Latin | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Paulina

November 14, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Feminine form of “Paul“, meaning “small” or “humble”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lien, Lina, Paolina, Paula, Pauleen, Paulene, Paulette, Paulien, Pauline, Pavlina, Pol, Polina, Poll, Polly, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Paulina Kohler, Fritz’s wife, who “lived for her men and her garden”, in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).

WRITERS:
– Paulina Irby (1831-1911), British activist and travel writer.

Gregory

October 3, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From the Greek “Gregorios”, via the Latin “Gregorius”, meaning “watchful” or “alert”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Goyo, Greagoir, Greg, Grega, Greger, Gregg, Grégoire, Gregor, Gregorio, Gregorios, Gregorius, Greer, Greig, Grigol, Grigor, Grigore, Grigori, Grigoriy, Grigory, Griogair, Grisha, Grzegorz, Hryhoriy, Reijo, Reko, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Gregory, the gardener, one of the servants who was supposed to look after Robin while his parents were away, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.

Sabina

September 13, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
From Latin, meaning “a Sabine woman”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sabien, Sabine, Savina, Szabina.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– “Aunt” Sabina, the woman who raised Lorna, although the coarseness and violence of living among the Doones broke her heart, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).

Diana

August 26, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Latin, meaning “divine”, from the Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests, and childbirth.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Dajana, Dede, Dee, Di, Diahann, Dian, Diane, Dianna, Dianne, Dijana, Kiana, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Diana, a girl at school Lily befriends, one of the other “irregular” children in her grade, in Sleeping Arrangements, by Laura Cunningham (published 1989, set in the 1950s).
– Diana Duval, one of Lily’s first friends, “a dirty blonde in every sense”, in Sleeping Arrangements.
– Diana Rivers (later Fitzjames), one of St. John’s sisters, who befriend Jane after she leaves Thornfield, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Diana Athill (b. 1917), English editor, novelist, and memoirist.
– Diana Gabaldon (b. 1952), American author.
– Diana Gould (b. 1944), American author and screenwriter.
– Diana Hendry (b. 1941), English author and poet.
– Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011), English writer.
– Diana Mitford, the Hon. Lady Mosley (1910-2003), English socialite and writer.
– Diana Morgan (b. 1913), English novelist.

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”.

Marcella

August 22, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Feminine form of “Marcellus”, a Roman last name ultimately derived from Mars, the god of war.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Marcela, Marcelina, Marceline, Marcelle, Marcellette, Marcellina, Marcelline, Marcelyn, Marcie, Marcy, Marsaili, Zella, Zellie, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Marcella Herron, Ruth Jameson’s grandmother, “a gentle woman”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

Alexander

August 22, 2014 § 14 Comments

ORIGIN:
Latin version of the Greek “Alexandros”, meaning “defender of men”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Ace, Al, Alasdair, Alastair, Alastar, Ale, Alec, Alejandro, Aleks, Aleksander, Aleksandr, Alessandro, Alex, Alexandre, Alexandros, Alexis, Alick, Alisander, Alistair, Alister, Ally, Eskandar, Iskandar, Lexi, Olek, Oleksander, Oleksandr, Sacha, Sander, Sandor, Sandy, Sandro, Sascha, Saunder, Sawney, Sender, Shura, Sikandar, Skender, Xander, Xandinho, Zander, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Middle name of James Alexander Creighton (1849-1852), one of the three young Creighton boys who died of “paralysis” the year Jethro was born, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).
– Alexander Herron, Ruth Jameson’s grandfather, “who made a concession”, in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.

WRITERS:
– Alexander Brown (1843-1906), American historian and writer.
– Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757- 1804), American essayist, economist, and political leader.
– Alexander King (1899-1965), Austrian-American humorist and memoirist.
– Alexander Mollin (b. 1947), pen name of English author Jim Williams, who also publishes as “Richard Hugo”.
– Alexander Pope (1688-1744), English poet.
– Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), Russian author and poet.
– Alexander Ross (c.1590-1654), Scottish writer.
– Alexander Scott (c.1520-1582/83), Scottish poet.
– Alexander Scott (1920-1989), Scottish poet and scholar.
– Alexander Tayler (1870-1937), British author and historian who published under the pen name of “Alasdair Tayler”, and often published jointly with his sister, Hetty.
– Alexander Wilson (1893-1963), English writer and spy.

Philura

August 12, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Probably from Latin, meaning “linden tree” or “writing tablet”. Or possibly a variation of “Philippa”, “Phillida”, “Philomena”, “Phyllis”, etc., or of “Pilar”. But probably the Latin one.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Philaura, Phileria, Philleria, Phillire, Philora, Philoria, Philyra, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Philura Maple, the aunt who gave Zeena the cherished, ill-fated, red pickle dish for a wedding present, in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (written in 1911, but set in the 1890s or first few years of the 1900s).

Julia

August 12, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Feminine form of “Julius”, a Roman name possibly derived from the Greek “Ioulos”, meaning “downy-cheeked” or “youthful”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Giulia, Giulietta, Jules, Juli, Juliana, Julianne, Julie, Juliet, Julietta, Juliette, Juliska, Juliya, Yulia, Yuliya, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Julia Bennet, Katy’s oldest sister, who lacks sympathy, in “That Ridiculous Child”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Julia Hurstwood, George Hurstwood’s beautiful-but-cold wife, in Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (published in 1900; set 1889-1890s).
– Julia Prime, friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
– Julia Severn, a pupil at Lowood Academy, guilty of the unthinkable crime of having naturally curly hair, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.

WRITERS:
– Julia Cameron (b. 1948), American writer.
– Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), American activist, poet, and writer.
– Julia Peterkin (1880-1961), American author.
– Julia Sweeney (b. 1959), American actress, comedian, and author.

QUOTATIONS:
– Probably the most famous usage of the name is “Julia“, from The Beatles’ 1968 album The Beatles (known as the White Album), which begins: “Half of what I say is meaningless / But I say it just to reach you, Julia / Julia, Julia, oceanchild, calls me / So I sing of song of love, Julia”
– “Upon Julia’s Clothes“, written in 1630 by Robert Herrick, famously begins: “Whenas in silks my Julia goes, / then, then (methinks) how sweetly flows / That liquefaction of her clothes.” Apparently, this Julia was a favorite of Herrick’s, because he wrote a ton of poetry to her. This should come in super handy to anyone who wants to romance a Julia.
– From “Upon Julia’s Riband“, by Robert Herrick: “As shows the air when with a rainbow grac’d, / So smiles that riband ’bout my Julia’s waist”
– From “The Dream“, by Robert Herrick: “Only remained a little bit, / Which will be burnt up by-and-by; / Then, Julia, weep, for I must die.”
– From “Upon Roses“, by Robert Herrick: “They blush’d, and look’d more fresh than flowers / Quicken’d of late by pearly showers / And all because they were possess’d / But of the heat of Julia’s breast”
– From “How His Soul Came Ensnared“, by Robert Herrick: “My soul would one day go and seek / For roses, and in Julia’s cheek / A richesse of those sweets she found”
– From “To Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “How rich and pleasing thou, my Julia, art / In each thy dainty and peculiar part!”
– From a different “To Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “The saints’-bell calls, and, Julia, I must read / The proper lessons for the saints now dead: / To grace which service, Julia, there shall be / One holy collect said or sung for thee.”
– From “A Ring Presented to Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “Julia, I bring / To thee this ring / Made for thy finger fit; / To show by this / That our love is / (Or should be) like to it.”
– From “His Sailing From Julia“, by Robert Herrick: “But yet for love’s sake let thy lips do this, / Give my dead picture one engendering kiss: / Work that to life, and let me ever dwell / In thy remembrance, Julia. So farewell.”
– From “The Transfiguration“, by Robert Herrick: “Immortal clothing I put on / So soon as, Julia, I am gone / To mine eternal mansion.”
– From “Cherry-Pit“, by Robert Herrick: “Julia and I did lately sit / Playing for sport at cherry-pit”
– Robert Herrick also wrote “The Candour of Julia’s Teeth“, “To Julia In The Temple“, “His Charge To Julia At His Death“, “On Julia’s Picture“, and “His Covenant; Or, Protestation To Julia“. He really dug this Julia chick.

Lucretia

August 7, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
From a Latin last name, “Lucretius”, probably meaning “gain” or “profit”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lucrece, Lucrezia, Lu, Lulu.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Lucretia Harper, Mrs. Warburton’s older sister, who sets a good example all her life, in “Pansies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Lucretia Peabody Hale (1820-1900), American author.
– Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880), American Quaker activist and writer.

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