character name

[natane.livejournal.com]

i'm writing a female character living sometime in the 1800s (possibly about 1870), in britain... only it's going to be semi-historical fantasy. she's almost upper-class. ish.

i need a realistic name for her. nothing too boring, but nothing completely out-there either.

i like amelia and clara, but i think they sound a bit too cliche. i'm honestly blank on what to call her. i've looked at too many naming websites and everything seems the same.

her parents would like to see themselves as very proper and correct, so probably a first-middle-last kind of name. it'd be nice if her first name was something that could be abbreviated to a more playful or boyish nickname. not samantha, though.

Comments

[sadisticsidhe.livejournal.com]

Well, the names Josephine, Harriet, Henrietta, and Frances were rather popular than and they can all be shortened to Jo, Harry, Henry, and Frank. Though Josephine may be a bit too Little Women.

Some other names are Evelyn, Grace, Margaret, and Lucy. I suggest looking at old census records for the time period. They are easily googled and have many names in order of popularity.

[natane.livejournal.com]

almost a little too masculine, on the first set.

grace i like, and evelyn. i'll check and see if i can find census records.

[xynare.livejournal.com]

Joanna can also be shorted to Jo, and it's a bit more feminine.

[natane.livejournal.com]

mmm, good point.

[loki-scribe.livejournal.com]

Have you considered flipping through the nearest Bible and seeing if anything jumps out? I'm kind of ill right now, so the only Biblical ones coming to mind I'm pretty sure were used in the period are Rebecca, Leah, and Ruth, but I know there are lots of others.

Elizabeth comes to mind if you want nicknames, since there are so many -- Liza, Beth, Betty, Lisa, etc. And if you really like Clara, you could always use Clarice and shorten it (is that a legitimate nickname? I'm not sure, but it makes sense.) And if you really want a boyish one, you could use Roberta and shorten it to Bobbi.

Hope that at least spars a couple of ideas!

Cheers!

[natane.livejournal.com]

i dislike elizabeth and roberta, but i'll see if i can find a longer version of clara.
i'm not sure i want something biblical... but i'll see if i can find anything.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Giving a Victorian female character a boyish nickname is a bit cliche. I only mention that because you said that you wanted to avoid cliche. I think it boyish nicknames for girls were a bit more common in the 1920s.

If her parents think of themselves as proper and correct, they're not going to give her a name that's showy or unusual.

Some suggestions:

Elizabeth
Catherine
Charlotte
Caroline
Margaret
Helena
Eleanor
Alice
Victoria
Anne
Mary
Lilian
Julia
Jane
Florence

[natane.livejournal.com]

she won't be using the nickname for most of the story. it's not "her nickname" per say, it's something another character's going to start calling her.

yes, but it's hard for me to find out what would come across as a proper, slightly hoity-toity name that victorian parents would burden their daughter with, as opposed to the john smith of the day.

thanks for the list :) caroline is one i like.

[jtptan.livejournal.com]

I'm naming my MC Katherine - shortens to Kate Kathy Katie Kat....

Juliet -> Jules, Julie

You like Clara, maybe it could be short for Clarissa?

I would suggest that for me I'd choose a virtue as a middle name - eg. Katherine Grace, Juliet Temperence, Clarissa Amity, Margaret Harmony, etc.

[natane.livejournal.com]

oooh, good idea. i was just talking about changing my name to temper a few days ago with a friend, and forgot it entirely. temperence would be a good middle name.

[lanna-lovely.livejournal.com]

I'll just list nice names from a site about names from that time period (and I'll list the nicknames I know for the names, some will have boyish nicknames):

- Virginia (Ginny, Gina)
- Hannah (Han, Hanni)
- Cora
- Victoria (Vic, Vicky, Tori, Vee)
- Charlotte (Charlie, Lottie)
- Violet (Vi, Vee)
- Lily (...Lil?)
- Margaret (Maggie, Mags, Peg, Peggy)
- Clarissa (Clara, Riss, Rissa, Clari)
- Harriett (I have a character called that in one of my older stories and I gave her the nickname Harri)
- Genevieve
- Georgia/Gorgiana (Georgy, Gigi, Gee)
- Eleanor (Elle, Ella)
- Phoebe
- Ruby (apparently that was first used as a name in the 1870's)
- Sophia
- Olivia (Liv)
- Winifred (Winny... or Fred, if you want a boy nickname)
- Lorena/Lorraine (Lorri, Lor)
- Matilda (Mattie)

If you need last names, some popular ones from the 1800's are in the first answer on here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080316130935AAHhjZe

[natane.livejournal.com]

thought i replied to this... whoops.

thanks :) i think i may have my name.

[natane.livejournal.com]

oooh, olivia... i forgot that. it's one of my favorites.
i don't think i should use it, but i love it :D

[natane.livejournal.com]

yay! :D this gives me enough names for everyone in the story.

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Nobody trying to do 'the done thing' in Victorian Britain would name their daughter 'Samantha', so you're off to a good start. ;-) If you want something that can be abbreviated to a 'boy's' name, your best bet is probably to take a name that is a feminised version of a boy's name. Then you can abbreviate it as a man would! For example, John -> Joan - Jack. Francis -> Frances - Frank. Victor -> Victoria - Vic. Alexander -> Alexandra - Alex or Sandro. That said, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a Lucy who is Always Known As Jim, for some reason known only to the family.

In the middle and upper classes children would routinely be given at least one middle name. Often they were named after their godparents - and if the godparent whom one was trying hardest not to offend was the wrong gender, it would be quite acceptable for the child to have the godparent's surname as a middle name. Example: Georgina Fitzpatrick Cholmondeley-Arbuthnot. Fitzpatrick is a middle 'Christian' name, not a stray surname. (You can call her George.)

Most Biblical names - Mary, Joanna, Ruth, Miriam, etc, are quite acceptable. Some of the more outlandish Biblical names - Hepzibah, or Keren-Heppah - sound rather more Low Church, and therefore lower class. (This is hopelessly prejudiced and Doesn't Necessarily Follow, of course, but it's a good rule of thumb.) Some of the virtues are similarly aligned. Faith, Grace, Hope, Patience and Prudence would be fine, but Temperance sounds distinctly Chapel.

It's quite useful to remember that many of the names that parents are giving their children nowadays are shortened versions of what their great-great-grandparents were called. Where birth certificates once read Margaret, Mary, John, Anne, May, Alfred or Amelia, now they say Daisy, Mollie, Jack, Nancy, Maisie, Alfie or Amy.

Have a read of some fiction from the period you're aiming for - it's probably the one best way of getting a feeling for What People Were Really Called then. Good luck!

[natane.livejournal.com]

this was a really awesomer comment. thank you :)

[cleobourne.livejournal.com]

I've always been partial to Claudia a maleesq nick name might be claude

[camelia.livejournal.com]

I'm doing a story 1800's-ish too. I went with Dinah Ashby for my female character, but that can't really be abbreviated (unless to Ash). Maybe Cassandra (Cassie > Cass, Sandra > Sandie), Harriet (Harry), Maryanne (Mary > Ary, Anne), or Danielle (Dani > Dan). Not sure about the histories on those names though. :/
Sorry I can't be of more help.

[sekala.livejournal.com]

I find http://www.behindthename.com/ and http://surnames.behindthename.com/ to be extremely helpful for finding character names. With the advanced search you can search for gender and origin and the description of each name will usually say when it originated, common nicknames, and what name it might be a derivation of. You've got many awesome suggestions above, but these are great resources in case you're looking for more!

[delphia2000.livejournal.com]

My Brit grandmother, great-grands, various Aunties were named Bertha, Ruby, Mary, Mariah, Irene, Mable, Nellie, Ada, Lillian, Florence, Fanny and Jane. I would also note that all my Brit rellies came from huge families, with mom popping out a new kid annually. Several of the children died as babies or toddlers. Higher mortality rate and they frequently didn't get christened until they were a year or more old, so several died un-named.

I love the idea of a strong-willed girl who demands she be called by a boy's name of her choosing. :o)

[thespianverse.livejournal.com]

Two female names that I really like (and that haven't been mentioned yet) are Clementine and Cecilia.
Hope you find the perfect name for your MC ^^

[wayzgoose.livejournal.com]

Amelia (Mel) Nannette Finch

[varelia.livejournal.com]

One thing I tried (though it might sound a bit morbid at first glance ^^) is go and visit an old graveyard. This way I found out that Ada was a hugely popular name in Leicester between 1830 and 1870 :-) But contemporary books or a census will work as well, of course.