Irish | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Nance

October 8, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Nancy“, or a medieval Cornish place name, meaning “valley”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Nainsi, Nan, Nancie, Nana, Nancy, Nanice, Nannie, Nanny, Nanse, Nansi, Nansie, Nansy, Nenci, Nensi, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Nance, one of the hounds belonging to Sir Peter’s family in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.

Berk

August 27, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Berkeley” / “Berkley”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bar, Barclay, Barklay, Barkley, Barklie, Barrclay, Berke, Berkeley, Berkie, Berklee, Berkley, Berky, Birk, Birkeley, Birkley, Bourke, Burk, Burke, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Berk (Berkeley) Pelham, Margaret’s older brother, “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

Berkeley

August 27, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Anglo-Saxon place name, meaning “from the birch meadow”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bar, Barclay, Barklay, Barkley, Barklie, Barrclay, Berk, Berke, Berkie, Berklee, Berkley, Berky, Birk, Birkeley, Birkley, Bourke, Burk, Burke, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Berkeley Pelham, Margaret’s uncle, who lives in Brazil, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Berkeley Pelham (called “Berk“), Margaret’s older brother, in “That Little Smith Girl” from A Flock of Girls and Boys.

Dora

August 27, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Dorothy“, “Isadora”, “Theodora”, “Dorcas“, “Doris”, “Dolores”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dede, Dee, Ditte, Dittie, Ditty, Dodie, Dody, Doll, Dollie, Dolly, Dolores, Dorcas, Doreen, Dorelle, Dorene, Dorete, Doretta, Dorie, Dorinda, Dorine, Doris, Dorit, Dorita, Doro, Dorota, Dorothea, Dorothy, Dorte, Dorthe, Dory, Dosia, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Feodora, Isadora, Isidora, Teodora, Theodora, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Great Aunt Dora, Etka’s kid sister, “maybe the most affectionate woman who ever lived”, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Dora Robson, a good-humored, slightly snobbish Boston girl in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).

WRITERS:
– Dora Acuña (1903-1987), Paraguayan journalist and poet.
– Dora (Doralina) Alonso (1910-2001), Cuban journalist and writer.
– Dora Birtles (1903-1992), Australian novelist, poet, short story author, and travel writer.
– Dora d’Istria (1828-1888), pen name of Hungarian activist and writer, the duchess Helena Koltsova-Massalskaya.
– Dora Gabe (1886-1983), Bulgarian essayist, poet, short story writer, translator, and travel writer.
– Dora Read Goodale (1866-1953), American poet and teacher.
– Dora (Dorothy) Greenwell (1821-1882), English poet.
– Dora Heldt (b. 1961), German novelist.
– Dora Maar (1907-1997), Argentinian muse, painter, photographer, and poet.
– Dora Malech (b. 1981), American poet.
– Dora (Dorothy) Montefiore (1851-1933), Anglo-Australian activist, poet, and writer.
– Dora Levy Mossanen (b. 1945), American novelist.
– Dora Pavel (b. 1946), Romanian journalist, novelist, poet, and short story writer.
– Dora Russell (1894-1986), English activist and writer.
– Dora Oake Russell (1912-1986), Canadian editor, educator, and writer.
– Dora Jessie Saint (1913-2012), English novelist who published under the pen name “Miss Read”.
– Dora Sigerson Shorter (1866-1918), Irish poet and sculptor.
– Dora (Theodora) van der Meiden-Coolsma (1918-2001), Dutch children’s book author and columnist who also published under the pen name “Constanze Hazelager”.
– Dora Van Gelder (1904-1999), Dutch-American occultist, theosophist, and writer.
– Dora Wasserman (1919-2003), Ukrainian actress, director, and playwright.

Dionysius

August 26, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Latin spelling of “Dionysios”, derived from the name of the Greek god of wine, dance, revelry, and fertility.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Den, Denes, Denis, Denney, Dennis, Denny, Denys, Deon, Deion, Dinis, Diniz, Dion, Dionisie, Dionisio, Dionysios, Dionyz, Tenney, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dionysius O’Gall of Bitternutt Lodge, Connaught, Ireland, whose family of five daughters Mr. Rochester pretends he his sending Jane to teach, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Dionysius P.A. O’Brien (b. 1934), American singer and songwriter who goes by the pen name “Tom Springfield”.

Nancy

August 17, 2014 § 6 Comments

ORIGIN:
Medieval diminutive of “Annis”, or of “Ann” / “Anne” (via “Nan“).

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ann, Anne, Annie, Anny, Nainsi, Nan, Nancie, Nana, Nance, Nandag, Nanette, Nanice, Nanine, Nannie, Nanny, Nanse, Nansi, Nansie, Nansy, Nenci, Nensi, Neske, Nest, Nesta, Nina, Ninette, Ninon, Nona, Nonna, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Aunt Nancy, who might be a fallback matron for Hope should something happen to Mrs. Bell, in “What Hope Bell Found in Her Stocking”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Nancy Creighton, John’s quiet and withdrawn wife, “amiable, but aloof to the friendly Creightons” in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Nancy (Annie) Ridd (sometimes called “Nanny“), John’s favorite sister, a sweet little homemaker, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Nancy (Anne) Steele, Lucy’s well-intentioned but empty-headed ninny of an older sister, a woman of “vulgar freedom and folly”, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).

WRITERS:
– Nancy Boyd (1892-1950), pen name of American poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay.
– Nancy Cato (1917-2000), Australian activist and writer.
– Nancy A. Collins (b. 1959), American horror novelist.
– Nancy Farmer (b. 1941), American author and children’s book writer.
– Nancy Garden (1938-2014), American author.
– Nancy Holder (b. 1953), American novelist.
– Nancy Huston (b. 1953), Canadian essayist and novelist.
– Nancy Kress (b. 1948), American sci-fi writer.
– Nancy Milford (b. 1938), American biographer.
– Nancy Meyers (b. 1949), American director, producer, and screenwriter.
– Nancy Mitford (1904-1973), English biographer, journalist, and novelist.
– Nancy Oliver (b. 1955), American playwright and screenwriter.
– Nancy Pickard (b. 1945), American crime novelist.
– Nancy Brooker Spain (1917-1964), English broadcaster, columnist, and journalist.
– Nancy Springer (b. 1948), American author.
– Nancy Werlin (b. 1961), American author.
– Nancy Willard (b. 1936), American novelist, poet, and children’s book writer and illustrator.

QUOTATIONS:
– From “Wages“, by Norman Rowland Gale: “Because I bowed / content, I fancy, / He gave me you / for wages, Nancy!”

Dennis

August 15, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From the medieval French version of “Dionysios”, derived from the name of the Greek god of wine, dance, revelry, and fertility.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Deion, Den, Denes, Denis, Denney, Denny, Denys, Deon, Dion, Dionysios, Dionysius, Tenney, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Dennis Flannigan, “the great Irish auctioneer”, a denizen of Pump Court, in “In a Rag-Bag”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Tommy

August 15, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Like “Tom“, a diminutive of “Thomas“, the Greek form of the Aramaic for “twin”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Tam, Thom, Tom, Toma, Tomas, Tommie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Tommy Harrison, Carlotta’s touring minstrel father, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).
– Tommy Lambert, whose generous choice inspires Elsie, in “The Thanksgiving Guest”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Tommy O’Flaherty, a denizen of Pump Court, in “In a Rag-Bag”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Bridget

August 15, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Brigid”, from the Irish “Brighid”, meaning “strength” or “exalted one”, after the Irish goddess of fire, poetry, and wisdom.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Bea, Bedelia, Bee, Beret, Berette, Berit, Biddie, Biddy, Bidelia, Birdie, Birdy, Birgit, Birgita, Birgitta, Birgitte, Breda, Bride, Bridgette, Bridie, Brighid, Brigid, Brigida, Brigit, Brigitta, Brigitte, Brit, Brita, Britt, Britta, Brygida, Gitta, Gittan, Gitte, Fraid, Piritta, Priita, Reeta, Rita, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Bridget, Aunt Cathy’s Irish cook, in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Cathy

August 15, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Catherine” / “Katherine“, and alternately spelled “Cathie” / “Kathie” / “Kathy”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cadi, Cady, Cait, Cat, Cate, Catey, Cathi, Cathie, Catie, Cato, Caty, Catya, Kady, Kaia, Kaity, Kaja, Kat, Kata, Katey, Kathi, Kathie, Kathy, Katie, Katka, Katri, Katy, Kay, Kaya, Kaye, Kaylee, Kayleen, Kit, Kitti, Kittie, Kitty, Kylee, Kyleen, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Aunt Cathy, who is left in charge of Susy and her brothers after their mother’s death, in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

WRITERS:
– Cathy Kelly (b. 1966), Irish journalist and author.

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