Hebrew | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Joseph

August 1, 2014 § 10 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Latin / Greek form of “Yosef”, a Hebrew name meaning “He will add”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Beppe, Giuseppe, Jo, Joe, Joep, Joey, Jojo, Joop, Joos, Jos, José, Josef, Josephus, Josip, Osip, Pepe, Pepito, Peppe, Peppi, Peppino, Pino, Seph, Sepp, Sjef, Youssef, Zef, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Joseph Sedley (sometimes called “Jos“), Amelia’s silly, conceited older brother in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Joseph Scott (called “Joe“), an odorous and odious young man who considers himself a candidate for Virginia Herrick’s heart, in Virginia of Virginia, written by Amélie Rives in 1888.

WRITERS:
– Joseph Addison (1672-1719), English essayist, poet, and playwright.
– Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), Polish-English author.
– Joseph Meek (b. 1951), one of the many pen names of American mystery and Western author Robert J. Randisi, who also publishes as “Cole Weston”, “Joshua Randall”, “Lew Baines”, “Paul Ledd”, “Robert Lake” “Spenser Fortune”, “Tom Cutter”, and “W.B. Longley”, among other pseudonyms.
– Joseph Ward Moore (1903-1978), American novelist and short story writer who published under the pen name “Ward Moore.”

QUOTATIONS:
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Elizabeth” (published in 1873, but set in 1701-02; from Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part the Third: The Theologian’s Tale) tells the love story of John Estaugh (1676-1742) and Elizabeth Haddon (1680-1762), with her servants Joseph and Hannah as supporting characters, and Joseph described thusly: “. . . A good lad and cheerful is Joseph; / In the right place his heart, and his hand is ready and willing. / . . . Meanwhile Joseph sat with folded hands, and demurely / Listened, or seemed to listen, and in the silence that followed / Nothing was heard for a while . . . / Inwardly Joseph laughed, but governed his tongue, and was silent. / . . . And not otherwise Joseph, the honest, the diligent servant, / Sped in his bashful wooing with homely Hannah the housemaid . . .”

Rebecca

August 1, 2014 § 4 Comments

ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew name “Rivkah”, meaning “yoke” or “snare”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Becca, Becka, Beckah, Beckie, Becky, Reba, Rebecka, Rebekah, Rifka, Riva, Rivka, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Rebecca Bowdoin, Esther’s mother, who once modeled for a German artist’s painting of Walter Scott’s Rebecca, in “Esther Bodn”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Rebecca Moore (called “Becky“), the plain, hard-working farm girl with the heart of a poet in “Mountain-Laurel and Maiden-Hair”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Rebecca Sharp (better known as “Becky“), the clever and self-centered anti-heroine of Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

Jemima

July 31, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “dove”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jem, Mimi, Yemima, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jemima Pinkerton, the more good-natured of the two sisters who run Miss Pinkerton’s Academy for young ladies in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).

WRITERS:
– Jemima Condict (1754-1779), American diarist.
– Jemima Hunt (b. 1969), English author, journalist, and novelist.

Abram

July 30, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “high father”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Abe, Abey, Abie, Abraham, Avram, Avrom, Bram, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Abram Johnson, a farmer who looks after the titular bird in The Song of the Cardinal, by Gene Stratton Porter (1903).

Daniel

July 30, 2014 § 5 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “God is my judge”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dan, Danilo, Dannie, Danny, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Daniel (b. 1917; sometimes called “Dan“), the ninth 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.
– Daniel Byrne, a local man who offers to help get Mattie packed up and on her way out of town, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).

WRITERS:
– Daniel Defoe (1660-1730), English author and satirist.
– Daniel Keyes (1927-2014), American author.
– Daniel Moran (b. 1947), pen name of American fantasy, science fiction, and Western author Robert E. Vardeman, who has also published under the pen names “Cliff Garnett”, “Edward S. Hudson”, “F.J. Hale”, “Jackson Lowry”, “Karl Lassiter”, “Paul Kenyon”, and “Victor Appleton”.
– Daniel Stern (1928-2007), American novelist.

QUOTATIONS:
– In The Merchant of Venice (1596), by William Shakespeare, the character of Shylock implies that he hopes for a wise resolution in the difficult case at hand: “A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! / O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!”

Ezra

July 29, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “help” or “helper”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ez? Ezzie? Pretty limited, here.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Ezra Miller, the title character’s wealthy father in Daisy Miller by Henry James (1879).

AUTHORS:
– Ezra Pound (1885-1972), American poet and critic.