Comments (Usage Only)
Re. The comments by Corazie and Frollein Gladys on Corra Linn -
Although the waterfall's name is of Gaelic origin there's a romantic folk etymology relating it to a personal name which might have had a little influence on its use in the Victorian era. Essentially the story is that a Scottish princess called Cora (supposedly a daughter of King Malcolm II, although there's no record that he had a daughter by this name) went over the waterfall on her horse and gave her name to the falls. The first version of the story I can find is in a book called The Yellow Frigate by James Grant (1850). Here it's a short tale told by an admiral within the novel. An author called J. Gordon Phillips took up the story and published it as a novel in its own right in 1895.
I admit I first looked into this story thinking that Fenimore Cooper might have been influenced by it, especially as his Cora is of Scottish heritage. As I said though, I can’t find it written down before 1850 and it might actually be the other way around. With so many romantics touring Corra Linn in the early 1800s you would think one of them would have alluded to the princess story had it been around then. E.g. neither Wordsworth in his poem, nor Dorothy in her journals mention it.
On my travels I did find one earlier Cora though. This was in a play called Pizarro by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1799) which was said to have been extremely popular in its day. It was an English adaptation of a 1796 play by a German playwright August von Kotzebue. Sheridan spelled it Cora, while Kotzebue spelled it Kora. The character is intended to be Peruvian!
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Although the waterfall's name is of Gaelic origin there's a romantic folk etymology relating it to a personal name which might have had a little influence on its use in the Victorian era. Essentially the story is that a Scottish princess called Cora (supposedly a daughter of King Malcolm II, although there's no record that he had a daughter by this name) went over the waterfall on her horse and gave her name to the falls. The first version of the story I can find is in a book called The Yellow Frigate by James Grant (1850). Here it's a short tale told by an admiral within the novel. An author called J. Gordon Phillips took up the story and published it as a novel in its own right in 1895.
I admit I first looked into this story thinking that Fenimore Cooper might have been influenced by it, especially as his Cora is of Scottish heritage. As I said though, I can’t find it written down before 1850 and it might actually be the other way around. With so many romantics touring Corra Linn in the early 1800s you would think one of them would have alluded to the princess story had it been around then. E.g. neither Wordsworth in his poem, nor Dorothy in her journals mention it.
On my travels I did find one earlier Cora though. This was in a play called Pizarro by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1799) which was said to have been extremely popular in its day. It was an English adaptation of a 1796 play by a German playwright August von Kotzebue. Sheridan spelled it Cora, while Kotzebue spelled it Kora. The character is intended to be Peruvian!
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In 2018, 2 is the most common age for an American (U.S.) Cora who is registered female with the Social Security Administration. It is the 816th most common female first name for living U.S. citizens.
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This name is also used in The Netherlands, where it can not only be a short form of the names mentioned in the description for Cora, but also a short form for Cornelia.
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https://www.meertens.knaw.nl/nvb/naam/is/Cora
http://www.names.be/meisjesnamen.html?met=Cora&sort=beldesc
https://za.linkedin.com/in/cora-klopper-87724b8a
https://za.linkedin.com/in/cora-botha-4b0252b5
https://za.linkedin.com/in/cora-badenhorst-50084757
https://za.linkedin.com/in/cora-schamrel-aaa9a977
https://za.linkedin.com/in/cora-theron-2a86041b5
(Information from name #316439 originally submitted by user Corbinn Elise)