg, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Edith Elliott, Dolly’s best friend, in “Dolly Varden”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

WRITERS:
– Edith Carter (fl. 1920s-1930s), English actress and playwright.
– Edith Hamilton (1867-1963), German-American educator and author.
– Edith (E.) Nesbit (1858-1924), English author and poet.
– Edith Pearlman (b. 1936), American short story writer.
– Edith Wharton (1862-1937), American author and designer.

QUOTATIONS:
– From “The Children’s Hour” (1859), by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “From my study I see in the lamplight, / Descending the broad hall stair, / Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra, / And Edith with golden hair.”

Gertrude

August 11, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “spear of strength” or “spear-maiden”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gert, Gertie, Gertrud, Gerty, Trudi, Trudie, Trudy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Gertrude Gray, the middle of the Gray girls, prettiest and most popular of the three, but most prone to hardness and snobbishness, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

WRITERS:
– Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), American novelist, poet, and playwright.

Henny

August 10, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Henrietta” / “Henriette”, or, as a nickname for “Henry“, “Hendrik”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Enrica, Etta, Ettie, Etty, Harriet, Harriett, Harrietta, Harriette, Hattie, Hatty, Hen, Hennie, Henny, Henriette, Henrika, Henrike, Het, Hettie, Hetty, Yetta, etc.
For boys: Amerigo, Amery, Arrigo, Emmerich, Emery, Emory, Enrico, Enrique, Enzo, Hal, Hank, Harald, Harold, Harri, Harry, Heinrich, Heinz, Hennie, Henri, Hendrik, Hendry, Henrik, Henry, Henryk, Herrold, Herry, Imre, Imrich, Imrus, Ric, Rico, Rik, Rikki, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Cousin Henny (Henrietta) Carey, a plump old lady rather inclined to hold grudges, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

Henrietta

August 10, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Like “Harriet“, an English version of “Henriette”, the French feminine version of “Henry“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Enrica, Etta, Ettie, Etty, Halle, Hallie, Harriet, Harriett, Harrietta, Harriette, Hattie, Hatty, Hen, Hennie, Henny, Henriette, Henrika, Henrike, Het, Hettie, Hetty, Yetta, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Henrietta Carey (called “Henny“), a plump old lady rather inclined to hold grudges, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Henrietta Tayler (1869-1951), pen name of British author and historian Helen Tayler, who also published as “Hetty Tayler”, and often published jointly with her brother, Alexander.

Ben

August 7, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Benjamin“, “Benedict”, “Reuben“, etc., diminutive of “Bernard“, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bennie, Benny, Bent, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ben Bowen, Ruth and Sammy’s ailing grandfather in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Ben Harris, a local who tries to stick up for Jethro against Guy Wortman’s bullying, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Ben (Reuben) Huckabuck, the Ridd’s wealthy, persnickety uncle in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).

WRITERS:
– Ben Jonson (1572-1637), English critic, dramatist, and poet.

Ruth

August 7, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “friend” or “companion”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ruta, Rute, Ruut, Ruthie, Ruthy.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ruth Bowen, the noble, sea-loving young heroine of “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Ruth Huckabuck, Reuben’s dwarfish granddaughter and heir, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Ruth Jameson (sometimes called “Ruthie“), “a girl of the city” who cannot see herself as the Harvester’s dream girl, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Ruth Varnum (later Mrs. Ned Hale), a friend of Ethan’s and Mattie’s, who, as landlady to the narrator, is able to fill him in on some of the details surrounding Ethan’s tragic life, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Ruth Visor, Keren Lemon’s cousin, who fears she will be forced to compete with Keren for Robert Racket’s love, 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.

WRITERS:
– Ruth Gordon (1896-1985), American actress and writer.
– Ruth Prowler Jhabvala (1927-2013), German-born British-American writer.
– Ruth Edna Kelley (1893-1982), American author and librarian.
– Ruth Rendell (b. 1930), English author.
– Ruth Stout (1884-1980), American author.
– Ruth Plumly Thomson (1891-1976), American children’s book author.

Maud

August 6, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Maude“, diminutive of “Matilda“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Malta, Mat, Mathilda, Matilda, Mattie, Matty, Maude, Maudie, Tilda, Tilde, Tillie, Tilly, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Maud, Robin’s mother, who must go away to serve as lady-in-waiting to the Queen, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Maud Aplin, a snobbish, bragging girl from a snobbish, bragging family, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Maud Fletcher, Fanny Fletcher’s younger sister and a pupil at the dancing school where Jessie Delano works, in “An Ivy Spray and Ladies’ Slippers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Maud Fleming, Ally’s cousin, who is perhaps too quick to agree, in “Ally”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Maud Hallett, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Maud Lorton (called “Maudie” when her youngest sister wants something from her), the soft-hearted middle sister of the Lorton family, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

WRITERS:
– Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980), American author.

QUOTATIONS:
– From the poem “Maud“, written in 1855 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: “Come into the garden, Maud, / For the black bat, Night, has flown, / Come into the garden, Maud, / I am here at the gate alone”
– “Maud Muller” is a poem written by John Greenleaf Whitter in 1856, which explores the theme of “what might have been!”, begins: “Maud Muller, on a summer’s day, / Raked the meadows sweet with hay. / Beneath her torn hat glowed the wealth / Of simple beauty and rustic health.”

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