Hartley
November 15, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From an Old English place name, meaning “hart (stag) clearing”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hartlay, Hartlaye, Hartleigh, Hartlie, Hartly, Hertelay, Herthelay, Hertlay, Hertlegh, Hertley, Hertleye, Hertly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dr. Hartley Evans, a Chicago friend of Dr. Archie’s, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
Howard
November 6, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
An English last name, derived either from the Germanic “Hughard”, meaning “brave heart” or “strong mind”, or from Old Norse, meaning “high guardian” or “watchman”, or from Middle English, meaning “herder of ewes”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Howie. That’s pretty much it.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dr. Howard Archie, Thea’s old friend and confidante in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
WRITERS:
– Howard Fast (1914-2003), American novelist and television writer who also wrote under the pen names “E.V. Cunningham” and “Walter Ericson”.
– Howard Glyndon (1839-1923), pen name of American columnist, journalist, and poet Laura Redden Searing.
– Howard Harris (1912-1986), American film and television writer.
– Howard Horn (1911-1983), pen name of Cornish biographer, historian, lecturer, novelist, poet, and professor Robert Payne, who also used the pen names “John Anthony Devon”, “Richard Cargoe”, “Robert Young”, and “Valentin Tikhonov”.
– Howard Hille Johnson (1846-1913), American activist, educator, and writer.
– Howard Lindsay (1889-1968), American actor, director, librettist, playwright, and producer.
– Howard Phillips (H.P.) Lovecraft (1890-1937), American author.
– Howard Pyle (1853-1911), American author and illustrator.
– Howard Zinn (1922-2010), American activist, author, historian, and playwright.
Some Less-Popular Historical Baby Names
October 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
Proof that there have always been parents who want to bestow “unique” names on their progeny. Pity the poor little Spurgeons and Hildreds of years past!
“If you’re looking for a baby name and want something truly original, but with historical precedent, here’s your list:
The Least Popular American Baby Names, According to Early Records” (click through to see where they ranked, and to see more unpopular baby names of yesteryear!)
YEAR – BOY NAMES & GIRL NAMES
1880 – Handey & Parthenia (Sheesh, parents, what are you trying to get at, naming your son “Handey”?)
1881 – Okey & Erie (It’s okay to admire a canal, but maybe don’t name your daughter after it.)
1882 – Ab & Dove (Because sometimes it just takes too long to write “Abe”.)
1883 – Commodore & Lovey (It’s like they were prepping a 1970s soft-rock group . . . )
1884 – Spurgeon & Kathern (“Um, doctor, I think it’s spelled Katherine–” “Shut up, I know what I’m doing!”)
1885 – Fount & Icy (“Fount”? “Icy”? Was there something in the water?)
1886 – Squire & Texie (For when you hope your child will grow up to be a character in a 1950s movie musical.)
1887 – Bliss & Lockie (“Bliss”? Who knew there were hippies in the 1880s?)
1888 – Boss & Indiana (“We named you ‘Junior’; we named your sister ‘Indiana’!”)
1889 – Starling & Easter (Lived in the same commune as Bliss, and probably Dove.)
1890 – Lawyer & Pinkey (Hmm, I wonder what little Lawyer’s folks hoped he’d grow up to be?)
1891 – Manley & Chestina (Was there a sudden influx of machismo in the 1890s?)
1892 – Little & Odell (Nobody had told Little’s parents that he would, eventually, grow.)
1893 – Orange & Leafy (That commune is still going strong!)
1894 – Flem & Ova (The parents overheard the doctors and nurses discussing cases in the hallway . . . )
1895 – Toy & Sister (Presumably Sister is the youngest of a large brood and the parents had simply run out of ideas. And I hope someone told Toy’s parents that he was, in fact, a real baby.)
1896 – Josephine & Clifford (The year of the Great Gender Switch!)
1897 – Henery & Florance (“Um, doctor, I believe it’s Henry and Florence–” “Didn’t I tell you I know what I’m doing?”)
1898 – Pleasant & Tiny (My, weren’t those parents in for an eventual surprise! Doesn’t everyone know not to tempt fate like that?)
1899 – Fate & Cuba (Speaking of “tempting Fate”, how sick do you suppose he got of jokes like that? Also, here we can see the dangers of choosing a baby name from current headlines . . . )
1900 – Gorge & Electa (“Um, doctor, I believe it’s spelled George— oh, never mind.”)
1901 – Joesph & Buelah (“*cough*Joseph*cough*Beulah*cough*”)
1902 – Rolla & Bama (Time traveling Southerners?)
1903 – Ples & Capitola (“Ples”? “Capitola”? Really?)
1904 – Council & Pearly (Possibly Council is Capitola’s little brother?)
1905 – Son & Wava (Guess what name they’d have gone with if it’d been a daughter? Yeah, probably not “Wava”.)
1906 – Virgle & Carry (Scrawled in pencil in the nurse’s handwriting are the names Virgil and Carrie.)
1907 – Geo & Arizona (Indiana’s daughter?)
1908 – Lillian & Lilyan (Here’s hoping they were twins, because that would be weirdly adorable!)
1909 – Murl & Flonnie (The nurse tried to correct Merle, but didn’t have the faintest idea what to do about Flonnie . . . )
1910 – Lemon & Classie (Orange’s little brother? And something about “Classie” seems like an aspirational choice . . . )
1911 – Wash & Lavada (I’m sensing a real “cleanliness” theme, here, 1911 . . . )
1912 – Christ & Almeta (Taken together, this sounds like a bit inappropriate? Christ Almeta!)
1913 – Louise & Louis (The Great Gender Switch II!)
1914 – Stephan & Vella (1914 was a year for smooth operators.)
1915 – Mayo & Dimple (Pretty sure their parents were preparing for a vaudeville act . . . )
1916 – Green & Golden (And under “What color will you be painting the nursery?” the exhausted parents put “Dudley” and “Millicent“.)
1917 – Elza & Loyce (The nurse thought of correcting it to Ezra and Luce, but at this point she was pretty sure the doctor was just messing with her . . . )
1918 – Curley & Ivory (Possibly Curley’s parents were psychics who foresaw the 1943 Broadway musical Oklahoma!, and Ivory’s parents just really, really liked soap.)
1919 – Metro & Louvenia (Time-traveling hipsters?)
1920 – Berry & Merry (Here’s hoping these were also twins!)
1921 – Reno & Glendora (When there was a short-lived law that all children had to be named after towns in the American Southwest . . .)
1922 – Author & Gaynell (Oddly, Author grew up to be a dentist. And Gaynell was an extra in three Hollywood films in the late 1930s.)
1923 – Burley & Dorathy (Burley’s parents were Manley and Chestina, of course. And the nurse didn’t even try to fix Dorothy, because she felt she was getting far too old for this stuff . . . )
1924 – Dorman & Mardell (Their parents had visions of plush bellhop, elevator operator, or movie theater usher uniforms dancing in their heads.)
1925 – Buddie & Bobbye (Later the stars of a collection of detective novels for children. Gee whiz!)
1926 – Wardell & Willodean (It’s like they were trying to give their children names they could change once they reached Hollywood . . . )
1927 – Estel & Gregoria (The nurse tried explaining to the parents that they could just as easily have named the boy “Gregory” and the girl “Estelle” if they really wanted their children to be named after them, but they were too exhausted and stunned by the arrival of twins to understand . . . )
1928 – Gust & Hildred (We’ll overlook Gust in the commune to note that combining “Mildred” with “Hilda” is something you only do to people you hate.)
1929 – Vester & Jettie (Time-traveling Goths?)
1930 – Otho & Charlsie (Why would you give your children those names? Do you want them to end up in an Agatha Christie murder mystery?)
1931 – Early & Ferne (The commune is fading, but still has some stragglers . . . Also, guess what name Early would have ended up with if he’d been born after 9pm?)
1932 – Dock & Jack (For when you want both of your children to grow up to be hard-boiled detectives in a gritty film noir. None of this namby-pamby “Buddie and Bobbye, Kid Detectives” stuff for you!)
Hubert
October 4, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “bright heart” or “bright mind”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hobart, Hubertus, Hubrecht, Uberto, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Brother Hubert, a monk at St. Mark’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
WRITERS:
– Hubert Aquin (1929-1977), Canadian activist, essayist, filmmaker, and novelist.
– Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832-1918), American ethnologist and historian.
– Hubert Butler (1900-1991), Irish essayist.
– Hubert Crackanthorpe (1870-1896), English writer.
– Hubert Fichte (1935-1986), German novelist.
– Hubert Lampo (1920-2006), Flemish author.
– Hubert Harrison (1883-1927), West Indian-American activist, critic, educator, orator, and writer.
– Hubert Selby, Jr. (1928-2004), American writer.
The Origins of 10 Nicknames
September 20, 2014 § Leave a comment
How did we get “Dick” from “Richard“? “Bill” from “William“? “Hank” from “Henry” and “Jack” from “John“? Why does “Chuck” come from “Charles“, “Peggy” from “Margaret“, and “Ted” from “Edward“? Where did we get “Harry” from “Henry” and “Jim” from “James“? And why is “Sally” from “Sarah“?
Click through to find out!
Honour
September 16, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From Latin, meaning “honor” (and also alternately spelled “Honor”), this is one of the “virtue” names created and embraced by the Puritans.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Honor, Honora, Honoria, Honorata, Nora, Norah, Noreen, Norene, Norina, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Honour Jose, the Badcock’s maid, who is able to hide from the Doone’s during the raid on the farmhouse, and consequently testify to their cruelty in murdering the Badcock’s child, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
Hugh
September 13, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
German, meaning “heart”, “mind”, or “spirit”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hewie, Hudde, Huey, Hughes, Hughie, Hugo, Huw, Shug, Ugo, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Hugh Fitzhugh, Sir Peter’s cousin and neighbor, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Baron Hugh de Whichehalse, a local magistrate and one of those nobleman whose means do not live up to their gentility, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
WRITERS:
– Hugh Cook (1956-2008), English author.
– Hugh Haliburton (1846-1922), pen name of Scottish author, editor, and poet James Logie Robertson.
– Hugh Kingsmill (1889-1949), English journalist and writer.
– Hugh Lofting (1886-1947), English author and engineer.
– Hugh MacLennan (1907-1990), Canadian author and educator.
– Hugh Marlowe (b. 1929), pen name used by English author Harry Patterson, who also published under the pen names “Jack Higgins”, “James Graham”, and “Martin Fallon”.
– Hugh Walpole (1884-1941), English novelist.
– Hugh Walters (1910-1993), English author.
Herbert
August 22, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “bright army”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bert, Bertie, Berto, Berty, Herb, Herberto, Herbie, Herby, Heribert, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Herbert Crane, one of the snobbish Jessica Hurstwood’s schoolmates, scorned for not being rich, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Herbert Kennedy, who hopes to make Ruth forget about David Langston, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
WRITERS:
– Herbert Agar (1897-1980), American editor, journalist, and historian.
– Herbert S. Scott (1931-2006), American editor and poet.
– Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), English philosopher, scientist, and writer.
– Herbert George (H.G.) Wells (1866-1946), English writer.
Humphrey
August 22, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Germanic, meaning “peace-giant” or “peaceful warrior”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Humfrey, Humphry.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lord Humphrey Lennox, one of the children in the care of Nurse Crumpet who beg her to tell the sad story of their Aunt Patience, 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.
Keren-Happuch
August 22, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “horn of face paint” or “box of cosmetics”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
. . . I got nothin’.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Keren-Happuch Lemon (so christened in order that her parents can call her “Keren” when she pleases them — which is usual, especially where her father is concerned — and “Happuch” when she is misbehaving), whose bravery and kindness in the face of heartbreak is the topic of her father’s story in “The Farrier Lass o’ Piping Pebworth” (written in 1887, set circa 1600), from A Brother to Dragons, and Other Old Time Tales (1888), by Amélie Rives.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 