S | The Art of Literary Nomenclature

Sidney

August 17, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
From an English place name, meaning “wide island”. Possibly an elision of the name of the French town, Saint Denis. But probably not.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
For girls: Cyd, Cydne, Cydnie, Cydney, Sid, Sidelle, Sidonia, Sidonie, Sidne, Sidnie, Syd, Sydelle, Sydne, Sydney, Sydnie, Sydonia, Sydonie, etc.
For boys: Sid, Syd, Sydney, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sidney Page (called “Sid“), a brave, selfless young woman who wishes to become a nurse, in K. by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914).

WRITERS:
– Sidney Lanier (1842-1881), American author, musician, and poet.
– Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007), American writer.

Sylvia

August 16, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Silvia”, feminine form of the Latin name “Silvius”, meaning “of the forest”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Silva, Silvia, Silvie, Silviya, Silvy, Syl, Sylva, Sylvi, Sylvie, Sylwia, Szilvia, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sylvia (Sylvie) Lamonte (called “Syl“), the “little dryad that had slipped from some rose-tree’s bark” who Doctor Tom cures, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

WRITERS:
– Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), American poet, novelist, and short story writer.
– Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978), English novelist and poet.
– Sylvia Wright (1917-1981), American editor, humorist, and writer.

Syl

August 16, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Sylvia“, “Sylvie“, etc. meaning “of the forest”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Silva, Silvia, Silvie, Silviya, Silvy, Sylva, Sylvi, Sylvia, Sylvie, Sylwia, Szilvia, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Little Syl (Sylvie) Lamonte, the “little dryad that had slipped from some rose-tree’s bark” who Doctor Tom cures, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Sylvie

August 16, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
French version of “Silvia” / “Sylvia“, feminine form of the Latin name “Silvius”, meaning “of the forest”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Silva, Silvia, Silvie, Silviya, Silvy, Syl, Sylva, Sylvi, Sylvia, Sylwia, Szilvia, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sylvie Lamonte (called “Sylvia” or “Syl“), the “little dryad that had slipped from some rose-tree’s bark” who Doctor Tom cures, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Susy

August 15, 2014 § Leave a comment

ORIGIN:
Alternate spelling of “Susie”, “Suzy”, etc., which are all, like “Sue“, etc., diminutive of “Susan”, “Susanna”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sooki, Sookie, Sooky, Su, Sue, Suse, Susey, Susi, Susie, Sukey, Suki, Sukie, Suze, Suzey, Suzi, Suzie, Suzy, Zooey, Zooie, Zsazsa, Zsuzsa, Zsuzsi, Zsuzsu, Zu, Zuza, Zuzi, Zuzia, Zuzu, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Susy, who must learn to conquer her dragon, in “Susy’s Dragon”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Sally

August 14, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Sallie”, diminutive of “Sarah“.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sadie, Sal, Sallie, Sairey, Sairy, Sarey, Sari, Sary, Suri, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sally, a maid in the Huckabuck household, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).
– Sally, 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).
– Sally, a servant at Barton Park, in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (set between 1792-1797, published in 1811).
– Sally Snowe, one of Farmer Nicholas’ three lively, comely daughters, in Lorna Doone.
– Sally Ware, the friend who takes Dolly Lorton to task for her gossiping and rumor-mongering, in “The Youngest Miss Lorton”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).

Sue

August 12, 2014 § 2 Comments

ORIGIN:
Shortened version of “Susan“, “Susanna”, etc.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sooki, Sookie, Sooky, Su, Suse, Susey, Susi, Susie, Susy, Sukey, Suki, Sukie, Suze, Suzey, Suzi, Suzie, Suzy, Zooey, Zooie, Zsazsa, Zsuzsa, Zsuzsi, Zsuzsu, Zu, Zuza, Zuzi, Zuzia, Zuzu, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sue Mayo, poor little Jessie Mayo’s little sister, one of the girls Doctor Tom tells the story of Sylvie to, in “The Story of Little Syl”, from The Youngest Miss Lorton, and Other Stories by Nora Perry (1889).
– Sue Tucker, a friend of the Gray girls and Berry Joy, and sister of Maude Tucker, in A Little Country Girl (1885), by Susan Coolidge.

WRITERS:
– Sue Grafton (b. 1940), American crime novelist.
– Sue Townsend (1946-2014), English writer and humorist.

QUOTATIONS:
– From the popular ballad “Black Ey’d Susan, or Sweet William’s Farewell“, by John Gay, first published in 1730: “‘If to far India’s coast we sail, / Thy eyes are seen in diamonds bright, / Thy breath is Afric’s spicy gale, / Thy skin is ivory, so white. / Thus every beauteous object that I view, / Wakes in my soul some charm of lovely Sue.'”

Sammy

August 7, 2014 § 1 Comment

ORIGIN:
Diminutive of “Samuel”, “Samson”, or “Samantha”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sam, Sami, Sammi, Sammie.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sammy Bowen, Ruth Bowen’s energetic younger brother in “Water Lilies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Sammy (Sam) Turner, Ed Turner’s 18-year-old son, who gives Jethro a dog (to help keep him company and to protect his family), and who ends up part of Sherman’s army, in Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (1964; set during the American Civil War, 1861-1865).

WRITERS:
– Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American lyricist, songwriter, and musician.

Samuel

August 7, 2014 § 7 Comments

ORIGIN:
From Hebrew, meaning “God has heard” or “name of God”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Sam, Sami, Sammie, Sammy, Semuel, Shem, Shemuel, Shmuel, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Samuel Warburton, Mrs. Warburton’s husband, a scientist and scholar, in “Pansies” from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.

WRITERS:
– Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), Irish novelist, playwright, and poet.
– Samuel Butler (1613-1680), English poet and satirist.
– Samuel Butler (1835-1902), English writer and iconoclast.
– Samuel Clemens (1835-1910), American author and humorist who wrote under the pen name “Mark Twain”.
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), English critic, poet, and philosopher.
– Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), English moralist, writer, and lexicographer.
– Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), English diarist.

Sarah

August 6, 2014 § 8 Comments

ORIGIN:
Alternately spelled “Sara”, from Hebrew, meaning “lady” or “princess”.

VARIATIONS and NICKNAMES:
Cera, Cerah, Sadie, Sal, Sallie, Sally, Sairey, Sairy, Sara, Sarai, Saraih, Sarette, Sarey, Sari, Sariah, Sarina, Sarit, Sarita, Sary, Sera, Serah, Serita, Seryl, Sorale, Soralie, Sorella, Suri, Syril, Tzeitel, Zara, Zarah, etc.

REFERENCES IN LITERATURE:
– Sarah, a housemaid at the Reed’s house, Gateshead Hall, in Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte.
– Sarah Parsons, a neighbor of the Kennedy’s who is befriended by Ida Standish in “May Flowers”, from A Garland for Girls, by Louisa May Alcott, 1887.
– Sarah Reed (née Gibson), Jane’s selfish, hard-hearted aunt-by-marriage, in Jane Eyre.
– Sarah Ridd, the lovely and good-hearted farmer’s widow who is mother to John, Annie, and Eliza, in Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore (written in 1869, set in the 1670s-1680s).

WRITERS:
– Sarah Stickney Ellis (1799-1872), English author.
– Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879), American writer and editor.
– Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909), American author.
– Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (1835-1905), American children’s book writer who published under the pen name “Susan Coolidge”.

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