Josie
August 29, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Josey”, etc., a diminutive of “Josephine”, a feminine form of “Joseph“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Giosetta, Jo, Joetta, Joleen, Jolene, Joey, Josée, Josette, Josey, Josi, Josiane, Josy, Posie, Posey, Seph, Sephi, Sephie, Sephy, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Josie Kelley, Matty’s sister, and another of the shopgirls in “Becky”, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
Jeffrey
August 29, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Geoffrey“, from the French version of a Germanic name, meaning “peaceful land” or “peace of God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Fredo, Geffrey, Geoff, Geoffrey, Geoffroi, Geoffroy, Gjord, Godfrey, Godfried, Goffredo, Goraidh, Gottfrid, Gottfried, Jef, Jeff, Jefferson, Jeffery, Jeffries, Jeffry, Jep, Jepson, Seafra, Sieffre, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Mr. Jeffrey Merridew, a staunch Tory who hopes to keep his niece from following in the footsteps of her Rebel father and brother, in “Sibyl’s Slipper”, a story of the American Revolutionary War, from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
WRITERS:
– Jeffrey Jacob (J.J.) Abrams (b. 1966), American actor, composer, director, producer, and screenwriter.
– Jeffrey Eugenides (b. 1960), American novelist and short story writer.
– Jeffrey Farnol (1878-1952), English author.
Jock
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Scottish version of “Jack“, a diminutive of “John“.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jack, Jackie, Jackin, Jacks, Jacky, Jak, Jake, Jakey, Jakie, Jakin, Jaks, Jankin, Jax, Jenkin, Jockie, Jocko, Jocky, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jock Crumpet, Nurse Crumpet’s husband 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.
Joel
August 22, 2014 § 1 Comment
ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “Jehovah is God”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jo, Joe, Joey, Ioel, Yoel.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Joel, the bartender at the Red Deer, 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.
WRITERS:
– Joel Chandler Harris (1845-1908), American author, folklorist, and journalist.
– Joel Rosenberg (1954-2011), Canadian-American activist and author.
Jezreel
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From a Hebrew place name, meaning “God will sow”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Jesreel, Jessi, Jessie, Jessy, Jezzi, Jezzie, Jezzy.
For boys: Jesse, Jesreel.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jezreel Spittlewig, a local joiner, who is suggested to (and summarily rejected by) Keren Lemon as a possible husband, 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.
Job
August 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
From the Hebrew name “Iyyov”, meaning “afflicted” or “hated”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Iob, Iyov, Iyyov, Joby.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Job Long-pate, a farrier who lives in Dancing Marston, spoken of as a friend by Humfrey Lemon and Bered Turnip, 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.
Jotham
August 12, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “Jehovah is upright” or “Jehovah is perfect”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Yotam . . . and . . . that’s it, I guess.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jotham Powell, the Frome’s hired man, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).
Jackson
August 12, 2014 § 6 Comments
ORIGIN:
From an English last name, meaning “son of Jack“. Bet you didn’t know that.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Jack, Jackie, Jacks, Jacky, Jak, Jakin, Jaks, Jax, Jaxon, Jaxson.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Jackson Tainter, whose wife is a friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
WRITERS:
– Jackson Lowry (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”, “Daniel Moran”, “F.J. Hale”, “Edward S. Hudson”, “Karl Lassiter”, “Paul Kenyon”, and “Victor Appleton”.
– Jackson O’Reilly (1948-2007), pen name of American fantasy author James Oliver Rigney, Jr., who wrote under the pen names “Chang Lung”, “Reagan O’Neal”, and “Robert Jordan”.
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 