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Re: Bram & Ean/Ian
by Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)
10/21/2007, 12:55 PM
in reply to a message by LMS
What sort of ethnic and religious background is your character from? Bram is a short form of Abram or Abraham, and there certainly were boys named Abram and Abraham in the late 1700s. For example, Abram Trigg, born in 1750, was a member of the US House of Representatives:http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/2100.htmlIt therefore wouldn't be at all a stretch to call a character from a Protestant English speaking background in the late 1700s Bram, if it was seen as a pet form for Abram or Abraham. I found some online references to Ewan as a given name in that time period, but only from the Isle of Man.
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- LMS   +3
10/21/2007, 1:02 PM
The character I am considering naming Bram is of English and Scottish descent. The character I am considering naming a variant of John is of Irish descent.
I am wondering about Bram being used as a pet form for Abram as I believe that Bram Stoker was actually named Abraham (I could be wrong) and only used Bram as his pen name. Is it possible though that others used it and it was only considered to be borne by Bram Stoker because he was the first popular individual to use it?
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- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)   +2
10/21/2007, 1:55 PM
Bram could be a pet form for either Abram or Abraham. Of course it's possible others used it before Bram Stoker; I think it's highly unlikely that his friends or relatives were the first people in an English speaking country to ever think of shortening Abram or Abraham to Bram. It seems like a rather obvious way to create a nickname to me. :)
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- LMS   +1
10/21/2007, 2:59 PM
Do you think it is possible to have a character named Bram without using it as a nn for Abram or Abraham? Is it possibly that people used the nn on its own just as Elise is used as a name on its own free of Elisabeth?
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- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)
10/21/2007, 3:27 PM
This depends on what kind of a story you are writing. There would be a great many stories where it simply would not be necessary to mention what the character's "official birth certificate" name was, and you could just have other people address him as Bram without mentioning one way or the other whether or not it was short for something else.
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