I just finished reading a fantastic biography of Emily Dickinson, one of my favorite poets. The book is My Wars Are Laid Away in Books: The Life of Emily Dickinson, by Alfred Habegger. Though it's quite a long read at 800 pages (which includes notes, appendices, etc), I highly recommend it. It's got every detail related to Dickinson's life, as well as substantial comparisons to other Dickinson biographies. The other great thing about it - there were a lot of amazing names!
Image via Wikimedia Commons
Early nineteenth-century New England was full of all kinds of names - rare Biblical, virtuous Puritan, classic English. As I was reading, I kept a list of all of the great names I came across; some are friends and family of Dickinson, some are other figures around her life and time. There may be a few fictional - character names were excellent in 1800's novels! A few have notes attached if I felt the name was super rare or unique, or had cool data.
Let's begin!
Asahel Nettleton - Asahel means "created by God"
Osmyn Baker
Theophilus Packard
Betsey Fay Norcross
Claudius Herrick
Jemima Montague
Zebina Montague - Very little data available
Perley Gunn
Thankful Dickinson - One of the most common Puritan virtue names in the seventeenth century
Kingsley Underwood
Seneca Holland
Appleton Dickinson
Lucretia Dickinson
Gertrude Graves
Sabra Howe - Sabra means "prickly pear"
Orril Munn
Erasmus Norcross
Lamira Jones
Eudocia Carter Converse
Theodora Ward
Abiah Root - Abiah means "God is my father" - this could be a nice alternative to Abigail
Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps
Samuel Learned
Brainard Harrington - Brainard means "courageous raven"... not highly recommended, though
Edward Payson Crowell
John Long Graves
Elbridge Gridley Bowdoin
George Frisbie Whicher
Hiram Adolphus Hawkins
Phydelia Kellogg - Possibly means "faithful," though it's rarely been recorded
Fanny Boltwood
Abby Sweetser
Ebenezer Snell
Eliel Gilbert
Sophia Van Vranken
Phinehas Cooke
Rufus Choate
Ithamar Conkey - Incredibly rare Biblical name, one of the sons of Aaron
Eudocia Flynt
Fidelia Hayward Cooke
Frazar Stearns
Régis Gignoux
Cerinthia Inghram - Very little data available
Orvis F Bigelow
Ellery Strickland
Mariette Jameson
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