Sagar
May 12, 2015 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Possibly from an Anglo-Saxon last name, meaning “sea-spear”, or a Hindu name meaning “lake” or “ocean”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Saegar, Sager, Sakar, Saker, Seagar, Seager, Seegar, Seeger, Segar, Seger, Sigar, Siger, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sagar Morrison, a friend of Hurstwood and Drouet in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
WRITERS:
– Sagar Sarhadi (b. 1933), Indian director, playwright, producer, screenwriter, and short story writer.
Norman
May 12, 2015 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
An old Germanic name meaning “Northman”, referring to the Vikings who settled Normandy.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Norm, Normand, Normant, Normie
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dr. Norman McNeill Hale, a well-known figure in Chicago, who buys one of the boxes for the play Drouet’s Elks lodge puts on as a fundraiser, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
WRITERS:
– Norman Bridwell (1928-2014), American children’s book writer and cartoonist.
– Norman Corwin (1910-2011), American essayist, producer, professor, screenwriter, and writer.
– Norman Cousins (1915-1990), American activist, author, editor, journalist, and professor.
– Norman Davies (b. 1939), Anglo-Polish historian and writer.
– Norman Douglas (1868-1952), Scottish-Austrian author and travel writer.
– Norman Finkelstein (b. 1953), American activist, author, professor, and scholar.
– Norman Finkelstein (b. 1954), American critic and poet.
– Norman Rowland Gale (1862-1942), English poet, reviewer, and story-teller.
– Norman Hunter (1899-1995), English children’s book writer.
– Norman Lear (b. 1922), American activist, producer, and screenwriter.
– Norman Lewis (1908-2003), English author and journalist.
– Norman Lewis (1912-2006), American author, etymologist, grammarian, and lexicographer.
– Norman Lindsay (1879-1969), Australian artist, author, cartoonist, and writer.
– Norman Maclean (1902-1990), American author and scholar.
– Norman Mailer (1923-2007), American activist, actor, essayist, filmmaker, journalist, novelist, and playwright.
– Norman Whitfield (1940-2008), American producer and songwriter.
Mac
May 12, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Mack”, a shortened version of various Gaelic or Celtic surnames beginning with “Mc-” or “Mac-“, meaning “son of”, or used as a generic term for “man”. Also sometimes used as a diminutive for “Magnus”, “Malcolm”, “Max“, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mack, Mackie, Macky, Max, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mac Lewis, a fellow Elk in Drouet’s lodge who does “heavy dramatics” and offers to help put together the lodge’s theatrical fundraiser, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
Jessica
May 11, 2015 § 7 Comments
ORIGIN:
Probably invented by William Shakespeare for his 1596 play The Merchant of Venice; possibly inspired by the Hebrew “Ischa” / “Yiskah” / “Jescha”, meaning “to behold” or “Jehovah is watching”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gessica, Iekika, Ischa, Janet, Jean, Jescha, Jess, Jessa, Jesslin, Jessalyn, Jesse, Jessenia, Jessica, Jessika, Jessy, Teasag, Yesika, Yessica, Yiskah, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jessica Hurstwood, George Hurstwood’s frivolous and self-centered daughter, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
Eddie
May 11, 2015 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Edward“, “Edgar”, “Edwin“, “Edmund”, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ed, Edd, Eddi, Eddy, Ned, Nedd, Neddie, Neddy, Ted, Tedd, Teddie, Teddy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Eddie Fahrway, a friend of the junior George Hurstwood, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Eddie Harris, a beau of one of the other shop girls at the Chicago shoe factory where Carrie first finds employment, in Sister Carrie.
Minnie
May 10, 2015 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Wilhelmina” (the feminine form of “Wilhelm”, which is the Germanic version of “William“), or a Scottish variation of “Mary“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Mame, Mamie, Manon, Mari, Mary, Mayme, Mien, Mimi, Mina, Minette, Minna, Minni, Minnith, Mira, Miri, Miriam, Mitzi, Vilma, Wilhelmina, Willa, Willie, Willy, Wilma, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Minnie Hanson, Carrie’s married older sister in Chicago, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
Cad
May 10, 2015 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Caddie”, “Carrie”, “Caroline”, “Catrin”, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cady, Caddie, Caddy, Calleigh, Callie, Cari, Carla, Carrie, Carry, Kallie, Kari, Karla, Karrie, Karry, Keri, Kerri, Kerrie, Kerry, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Cad (Caroline) Meeber (usually called “Carrie“; “Miss Madenda” in her acting career), the titular self-interested dreamer of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
Endangered or Extinct Last Names
January 28, 2015 § 1 Comment
The linked articles list some last names which are going (or have already gone) the way of the dodo, and discuss some of the reasons for their disappearance. Did you even know last names could go extinct? (Also, don’t you think some of these last names sound perfect for gnomes or hobbits?)
9 Last Names on the Brink of Extinction:
“Any last name with under 200 “bearers” is endangered, and we’ve found some which are even extinct. Do you have a rare last name on the verge of extinction? Or is your last name extremely common?”
Endangered last names:
Ajax, Edevane, Gastrell, and Slora
Critically-endangered last names (fewer than 20 bearers):
Berrycloth, Birdwhistle, Dankworth, Fernsby, Loughty, MacQuoid, Miracle, Relish, Sallow, Tumbler, and Villan / Villin
Extinct last names:
Bread, Bythesea, Bytheseashore, MacCaa, Puscat, Pusset, Pussmaid, and Spinster
10 English Surnames About to Go Extinct:
Names which have disappeared from England and Wales (extinct last names):
Chips, Harred, Hatman, Jarsdel, Nithercott, Raynott, Rummage, Southwark, Temples, and Woodbead
Names with fewer than 50 bearers through England and Wales (critically endangered last names):
Bonneville, Carla, Febland, Fernard, Grader, Gruger, Mirren, Nighy, Pober, and Portendorfer.
Names dying out the fastest in England and Wales, compared to the 1901 census (endangered last names):
Ashworth, Brook, Butterworth, Clegg, Cohen, Crowther, Greenwood, Haigh, Ingham, Kershaw, Nuttal, Ogden, Pratt, Sutcliffe, and William
Can you think of any other uncommon or vanished last names?
(Also, if you’re looking for endangered or extinct first names, try this post!)
Dudley
January 6, 2015 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
An Old English last name, meaning “from Dudda’s meadow”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
None that I can think of.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lord Dudley, the evil Duke Wulf’s fat son, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
WRITERS:
– Dudley Carew (1903-1981), English critic, journalist, poet, and writer.
– Dudley Costello (1803-1865), Anglo-Irish journalist, novelist, and soldier.
– Dudley Doust (1930-2008), American author and journalist.
– Dudley Fitts (1903-1968), American critic, educator, poet, and translator.
– Dudley Leavitt (1772-1851), American editor and publisher.
– Dudley Nichols (1895-1960), American screenwriter.
– Dudley Randall (1914-2000), American poet and publisher.
– Dudley Pope (1925-1997), English author.
Colin
January 6, 2015 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Anglicized version of the Celtic “Cailean” or “Coilean”, or a diminutive of “Nicholas“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cailan, Cailean, Cailin, Calan, Calum, Coilean, Col, Colan, Cole, Coley, Collin, Collins, Colombe, Colombo, Colombano, Colson, Columbanus, Colyn, Kolman, Koloman, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Prince Colin, one of Princess Alison Jocelyn’s three brothers, in the fantasy novel The Last Unicorn (1968) by Peter S. Beagle.
WRITERS:
– Colin Campbell (1859-1928), Scottish actor, director, and screenwriter.
– Colin Dann (b. 1943), English author.
– Colin Dexter (b. 1930), English author.
– Colin Douglas (b. 1945), pen name of Scottish novelist Colin Thomas Currie.
– Colin Fletcher (1922-2007), Welsh outdoorsman and writer.
– Colin Forbes (1923-2006), pen name of English author Raymond Sawkins, who also wrote under the pen names “Harold English”, “Jay Bernard”, and “Richard Raine”.
– Colin Greenland (b. 1954), English author.
– Colin Harvey (1960-2011), English author and editor.
– Colin Henry Hazlewood (1823-1875), English playwright.
– Colin Higgins (1941-1988), Australian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter.
– Colin Kapp (1928-2007), English author.
– Colin MacInnes (1914-1976), English journalist and novelist.
– Colin Mackay (1951-2003), Scottish novelist and poet.
– Colin McDougal (1917-1984), Canadian author.
– Colin McEvedy (1930-2005), English author, historian, and scholar.
– Colin Morton (b. 1948), Canadian poet.
– Colin Thiele (1920-2006), Australian author and educator.
– Colin Turbayne (1916-2006), Australian philosopher and writer.
– Colin Ward (1924-2010), English activist and writer.
– Colin Watson (1920-1983), English author.
– Colin White (1951-2008), English historian.
– Colin Wilson (1931-2013), English philosopher and writer.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 