Horace
August 5, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
English / French version of the Latin “Horatio” / “Horatius”, derived from the word for “hour”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Horacio, Horatio, Horatius, Orazio, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Horace Fogey, one of Becky’s high society friends in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Sir Horace Fogle, a former partner in Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman, who manages to escape his firm’s failure smelling like a rose, though it ruins Mr. Scape, in Vanity Fair.
WRITERS:
– Horace (65 BC-8 BC), English name for the Roman lyric poet, satirist, and critic.
– Horace Gregory (1898-1982), American poet and literary critic.
– Horace Smith (1779-1849), English poet and parodist.
– Horace Walpole (1717-1797), English writer and politician.
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.
Fred
August 4, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Frederick“, meaning “peaceful ruler”. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Alfred“, “Manfred”, “Wilfred”, etc., or, for girls, for names like “Frederica” or “Winifred”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Freda, Freddi, Freddie, Frieda, Fritzi.
For boys: Fred, Fredde, Freddie, Fredo, Fritz.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nickname for Frederick (b. 1916), the eighth 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.
– Fred, a rather snobbish and foppish young man in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Fred (called “Freddy“) Allen, whose wife is a friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, and frequently serves as chaperone for their parties, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Fred (Frederick Augustus) Bullock, the young man Maria Osborne hopes to marry in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Fred (Philip Frederick) Ottenburg, the dynamic young brewing heir who launches Thea’s operatic career, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
WRITERS:
– Fred Thompson (1884-1949), English writer and librettist.
– Fred Urquhart (1912-1995), Scottish short story 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.
Gwendoline
August 4, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Gwendolen”, Welsh for “white-browed” or “white ring”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Guendolen, Guendoline, Guendolyn, Gwen, Gwendolen, Gwendolyn, Gwennie, Gwenny, Gwin, Gwinn, Gwinne, Gwinnie, Gwinny, Gwyn, Gwyndolen, Gwydoline, Gwyndolyn, Gwynn, Gwynne, Gwynnie, Wendie, Wendy, Windie, Windy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Gwendoline Mango, a little girl whose bout with the measles received far less attention from the local doctor than little Georgy Osborne’s case, a testament to the popularity of their respective mothers, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
AUTHORS:
– Gwendoline Butler (1922-2013), English novelist.
Genevieve
August 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
English / French, possibly meaning “tribe woman”, or (related to “Guinevere“), “white” or “fair”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Gene, Geneva, Geneviève, Genevra, Genia, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Geneviève is the French maid Becky Sharp hires to look after her son Rawdon so she doesn’t have to, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
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”.
Isidor
August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Isidore”, from the Greek name “Isidoros”, meaning “gift of Isis”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Isa, Isadore, Isidro, Issy, Izzie, Izzy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Isidor is Joseph Sedley’s Belgian manservant while he accompanied the regiment to war in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Lionel
August 2, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From the Greek, meaning “little lion”. French diminutive of “Leon”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Leo, Leon, Levon, Linal, Linel, Lionnel, Lynal, Lynel, Lyonel, Lyonnel, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lionel, one of the pageboys Robin befriends during his stay at Sir Peter’s castle, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Rev. Lionel Delamere, a friend of Miss Briggs’, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 