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.
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Christine Stevenson
My son, Langdon, is named for the character Langdon Towne in a book called “Northwest Passage’.
Graham H.
“Dora (short for Theodora or sometimes Dorothy) was first used as an independent name by Charles Dickens in David Copperfield”. I have a question! What about Dora V Wheelock, the great American activist and writer? She was born in 1847! David Copperfield did not start appearing until 1849! I get it, that she was christened “Pedora Palmer”. But still – she’s always known as “Dora”. I think she beat the Boz. Or maybe she was over 3, before she took the name.
Catriona Arcamone
My parents were going to name me Fiona, but after seeing I Know Where I’m Going not long before I was born, they changed their minds. My mother was a Maclean and Catriona Maclean was a wonderfully feisty woman in the film. They were also R L Stevenson readers, so Catriona I was named – it sits well with Macdonald, my maiden name. I have been gifted some beautiful copies of Catriona, sequel to the more famous Kidnapped!
Susannah Fullerton
I have read and enjoyed Stevenson’s ‘Catriona’ but don’t love it as much as I love ‘Kidnapped’. Any name loved by the fabulous RLS is a fabulous name for me.
Fiona
My name Fiona while it has Gaelic origins is supposed to have been created by a Scottish poet James Macpherson in the 1700s.
Also my mother changed her name to “Anne” in the early 1930s as a teenager. It was many many years later she was determined it was “Anne with an ‘e’” because of Anne Shirley
Susannah Fullerton
Thanks for letting me know about Fiona.I occasionally get called Fiona by mistake. It is always older people who associate Fiona with Fullerton because of the actress.
Yes, Anne should always be with an e because of the fabulous Anne of Green Gables.
Happy New Year.
Margi Abraham
My mother, Lorna, was definitely named after Lorna Doone. I still have her copy of the novel and some postcards she bought when she travelled to England on her own in her 70s to visit the settings of the novel.
I am very grateful that, although my first name Margaret is after Princess Margaret (who mum thought had suffered so much from the monarchy), my second name Jane links me to the great English writer.