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).
Peleg
August 11, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Hebrew, meaning “division” or “channel”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
. . . Pel?
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Captain Peleg King, captain of the steamer Eolus, which carries Candace Arden to her cousins’ home in Newport, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.
Penny
August 10, 2014 § 5 Comments
ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Penelope“, meaning “weaver”. Could also simply refer to the small coin. Although, if you think about it, it’s a little odd to name someone after money. But, I suppose, people do, nevertheless . . .
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Pen, Pene, Penelope, Penney, Pennie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Cousin Penny (Penelope) Carey, a quiet old lady who loves children, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
WRITERS:
– Penny Jordan (1946-2011), pen name of English romance author Penelope Halsall, who also published under the pen names “Annie Groves”, “Caroline Courtney”, “Lydia Hitchcock”, and “Melinda Wright”.
Penelope
August 10, 2014 § 9 Comments
ORIGIN:
Greek, meaning “weaver”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Pen, Pene, Penney, Pennie, Penny, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Penelope Carey (called “Penny“), a quiet old lady who loves children, in “Little Button-Rose”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
WRITERS:
– Penelope Fitzgerald (1916-2000), English biographer, essayist, novelist, and poet.
– Penelope Halsall (1946-2011), English romance author who published under the pen names “Annie Groves”, “Caroline Courtney”, “Lydia Hitchcock”, “Melinda Wright”, and “Penny Jordan”.
– Penelope Lively (b. 1933), English author.
Paolo
August 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
Italian version of “Paul“, meaning “small” or “humble”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Pablo, Pal, Palle, Paol, Pasha, Paul, Pauli, Paulie, Paulo, Paulus, Pauly, Pauwel, Pavel, Pawel, Pavlos, Pol, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Count Paolo della Belladonna, whose Countess takes up with Lord Steyne in his absence, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Philomèle
August 5, 2014 § Leave a comment
ORIGIN:
French version of the English name “Philomel”, meaning “nightingale”, from the Greek “Philomela”, meaning “lover of song”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Philomel, Philomela.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Philomèle is one of the characters Becky plays in the famous presentation of charades which attracts the attention of a certain royal personage, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
Polly
August 4, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Molly“, a diminutive of “Mary“. Sometimes used as a diminutive of “Pauline“, “Paulette”, etc.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Moll, Mollie, Molly, Paula, Pol, Pola, Poll, Pollie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Polly, one of the Lexington girls clamoring to partner with Rab at the Silsbee country dance in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Polly (Mary) Clapp, daughter of the Sedley’s landlord, who bestows on Dobbin the nickname “Major Sugarplums” owing to his habit of bringing gifts for all at every visit to the house, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Polly Branghton (sometimes called “Poll“), the youngest child of Madame Duval’s (and Evelina’s) cousins, the crude, ill-mannered Branghton clan, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World (1778), by Fanny Burney.
– Polly Green, the nurse’s daughter passed off as the child of Sir John Belmont, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– Polly Moore, daughter of a chandler’s-shop woman, who Madame Duval uses as an example of how much life in Paris can “improve” a young lady, in Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World.
– Polly Price, a generous little girl who learns about Valentines in “Polly’s Valentine” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
– Polly Snowe, one of Farmer Nicholas’ three lively, comely daughters, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Polly Talboys, a village girl who lives near Queen’s Crawley, in Vanity Fair.
QUOTATIONS:
– The nursery rhyme “Polly Put the Kettle On“, published in 1797: “Polly put the kettle on, / We’ll all have tea.”
Pauline
August 2, 2014 § 2 Comments
ORIGIN:
French variation of “Paulina“; a feminine form of “Paul“, meaning “small” or “humble”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Lien, Lina, Paolina, Paula, Pauleen, Paulene, Paulette, Paulien, Paulina, Pavlina, Pol, Polina, Poll, Polly, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Pauline, the little Belgian cook Joseph Sedley hires to serve him and his sister when they follow the army to war, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
WRITERS:
– Pauline Smith (1882-1959), South African writer.
Peggy
August 2, 2014 § 4 Comments
ORIGIN:
Variant of “Meggy”, diminutive of “Margaret“, from Greek via Latin, meaning “pearl”
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Madge, Mae, Maggie, Maggy, Mame, Mamie, Marge, Margie, Margy, May, Meg, Megeen, Meggie, Meggy, Midge, Peg, Pegeen, Peggie, etc.
REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Peggy, one of the Lexington girls clamoring to partner with Rab at the Silsbee country dance in Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (written in 1943; set during the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War, 1773-1775).
– Peggy (Auralia Margaretta) O’Dowd (née Malony), the Mrs. Major O’Dowd who serves as a sort of de facto queen and hostess of George Osborne’s and William Dobbin’s regiment in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Peggy (Margaret) “Smith”, a simply-dressed, sweet girl who experiences a case of mistaken identity, in “That Little Smith Girl” from Nora Perry’s A Flock of Girls and Boys (1895).
QUOTATIONS:
From “Peggy“, a poem written by Scottish poet Allan Ramsay in the early 18th century: “My Peggy is a young thing, / Just enter’d in her teens, / Fair as the day, and sweet as May, / Fair as the day, and always gay.”
Peter
August 1, 2014 § 3 Comments
ORIGIN:
From the Greek “petros”, meaning “stone”.
VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Boutros, Peadar, Pedro, Pejo, Pete, Petey, Petie, Petri, Petruccio, Petruchio, Petrus, Piero, Pierre, Piers, Piet, Pieter, Pietro, Piotr, Peer, Per, Pere, Pero, Pyotr, etc.
REFERENCES in LITERATURE:
– Peter the bowman, a retainer of Sir Peter’s, in The Door in the Wall (written in 1949 and set sometime between 1327-1377), by Marguerite de Angeli.
– Peter the Hayward, a local laborer in Robin’s city, in The Door in the Wall.
– Peter Bailey, one of Sir Pitt Crawley’s tenants, who is sent to the workhouse, in Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray (published in 1847-48, but set in the 1810s-20s).
– Peter Blundell, the charitable gentleman who founded the Tiverton grammar school young John Ridd is sent to for his education, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Peter Butt, the young man Rose Dawson throws over in order to marry Sir Pitt, in Vanity Fair.
– Rev. Mr. Peter Kronborg, Thea’s minister father in The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (written in 1915 and set in the 1890s).
– Sir Peter de Lindsay, the nobleman who takes Robin in to train him up to become a knight, in The Door in the Wall.
– Peter Moreland, one of Granny Moreland’s sons in The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter.
– Peter Mouldy, a young man born on the same night as Keren Lemon, who perhaps got her share of femininity and she his share of masculinity, 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:
– Peter Held (1916-2013), pen name of American author Jack Vance, who also published under the pen names Alan Wade, Ellery Queen, Jay Kavanse, and John van See.
QUOTATIONS:
– From “Epistle to Earl Harcourt, on his wishing her to spell her name of Catherine with a K“, by an unknown poet (“F—-“), found in A Collection of Poems, Chiefly Manuscript, and from Living Authors (1823), edited by Joanna Baillie: “—Peter the Third—illustrious peer! / Great autocrat of half the sphere! / . . . Thy brief existence, hapless Peter! / Had doubtless longer been, and sweeter, / But that thou wilfully disturb’dst / The harmless name she brought from Zerbst.”
The Art of Literary Nomenclature 