12 Unusual Literary Lads: Jabez, Japhy & Jolyon
By Linda Rosenkrantz
We recently served up a dozen female literary names—some of the more unusual and interesting appellations for girls that have never gained widespread popularity the way Jane Austen’s Emma and GWTW’s Scarlett O’Hara have.
We promised to do the same for boys, and here they are—the creatively conceived names of twelve literary lad characters from a variety of novels and plays–names that move beyond the recently discovered Atticus and Holden.
From: The Gilded Age by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner
Col. Beriah Sellers is a silver-tongued schemer who symbolizes the speculative spirit of the Reconstruction period. The name Beriah makes four appearances in the Bible, including as a son of Asher. This rarely heard name might be worth considering if you’re looking for an iah-ending name more manageable than Zebadiah.
Binx
From: The Moviergoer by Walker Percy
Binx Bolling—full name John Bickerson Bolling is–in this award-winning 1961 novel, a good-looking, successful New Orleans realtor searching for meaning in his life, partly through moviegoing. Though it’s as made-up-sounding as a nickname name could be, Binx has actually been worn by a model, named Binx Walton, a superhero cat in Hocus Pocus, and a term used for a highly intelligent person.
From: Cashel Byron’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw
Cashel Byron appears as a highborn boxer in this early novel; he later reappears in Shaw’s play The Admirable Bashville. Not uncommon in Ireland Cashel forms an interesting path to the popular Cash nickname. It was chosen by Daniel Day–Lewis and wife Rebecca Miller for their son. As a word, it refers to a circular stone fort.
From: Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill
One of the three sons of protagonist Ephraim Cabot, Eben is the youngest and brightest, and was played by Anthony Perkins in the film version. A lot more likable than its full form Ebenezer, Eben on its own is relaxed and appealing. It was recently inhabited by hunky Josh Harnett in a film, and is currently Number 836 on Name berry.
From: You Never Can Tell by George Bernard Shaw
Finch McComus is a strong, even imposing, middle-aged character in this Shaw play. We’ve started to hear this avian surname—with its indelible literary link to _To Kill a Mockingbird—_talked about as a male possibility joining the trending girl Larks and Wrens.
From: The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benét (and also in the bestselling The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson.
Jabez Stone is a basically decent New Hampshire farmer in the 1840’s who, driven by bad luck, sells his soul to the devil, in this retelling of the Faust legend, and is defended by the famous lawyer Daniel Webster. A sadly neglected Old Testament name, Jabez has a lot going for it in addition to the righteous biblical and literary cred—the jazzy z-ending and a charming Southern accent.
From: The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac
Japhy Ryder is a Buddhist poet in this novel, based on Kerouac’s friend, the Beat poet Gary Snyder. Japhy is a diminutive of Japheth, the name of a biblical son of Noah, and would make a unique and charming possibility for a modern boy.
From: The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
There are two Jolyon Forsytes in The Forsyte Saga—‘Old Jolyon’ is the head of the family, a highly moral and sentimental character. ‘Young Jolyon’, his son, is a painter and a perceptive observer of his family’s position. Rarely heard in this country, or in modern England for that matter, Jolyon is Julian—of which it’s a Northern English form– only jollier. There have been a few notable musicians bearing the name.
From: The Wapshot Chronicles by John Cheever
Leander T. Wapshot is a wealthy ne’er-do-well who loves to sail on his boat and relive the golden days of his youth. Leander is the name of the Greek mythological young man who swam across the Hellespont each night to see his beloved Hero; we see him as a credible cousin to Alexander, Evander, et al. And so do other Berries–Leander is currently Number 344 on Nameberry.
From: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
The peripatetic Lemuel Gulliver is an English surgeon and sailor whose adventures satirize the European governments of Swift’s era. We’ve often wondered why some lovers of the biblical Samuel haven’t turned to the less common biblical Lemuel, with its friendly nickname Lem. Is it too tied to the iconic Gulliver?
From: Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Seneca Doane is an idealistic socialist attorney in Lewis’s typical small Midwestern town of Zenith. Seneca is an intriguing off-the-grid name with ties to both the Native American culture and to a memorable ancient Roman philosopher-playwright.
From: The Deer Park by Norman Mailer
Sergius O’Shaugnessy is the narrator of what was to be Mailer’s ambitious nine-novel series–a wry, cocky, intelligent Slavic-Irish Air Force pilot. Less fusty than many of the other ancient Romans, Sergius leads to short form Serge and the modern Italian Sergio.