Literary names for the Regency Heroine.

Literary names for your Regency Heroine

I’ve mentioned a few literary names before, but I thought I’d actually get around to a reasonably comprehensive list, with dates they are first used, since a lot of the names saddled on literary heroines grew out of the doubtless fevered brows of their creators.  After all, some of the names the writers of the late 18^th and early 19^th century came up with were quite as awful as modern idiocies like Chelsea, Courtney, Kasey, Janelle, Kendra. Louetta and other cruelties.

We know that Jane Austen read Richardson, most of whose characters have quite everyday names,  Charlotte Smith and Fanny Burney, and chose to name all her heroines with names from the top 50 names of the period; but sometimes there is a call for more unusual names, or for names a heroine would have liked to have been called [readers of Anne of Green Gables will recall that Anne longed to have midnight dark hair and be named Susquehannah]. And sometimes unusual names may be a literary device to show the foolishness of a parent [such as the five girls named after characters in Mrs. Williams' poems whom I feature in 'Jane and the Bow Street Runner', or a parent of scholarly but not practical turn of mind like the father of Ophelia Rackham in 'Ophelia's Opportunity' [coming soon].  A memorable name can be invaluable; Georgette Heyer's 'Frederica', 'Venetia', 'Arabella' and 'The Grand Sophy' are unforgettable books.   None of the names were in common use but none of them could be said to be too out of the ordinary, with the possible exception of Venetia.   

Venetia is probably a latinised version of the name Gwynneth, and was then name of notorious 17^th century beauty, Venetia Stanley. Her middle name, incidentally, was Anastasia.  In her lover's memoirs, she too has a made up pseudonym: Stelliana.  This, being shocking, is not an appropriate name to be given to any heroine!

Racine

Cleone 1667

Herminone 1667

Jonathon Swift

Vanessa 1713

Samuel Richardson:

Pamela 1740 AMENDED: also used by Sir Philip Sidney in Arcadia end 16th century

Clarissa 1747-8 [Clarissa was an extant name, but may have revived in popularity]

Helena Maria Williams

Aciloe

Alzira

Cora

Eltreda

Euphelia

Zilia

Mrs. Williams’ sisters were called Cecilia and Persis

Mary Wollstancraft: not for literary heroines but because her sister was called Everina which is fanciful enough to include here.

Charlotte Smith

Emmeline 1788

Adelina 1788 [from Emmeline]

Ethelinde 1789

Celestina 1791

The Burney sisters were particularly active in naming heroines.

Fanny Burney

Evelina 1778

Cecilia 1782 [certainly an old name but again may have gained popularity]

Honoria [from 'Cecilia' and also an extant name]

Elgiva 1790

Elberta 1788-91

Camilla 1796

Sarah Burney

Clarentine/Clarentina 1798

Geraldine 1808 [also probably extant but more likely to be used in Scotland]

Adela 1810 [a name more used on the continent.]

Caroline Burney [probably no relative and using a pseudonym to cash in on the popularity of Fanny and Sarah]

Seraphina 1809

Lindamira 1810

Walter Scott

Rosabelle 1805

Rowena 1820 [an invented version of Reinwen or Rhonwen which was used in the late Middle Ages: also used in Ireland's hoax 'lost Shakespeare play' 'Vortigern and Rowena' 1796]

Anna Louise Germaine de Stael

Delphine 1802

Corinne 1807

Miss Owenson

Ida 1809 [an old name but popularised]

Mrs. Sykes

Margiana 1808

For older literary names:

Here is a partial list of the more exotic female names used in songs and poetry on broadsheets of the 17^th century:

Amandine	Claudia	Diana	Lillia	Philomel[a]
Amarillis	Clea	Dorinda	Lucretia	Sappho
Arminda	Cloris	Dulcina	Parthenia	Silvia
Celina	Cynthia	Flora	Phillis
Celea	Daphnis	Gillian	Phillida