English | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Pauline

August 2, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
French variation of “Paulina“; a feminine form of “Paul“, meaning “small” or “humble”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lien, Lina, Paolina, Paula, Pauleen, Paulene, Paulette, Paulien, Paulina, Pavlina, Pol, Polina, Poll, Polly, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Pauline, the little Belgian cook Joseph Sedley hires to serve him and his sister when they follow the army to war, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

WRITERS:
– Pauline Smith (1882-1959), South African writer.

Blanche

August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From French, meaning “white” or “fair”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bianca, Blanca, Blanch.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– The Hon. Blanche Ingram, a beautiful, elegant, and accomplished young woman, who is presumed to be Mr. Rochester’s chosen bride, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Lady Blanche Thistlewood, Lord Bareacre’s snobbish daughter, who George Osborne pays court to while in Belgium, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

WRITERS:
– Blanche Oelrichs (1890-1950), American actress, playwright, and poet, who wrote under the pen name “Michael Strange”.

Fanny

August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Frances” or “Francisca” (feminine versions of “Francis“, meaning “Frenchman”), or of “Stefania”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Chica, Cissie, Cissy, Fan, Fannie, Fran, Franca, Franci, Francie, Francka, Franka, Frankie, Franky, Frannie, Franny, Franzi, Paca, Paquita, Sissie, Sissy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Fanny, a cousin of Col. Brandon’s, who Mrs. Jennings guesses may have recently married, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility(set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Fanny Bludyer, a friend of the social-climbing Maria Bullock (née Osborne) Fanny Bludyer, a friend of the social-climbing Maria Bullock (née Osborne) in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Fanny de Butterbrod, a Countess of Pumpernickel who nearly captures Joseph Sedley’s all-too-susceptible heart in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Dashwood (née Ferrars), John Dashwood’s wife and Edward Ferrar’s sister, a cold, greedy, snobbish woman with no consideration for others, in Sense and Sensibility.
– Fanny (called “Fan“) Fletcher, a friend of Jessie Delano who needs dancing lessons, in “An Ivy Spray and Ladies’ Slippers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Fanny Hamlin, Susy’s best friend in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Fanny Magenis, one of the army wives who make up the social circle for Amelia Sedley after her marriage to George Osborne, in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny Scape, who, with her sister and mother, “fade away to Boulogne” after her father’s failure in the firm of Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, in Vanity Fair.
– Fanny (Frances) Wentworth, Will’s conceited, snobbish cousin in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Fanny (Frances) Burney (1752-1840), English diarist, novelist, and playwright.
– Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), American composer, lyricist, mission worker, and poet.
– Fanny de Beauharnais (1737-1813), French salon-holder, socialite, and woman-of-letters.
– Fanny Fern (1811-1872), pen name of American children’s book writer, columnist, humorist, and novelist, Sara Willis.
– Fanny Howe (b. 1940), American novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Fanny Kemble (1809-1893), English actress and writer.
– Fanny Lewald (1811-1889), German activist and author.

Ophelia

August 2, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
From Greek, meaning “help”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fili, Filia, Fillie, Filly, Ofelia, Ofelie, Ophalia, Ophélie, Phelia, Phelie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ophelia (Ophalia) Scully, the woman who Mrs. Major O’Dowd’s cousin, Dan Malony, married in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Dan

August 2, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew for “judge”; often used as a shortened version of “Daniel“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dannie, Danny.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nickname for Daniel (b. 1917), the ninth 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.
– Dan Lawrence, George’s son, wounded at Shiloh / Pittsburgh Landing, who brings news to the Creightons of Tom’s death in the battle, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Dan Malony, a cousin of Mrs. Major O’Dowd’s, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Michael

August 2, 2014 § 5 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “who is like the Lord?”

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Maikel, Micha, Micah, Michail, Michel, Mick, Mickey, Micky, Miguel, Mika, Mikael, Mike, Mikel, Mikelo, Mikey, Mikhael, Mikhail, Mijo, Mikkel, Mikki, Misha, Miska, Mitch, Mitchell, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Michael, one of the servants in the Lorton household, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Brother Michael, the monk who cares for the garden at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Michael Eady, Denis Eady’s “rich Irish grocer” father, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
– Michael Mulligan, one of the tenants of the boarding-houses and tenements behind Grandpa Bennet’s home, in “That Ridiculous Child”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories.
– Major Michael O’Dowd (called “Mick” by his wife), commander of the regiment in which George Osborne and William Dobbin go to war, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

WRITERS:
– Michael Crichton (1942-2008), American author, director, physician, producer, and screenwriter.
– Michael Pollan (b. 1955), American activist, author, journalist, and professor.
– Michael Strange (1890-1950), pen name of American actress, playwright, and poet Blanche Oelrichs.

Auralia

August 2, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Aurelia“; feminine form of “Aurelius“, from the Latin for “golden”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Aura, Auralee, Auralie, Aurelia, Aurelie, Ora, Oralee, Oralia, Oralie, Orelia, Orelie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Auralia Margaretta (a.k.a. Peggy) O’Dowd (née Malony), the Mrs. Major O’Dowd who serves as a sort of de facto queen and hostess of George Osborne’s and William Dobbin’s regiment in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Rhoda

August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From Greek, meaning “rose”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Roda, Rodina, Rhode, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rhoda Davis, the cook in the Lloyd household, in “The Egg-Boy” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Rhoda Swartz, the West Indies heiress who was a school chum of Amelia Sedley’s in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

WRITERS:
– Rhoda Broughton (1840-1920), Welsh novelist and short story writer.
– Rhoda Power (1890-1957), English broadcaster and children’s book writer.
– Rhoda Truax (1901-2000), American author.

Ann

August 2, 2014 § 14 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Anne”, this is an English variant of “Anna”, from “Hannah” (as used in the Greek and Latin Old Testament), a version of the Hebrew name “Channah”, meaning “favor” or “grace”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ana, Anabel, Anabelle, Anabella, Anais, Andie, Andy, Aneta, Ani, Anica, Anika, Anita, Anitra, Anka, Anke, Anna, Annabel, Annabella, Annabelle, Annag, Anne, Anneke, Annella, Annetta, Annette, Annick, Annicka, Annie, Annika, Anniken, Annis, Anouk, Antje, Anya, Chana, Channah, Hanna, Hannah, Hanne, Nan, Nancy, Nanette, Nannie, Nina, Ninon, Ona, Onna, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ann, a maidservant in the Lloyd household, in “The Egg-Boy” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Ann, a maidservant in the Lambert household, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Ann, one of the Boston children roused to their chores at the start of Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Ann, the little Dunbars’ aunt, married to the wealthy, somewhat cantankerous Uncle Timothy, in “The Little Dunbars, and Their Charming Christmas Plans”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Aunt Ann, Agnes Brendon’s aunt, who she relies on to introduce her to the splendid Pelhams, in “That Little Smith Girl” from A Flock of Girls and Boys.
– Aunt Ann, Jim Marlowe’s aunt, who hosts the get-together where all the trouble starts, in “The Tragedy of the Unexpected”, from Nora Perry’s The Tragedy of the Unexpected and Other Stories (published in 1880, but set in the 1870s)
– Ann Dobbin, one of William Dobbin’s sisters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Ann Fleming, Ally’s aunt, who is perhaps too quick to judge, in “Ally”, from A Flock of Girls and Boys.

WRITERS:
– See this post for a starting list of writers named Ann.

Bob

August 2, 2014 § 3 Comments

ORIGIN: Diminutive of “Robert“, meaning “bright flame”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES: Bobbie, Bobby, Dob, Dobbie, Dobby, Rob, Robb, Robbe, Robbi, Robbie, Robby, Robi, Robin, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bob, the largest of 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).
– Bob Ames, Mrs. Vance’s idealistic cousin, who inspires Carrie to greater things, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Bob (Robert) Gilbreth (b. 1920), the eleventh 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.
– Bob Martingale, subject of one of Rawdon’s sporty stories in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Bob (Robin) Snell, the little schoolboy whose fight with young John Ridd is momentarily disrupted by news of the elder Ridd’s death, in Lorna Doone.
– Bob Suckling, one of Becky’s conquests in Vanity Fair.

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