More names

Writers are always on the lookout for something new and interesting to call our characters.  So, it is not surprising that many have invented new names or have found older and unusual ones which they have revitalised or modernised for use.  Some of these names have just remained literary ones, and have rarely if ever been used in real life. Others have become very popular.  Vanessa, Swift’s invention, is one that became quite common. Myra isn’t a popular name now; it was said to be invented by the poet Fulke Greville in the 17^th century.   It may be an anagram of “Mary”.  It was common for a time, but the story of the Moors Murders in the 1960s, by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, destroyed its popularity. 

Napoleon I was a fan of James McPherson’s Ossianic poetry. He suggested the name “Oscar” for the son of his former ladylove, Desiree Bernadotte. Desiree had been engaged to him when she was Desiree Clary, but later she married Jean Charles Bernadotte, who became King of Sweden.  Because of this, some of the names invented by McPherson became popular among Scandinavian royalty…on such strange accidents as Napoleon’s liking this “fake poetry” does the popularity of some names depend!

The name Jennifer has been very much used all through the 20^th century.  In the early part of the century, it was only used in Cornwall and was an adaptation of the Welsh Guenevere, the wife of King Arthur, in legend.  This name was thought to mean “white” (Gwen and Wen/wyn are names that mean white or fair in Welsh) and “Hwyfar” which may mean smooth or soft.  The name survived in Cornwall, which was one of the places closely connected with Arthurian legend. However Bernard Shaw used it for Jennifer Dubedat in his play “the Doctors Dilemma” (1905).  This was a very successful play and the heroine’s name became well known and loved.  It is spelled in different ways -particularly in America, Jenifer, or Gennifer… Other variants of the name are Ginevra or Genevra.

Stella is another name that has been not just a literary one, but has become popular in the real world. It was invented as a name for his lady love by Philip Sidney, in his poetry “Asphodel to Stella”.  It means “star”.  It has been very popular in the 20^th century and so have variants like “Estelle” and “Estella”.

Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” had a great influence on naming for American children…She gave her characters some very unusual names,  most notably of course Scarlett for her heroine.   Scarlett (the name of Scarlett’s paternal grandmother was Katie Scarlett) is a surname, which became a first name – which was not uncommon for boys, in Britain and America, but I don’t believe it was that common, even in America, for girls. Other names in Gone with the Wind that became popular were the male names like Cade, Brent, and Rhett…. Ashley became increasingly known as a girls’ name.