What’s in a name? Did you know that we can thank writers for many of the first names in use today?
If your name is Lorna, you can thank R.D. Blackmore who first used it in his bestselling Lorna Doone. Pamelas (the name was probably pronounced Pameela) can be grateful to poet Sir Philip Sidney’s 1590 poem Arcadia, while any Vanessa needs to thank Jonathan Swift for her name. Shakespeare invented the very popular Olivia for his Twelfth Night, French playwright Racine first came up with Cleone, while Cora was dreamed up by James Fenimore Cooper for The Last of the Mohicans.
Dora (short for Theodora or sometimes Dorothy) was first used as an independent name by Charles Dickens in David Copperfield, Evangeline was created by Longfellow for his poem of that name, Glinda comes to us from The Wizard of Oz, and Heidi (short for Adelheid) was first used independently in Johanna Spyri’s novel. Malvina was an 18th century invention by James Macpherson for his Ossian poems, Thelma was created by Victorian novelist Marie Corelli, and Wendy was J.M. Barrie’s idea for a name (resulting from a little friend who called him her ‘Fwendy’ because she couldn’t pronounce her Rs).
Sir Walter Scott can be held responsible for Cedric (he came across the Saxon name Cerdic when doing research for Ivanhoe and changed the letters around). Dorian (from the Dorians, an ethnic group in ancient Greece) owes its popularity to Oscar Wilde. Percival was one of the knights of Arthurian legend.
I like the idea of names made up by authors. My own name appears in the Bible, but I much prefer the fact that Shakespeare chose it as a name for his first daughter. That has to be the very best literary stamp of approval!
Does your name have a literary origin? Were you named for a character in a book? Please let me know in a comment.