Finnish | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Sylvia

August 16, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Silvia”, feminine form of the Latin name “Silvius”, meaning “of the forest”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Silva, Silvia, Silvie, Silviya, Silvy, Syl, Sylva, Sylvi, Sylvie, Sylwia, Szilvia, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sylvia (Sylvie) Lamonte (called “Syl“), the “little dryad that had slipped from some rose-tree’s bark” who Doctor Tom cures, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

WRITERS:
– Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), American poet, novelist, and short story writer.
– Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978), English novelist and poet.
– Sylvia Wright (1917-1981), American editor, humorist, and writer.

Syl

August 16, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Sylvia“, “Sylvie“, etc. meaning “of the forest”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Silva, Silvia, Silvie, Silviya, Silvy, Sylva, Sylvi, Sylvia, Sylvie, Sylwia, Szilvia, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Little Syl (Sylvie) Lamonte, the “little dryad that had slipped from some rose-tree’s bark” who Doctor Tom cures, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

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.

Samuel

August 7, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “God has heard” or “name of God”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sam, Sami, Sammie, Sammy, Semuel, Shem, Shemuel, Shmuel, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Samuel Warburton, Mrs. Warburton’s husband, a scientist and scholar, in “Pansies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Irish novelist, playwright, and poet.
– Samuel Butler (1613-1680), English poet and satirist.
– Samuel Butler (1835-1902), English writer and iconoclast.
– Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), American author and humorist who wrote under the pen name “Mark Twain”.
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), English critic, poet, and philosopher.
– Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English moralist, writer, and lexicographer.
– Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), English diarist.

Fan

August 6, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Fannie” / “Fanny“, diminutive of “Frances“, “Francisca”, “Stefania”, etc.

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

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Fan (Fanny) 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.
– Fan (Frances) Wentworth, Will’s conceited, snobbish cousin in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

Ella

August 6, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Germanic “Alia”, meaning “all” or “other”. Sometimes used as a nickname for “Eleanor“, “Ellen“, names ending in “-ella” or “-elle”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
El, Elle, Ellie, Elly, Elsa, Elsie, Elsy, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ella Carver, member of the Mayflower Club in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Ella Dunbar (sometimes called “Elly“), a refined girl, somewhat inclined to be priggish, one of the founding members of the children’s society for the prevention of cruelty to cats in “The Kit-Kat Club”, and reluctant participant in the plan to open a shop to sell doll’s clothes, in “The Little Dunbars, and Their Charming Christmas Plans”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

AUTHORS:
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919), American author and poet.

Anna

August 6, 2014 § 9 Comments

ORIGIN:
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, Anais, Andie, Andy, Aneke, Aneta, Ani, Ania, Anica, Anika, Anissa, Anita, Anitra, Anka, Anke, Ann, Annabel, Annabella, Annabelle, Anne, Anneke, Annetta, Annette, Annick, Annicka, Annie, Annika, Anniken, Annis, Anny, Anouk, Antje, Anushka, Anya, Channah, Hana, Hanna, Hannah, Hanne, Nainsi, Nan, Nancie, Nancy, Nanette, Nannie, Nanny, Nina, Ninon, Ona, Onna, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Anna Kronborg, Thea’s jealous and priggish older sister, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Anna Page, Sidney’s mother, who takes in boarders to help pay the bills after her sister, Harriet, leaves to start a dressmaking business, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Anna Raymond, the girl Dolly Lorton is gossiping about when her friend Sally Ware calls her on it, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Anna Richards, Mary Marcy’s friend and seat-mate, in “An April Fool”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Anna Snezak, co-owner (with her husband, Morris) of AnaMor Towers apartments, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Anna Weston, the baby girl possibly named for her mother, who signs her name “A. Weston” (née Taylor), in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Anna Winslow, president of the Mayflower Club in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), pen name of Russian poet Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.
– Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743-1825), English critic, editor, essayist, poet, and children’s book writer.
– Anna Maria Bennett (c. 1750-1808), English novelist (sometimes credited as “Agnes Maria Hall”)
– Anna Maria Bunn (1808-1889), Australian author.
– Anna Maria Falconbridge (1769-c. 1816), English writer.
– Anna Katherine Green (1846-1935), American poet and novelist.
– Anna Maria Hall (1800-1881), Irish novelist (sometimes credited as “Mrs. S.C. Hall”)
– Anna Maria Hussey (1805-1853), English scientist, writer, and illustrator.
– Anna Kavan (1901-1968), English novelist, short story writer, and painter.
– Anna Maria Lenngren (1754-1817), Swedish poet, translator, and writer.
– Anna Maria Ortese (1914-1998), Italian poet and short story writer.
– Anna Maria Porter (1780-1832), English poet and novelist.
– Anna Quindlen (b. 1953), American author, columnist, and journalist.
– Anna Maria Rückerschöld (1725-1805), Swedish author.
– Anna Seghers (1900-1983), pen name of German writer Anna Reiling.
– Anna Sewell (1820-1878), English novelist.
– Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678), German-Dutch engraver, painter, poet, and scholar.
– Anna Marie Wilhelmina (A.M.W.) Stirling (1865-1965), English author who published under the pen name “Percival Pickering”.
– Anna Maria Wells (c. 1794-1868), American poet and children’s book writer.
– Anna Wheeler (c. 1780-1848), Irish activist and writer.

Marianne

August 4, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
French diminutive of “Marie“, from “Maria“. Also a combination of “Marie” / “Mary” and “Anne” / “Ann“, or an alternate spelling of “Marian“.

VARIANTS and NICKNAMES:
Manon, Marian, Mariana, Marie, Marieanne, Marielle, Mariette, Marion, Marise, Mary, Maryann, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Marianne Clarke, scandalously spotted entering the “petits appartements of Lord Steyne” in company with an unnamed Duke in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Marianne Dashwood, the emotionally-wrought, passionately romantic second Dashwood sister, “generous, amiable, interesting: she was every thing but prudent”, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).

WRITERS:
– Marianne Moore (1887-1972), American poet and writer.

Emma

August 4, 2014 § 10 Comments

ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “universal”, or “nurse”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Emily“, “Emilia”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Em, Ema, Emmalyn, Emelina, Emeline, Emmaline, Emmeline, Emmie, Emmy, Ima, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Emma Crawley, one of the Rev. Bute Crawley’s daughters in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Emma Knightley, the youngest of John and Isabella’s two daughters, the baby of the family, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).
– Emma Woodhouse, “handsome, clever, and rich” young match- and mistake-making heroine of Emma.

AUTHORS:
– Emma Goldman (1869-1940), Russian-American activist and writer.
– Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), American poet.

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.

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