Names in Wodehouse

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Names in Wodehouse

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1Bowerbirds-Library
aug 17, 2012, 10:03 am

One of the many things that I love in the works of Wodehouse is the names that he gives to the characters. Eg. Gussie Fink-Nottle and Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps, Tuppy Glossop, Bingo Little. I have even been trying to work out what my Wodehouse nickname would be ? ( my full name is Ruth Brompton-Charlesworth). Has anyone else got a favourite name/character or considered what their name might be in a novel?

2abbottthomas
aug 17, 2012, 5:51 pm

I hope I'm not giving offence but I think Plum would have been pleased to come up with your name as it is. Of course, to be a Drone you have to be a bloke - I think Biffy might fit the bill.

Two good ones (from Ring for Jeeves) are Captain Cuthbert Gervase Brabazon-Biggar and William Egerton Bamfylde Ossingham Belfry, 9th Earl of Rowcester (aka Honest Patch Perkins)

3Bowerbirds-Library
aug 18, 2012, 3:56 am

What Ho Abbotthomas! You are definitely not giving offence, I am delighted to think that my name is one that Plum would have come up with. I would like to say that the Brompton-Charlesworth's come over with William the Conquer but in reality it is simply the joining together of my original surname with that of my husband's. It is a bit of mouthfull and the trouble to get the bank to write it on bank cards was a saga worthy of Plum himself. However, I was thinking more about my first name, obviously 'Nobby' is from Zenobia and 'Stiffy' from Stephanie. Although I do like your suggestion of Biffy, my husband would probably go for 'Barmy'....

Pip pip

4thorold
aug 19, 2012, 6:06 am

You definitely get bonus points for having a double-barrelled name. Not quite as good as Annabelle Sprockett-Sprockett, but a jolly good effort!
I don't think there are all that many Ruths in Wodehouse. I can only think of Ruth Warden in the early short story "Ruth in exile" (1912: a sort of preliminary sketch for French Leave) and Ruth Bannister in The coming of Bill (1914) — both very beautiful girls. Maybe Gilbert and Sullivan killed it with Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance: too serious a name for a real Wodehouse Girl. As you say, they tend to have names you can shorten to something ending in "-y", or they're called something like Sue, Anne, Jane, or Jill.
A bit later on, of course, there was Arthur Ransome's Captain Nancy, who had changed her name from Ruth "because Amazon pirates are ruthless".