H | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Hook

August 5, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
One of those “last names as first names” that were once a quite popular way for a mother’s maiden name to be passed on to her sons, “Hook” was an Old English surname given to one who lived or worked near a hook, or bend, in a river, or to one who made hooks for a living.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Hooke, Hooker, Hookes, Huck, Hucks, Huke, Hukes, Hocke, Hockes, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Hook Eagles, whose wife befriends Becky during her years of exile, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

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.

Hester

August 4, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Latin form of “Esther“, possibly derived from a Persian word for “star”, or from the goddess Ishtar.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Essie, Essy, Ester, Esther, Hettie, Hetty, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Hester, a housemaid of Sir Pitt Crawley’s who supports Miss Horrocks in her aspirations to become “My Lady”, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Huddleston

August 1, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
English place name (usually used as a last name) meaning, essentially, “a settlement of huts”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Huds? Huddie? Hudmeister?

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sir Huddleston Fuddleston (which is a fantastic name) is a neighbor of Sir Pitt Crawley, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Harriet

July 28, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
Like “Henrietta“, an English form of “Henriette”, both being feminine variants of “Harry” or “Henry“, meaning “home ruler” or “leader of the army”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Enrica, Etta, Ettie, Etty, Halle, Hallie, Harrie, Harriett, Harrietta, Harriette, Harry, Hattie, Hatty, Henrietta, Henriette, Het, Hettie, Hetty, Yetta, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Harriet Dunbar (called “Harry“), a founding member of the children’s society for the prevention of cruelty to cats, in “The Kit-Kat Club”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Harriet Forster, the Mrs. Colonel Forster responsible for aiding and abetting Lydia’s and Wickham’s elopement in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (written in 1797, published in 1813).
– Harriet Kennedy, Sidney Page’s aunt, who decides to branch out on her own and start a dressmaking business, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Harriet Smith, a very pretty, engaging, and humble pupil of Mrs. Goddard’s, who Emma adopts as her new best friend, ripe for meddling with and matchmaking for, in Jane Austen’s Emma (1815).

WRITERS:
– Harriet Miller Davidson (1839-1883), British novelist and poet.
– Harriet Myrtle (1812-1876), pen name of English children’s book author Lydia Mackenzie Falconer Miller.
– Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), American abolitionist and author.