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

[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 :)