Edward
August 2, 2014 § 7 Comments
ORIGIN:
Anglo-Saxon, meaning “keeper of prosperity” or “rich / blessed guard”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Duarte, Eadweard, Ed, Edd, Eddi, Eddie, Edouard, Eduard, Eduardo, Edvard, Eddward, Eddy, Eideard, Eward, Ned, Nedd, Neddie, Neddy, Ted, Tedd, Teddie, Teddy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Edward Dale, a young stockbroker who is sweet on Amelia Sedley in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Edward Ferrars, Fanny Dashwood’s brother, a shy, unambitious man who, though he may lack the passion Marianne looks for in a man, possesses the warm heart, affectionate temper, and good sense that Elinor finds attractive, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Edward Fairfax Rochester, the moody and passionate master of Thornfield, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
WRITERS:
– Edward Anhalt (1914-2000), American film-maker, producer, and screenwriter.
– Edward Bradley (1827-1889), English clergyman and novelist.
– Edward FitzGerald (1809-1883), English poet and writer.
– Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), English historian.
– Edward S. Hudson (b. 1947), pen name of American fantasy, science fiction, and Western author Robert E. Vardeman, who has also published under the pen names “Cliff Garnett”, “Daniel Moran”, “F.J. Hale”, “Jackson Lowry”, “Karl Lassiter”, “Paul Kenyon”, and “Victor Appleton”.
– Edward Zane Carroll (E.Z.C.) Judson, Sr. (1821-1886), American journalist, publicist, publisher, and writer who also wrote under the pen name Ned Buntline.
– Edward Lear (1812-1888), English artist, author, and poet.
– Edward (Ned) Ward (1667-1731), English publican and satirist.
Eliza
August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened form of “Elizabeth“, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ella, Ellie, Elissa, Elsa, Elsie, Elyse, Libby, Liddy, Lisa, Lise, Lisette, Liz, Liza, Lizette, Lizy, Lizzie, Lizzy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Eliza Brandon, Col. Brandon’s cousin, who is forced to marry his brother, and who leaves him the care of her young daughter, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Eliza Reed (sometimes called “Lizzy“), one of Jane’s spoiled, mean-spirited cousins, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Eliza Ridd (called “Lizzie“), John’s small, strange, and spiteful book-loving youngest sister, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Eliza Spears, a local woman who was miraculously cured by Zeena’s new doctor, Dr. Buck, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Eliza Styles is the false name Rawdon Crawley uses to receive letters from Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Eliza Williams, Col. Brandon’s ward, who follows too closely the example of her unfortunate mother in at least one regard, in Sense and Sensibility.
WRITERS:
– Eliza Acton (1799-1859), English author and cook.
– Eliza Cook (1818-1889), English author, poet, and writer.
– Eliza Haywood (c. 1693-1756), English actress and writer.
– Eliza Tabor Stephenson (1835-1914), English novelist.
Emily
August 1, 2014 § 15 Comments
ORIGIN:
English feminine version of “Emil”, from “Aemilius”, a Latinate family name meaning “rival”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Em, Emma, Emmalee, Emelina, Emeline, Emilia, Emilie, Emiline, Emmaline, Emmeline, Emmie, Emmy, Millie, Milly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lady Emily Hornblower, née Sheepshanks, Lady Jane’s sister, who “wrote those sweet tracts, ‘The Sailor’s True Binnacle’, and ‘The Applewoman of Finchley Common'”, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Emily Spenser, the invalid girl who learns to appreciate nature in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
WRITERS:
– Emily Brontë (1814-1848), English novelist and poet.
– Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), reclusive American poet.
– Emily Frasier (b. 1965), pen name of American author Laura Albert, who also published under the pen names “Gluttenberg”, “JT LeRoy”, “Laura Victoria”, and “Speedy”.
Emmy
August 1, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Amelia“, “Emma“, “Emilia”, “Emily“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Amy, Amie, Em, Emmie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Family nickname for Amelia Sedley, the naive and gentle heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
QUOTATIONS:
– From the poem “Emmy” by Arthur Symons (from an 1892 collection of poetry): “Emmy’s laughter rings in my ears, as bright / Fresh and sweet as the voice of a mountain brook”
– The same Arthur Symons, in the same poetry collection, includes “Emmy at the Eldorado“: “Child, child, what will you do, / Emmy, now love has come to you?”
Ernestine
July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Feminine variant of “Ernest”, from the Germanic, meaning “serious”, “vigor”, or “intent”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Earnestine, Erna, Ernesta, Ernestina, Tina, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ernestine (b. 1908), the third 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.
WRITERS:
– Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (1908-2006), American author and memoirist.
Eugenio
July 29, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Italian or Spanish form of “Eugene”, from the Greek for “well-born”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Eugene, Gene, Owain, Owen, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Eugenio, the suspiciously attentive courier in Daisy Miller by Henry James (1879).
Ezra
July 29, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “help” or “helper”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ez? Ezzie? Pretty limited, here.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ezra Miller, the title character’s wealthy father in Daisy Miller by Henry James (1879).
AUTHORS:
– Ezra Pound (1885-1972), American poet and critic.
Elizabeth
July 28, 2014 § 22 Comments
ORIGIN:
From “Elisabet”, the Greek form of the Hebrew “Elisheva”, meaning “oath of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aliza, Alizabeth, Bess, Bessie, Bessy, Betje, Bette, Beth, Bethan, Bethann, Betsy, Bette, Bettie, Bettina, Betty, Bettye, Birdie, Birdy, Buffy, Elisabeth, Elisabetta, Elisaveta, Elise, Elisheva, Elissa, Eliza, Ella, Elle, Ellie, Elsa, Else, Elsie, Elsje, Elspet, Elspeth, Elyse, Erszebet, Ilsa, Ilse, Isa, Isabel, Isabella, Isabelle, Izabela, Let, Lettie, Letty, Liana, Libby, Liddy, Lies, Liesl, Liese, Lilian, Liliana, Lilibet, Lilibeth, Lillian, Lillie, Lilly, Lily, Lis, Lisa, Lisbeth, Lise, Lisette, Liz, Liza, Lizabeth, Lizbeth, Lizette, Lizy, Lizzie, Lizzy, Pet, Pettie, Tess, Tessie, Tessy, Tetty, Ysabel, Ysabet, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Elizabeth, maid-of-all-work for the Gray family while in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Elizabeth Alden (called “Lizzie“), member of the Mayflower Club in A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Elizabeth Bennet (called “Lizzy” or “Eliza” by her nearest and dearest), the clever, “fine-eyed” second Bennet daughter, and heroine of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Middle name of Jenny Elizabeth Creighton (b. 1847), Jethro’s pretty sister, clever and strong-willed, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Elizabeth Horrocks (referred to as “Betsy” or “Ribbons”), the saucy butler’s daughter who tries to parlay the attention she gets from Sir Pitt into wealth, status, and a ladyship (through marriage), in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Lady Elizabeth Lennox, Dorothy and Humphrey’s grandmother, who hires Nurse Crumpet to care for her daughter Patience, and her adopted daughter Marian, 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.
– Elizabeth Martin, one of Robert Martin’s two sisters, who befriend Harriet Smith while they are students at Mrs. Goddard’s school for young ladies, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Elizabeth de Rochester, wife of 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.
WRITERS:
– Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), American poet and short story writer.
– Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer.
– Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), English poet.
– Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), English classicist, poet, translator, and writer.
– Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893-1986), American poet and author.
– Elizabeth Craig (1883-1980), Scottish home economist, journalist, and writer.
– Elizabeth Dodd (1909-1989), Scottish author and broadcaster who published under the pen name “Lavinia Derwent”.
– Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), English novelist and short story writer.
– Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984), English author.
– Elizabeth Hamilton (1756/58-1816), English essayist, novelist, satirist, and poet.
– Elizabeth Lowell (b. 1944), pen name of American novelist Ann (A.E.) Maxwell, who often collaborates with her husband, Evan Maxwell, and who also publishes under the pen name “Lowell Charters”.
QUOTATIONS:
– The classic children’s rhyming riddle: “Elizabeth, Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess, / They all went together to seek a bird’s nest. / They found a bird’s nest with five eggs in, / They all took one and left four in.” Since Elspeth, Betsy, and Bess are all diminutives of Elizabeth, all four names may refer to one person. And now you know how that riddle works.
– “Elizabeth“, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (published in 1873, but set in 1701-02; from Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part the Third: The Theologian’s Tale) tells the love story of John Estaugh (1676-1742) and Elizabeth Haddon (1680-1762), with her servants Joseph and Hannah as supporting characters, and Elizabeth herself described thusly: “But in meekness of spirit, and calmly, Elizabeth answered: / ‘All I have is the Lord’s, not mine to give or withhold it; / I but distribute his gifts to the poor . . . / His, not mine, are the gifts, and only so far can I make them / Mine, as in giving I add my heart to whatever is given . . .’ / . . . And Elizabeth answered with confident voice, and serenely / Looking into his face with her innocent eyes as she answered, / . . . For underneath that roof was no distinction of persons, / But one family only, one heart, one hearth, and one household. / . . . With them, but more sedately and meekly, Elizabeth Haddon / Sang in her inmost heart, but her lips were silent and songless. / . . . And John Estaugh made answer, surprised at the words she had spoken, / ‘Pleasant to me are thy converse, thy ways, thy meekness of spirit; / Pleasant thy frankness of speech, and thy soul’s immaculate whiteness, / Love without dissimulation, a holy and inward adorning. . . ‘ / . . . Patient and unrepining Elizabeth labored, in all things / Mindful not of herself, but bearing the burdens of others, / Always thoughtful and kind and untroubled . . . “
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 