Message: "Naming Character"

Naming Character

by Drew (guest)

1/22/2004, 8:28 AM

Hi, I love to write. I'm currently writing a Cinderella story and I'm having problems. It's set in the late 1800s/early 1900s in Ohio (the city is called Banvard, not an actual place in Ohio). I need names for my Cinderella character and the prince. For Cinderella, I'm thinking about Jennifer, but it's not definite yet. For the prince, I like Colin and William. I'm not sure how accurate to the time period these are. Any suggestions for new names and opinions on these would be most helpful! Thanks!

Replies

- Champagne (ayasophia) +4

1/22/2004, 1:40 PM

Hi, I was thinking maybe the prince should be named Felix because it means lucky. And of course he is lucky to meet Cinderella and find her again. As for Cinderella ,perhaps she should be called Beatrix because it means Blessed. And Cinderella is blessed. But then again there may be too many 'x's in their names . U could change beatrix to Beatrice? hope you like my suggestions and good luck!

- Miranda (Randee15) +3

1/22/2004, 4:38 PM

Beatrice/Beatrix doesn't mean "blessed"

It means "voyager":
BEATRIX f English, German
Pronounced: BEE-a-triks
From Viatrix, a feminine form of the Late Latin name Viator which meant "voyager, traveller". The spelling of the name was altered by association with Latin beatus "blessed". This was the name of a 4th-century saint who was strangled to death after her brothers were beheaded.

Here are names that mean "blessed"/"lucky"/"happy"/"joy":
Beata
Benedicta / Bettina (2)
Edina
Edmunda - See Edmund for meaning
Edrica - See Edric for meaning
Fortunata - See Fortunato for meaning
Gwenda
Wendy
Felicity / Felicia
Zelda
Gay / Gaye - In the 1800s, "gay" meant "happy" (still does, actually) and didn't have the association of "homosexual"
Mehetabel
Chara
Letitia / Lettice
Abigail
Aliza
Farah
Joy
Happy
Rowena

Hope this helps!

Miranda

- Drew (guest) +2

1/22/2004, 5:00 PM

Thanks for all the help!

I would use Wendy, I love that name, but I know it wasn't invented in the 1800s (unless it's the late 1800s). It was actually invented for the character Wendy Darling in Peter Pan. James M. Barrie (Peter Pan's author) had a friend who was a little girl. Her nickname for him was Friendy, but she couldn't say her Rs correctly, so she called him Fwendy. When Sir Barrie was stuck on a name for his little mother, he took the F off of Fwendy and came up with Wendy!

If you can't tell, I'm a Peter Pan fanatic -- more so of the book than of Disney's awful version that was way off the story.

- Miranda (Randee15) +1

1/22/2004, 5:21 PM

I knew Wendy's probable origin

*Does some searching*

According to Wikipedia, Peter Pan first appeared in a 1902 book, "The Little White Bird". A play based on the 1902 book premiered on 27 Dec 1904. In 1906, a portion of "The Little White Bird" which featured Peter Pan was published as the book "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens". Finally, in 1911, the novel "Peter Pan and Wendy", based on the play, was published.

(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pan)

I guess that would make Wendy inappropriate for your time setting.

Miranda