Historical Romance - Tumblr Posts

Just an ongoing novel, I hardly update it though. If you guys are wondering where the quote from my first post was from, it's in here:

Quotev

𖤍։❲ 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ❳։𖤍

🃁𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟖🃁: 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐨'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬

I'm a sucker for gay historical romances lately. I recently read Last Night At The Telegraph Club, and now I'm reading We Could Be So Good. I need more. I could write them myself, but I've got one contemporary I need to promote before publishing, and then I have an urban fantasy/magical girl two part series to plot. UGGGGGH

Review: Peter Hart by Goldencomet69

I haven’t done one of these in a while, but I’m reviewing another book by one of my moots, and this time, I’m reviewing Peter Hart by @the-golden-comet! I’m a sucker for historical romances, and back in the day, I was a HUGE Pirates Of The Caribbean fan, so I couldn’t turn this one away. To give a brief synopsis, Peter Hart is the captain of The Golden Phoenix, a position he inherited from his late father, Captain Johnathan Hart at just sixteen years old. Ten years on, The Golden Phoenix crew are, like many other pirate crews, of their era, sailing the high seas in search of riches, but when they kidnap Prince Benjamin of Port Mayor at a ball, they find a lot more than they bargained for.

The highlight of the book for me was by far the focus on the bonds between the crewmen of The Golden Phoenix. The book had a big cast, but all of the characters had unique personalities which shined through, and no one felt unnecessary or out of place. I especially liked Benji, and I always found myself either laughing at him or pitying him in his attempts to survive at sea among his captors. He was such a cutie pie and I wanted nothing but the best for him ^o^

If you’re into pirates and dark romances, this one might be up your street! You can find it on AO3, and on Amazon Kindle!

My dear, I would show you off in a ballroom full of strangers and kiss you in a kingdom full of the ones we've known forever.

I will not be ashamed of human thoughts and a human heart

- HB

Can I have a list of all those queer historical romance books plzzzz

You certainly can. Please find, by popular request and in no particular order, a list of all LGBT+ historical romances I have read of late. This is by no means a complete list, as (bar one) it’s just stuff I’ve actually read. It’s also only books which are strictly romances (so no Sarah Waters, for example). I’ve bolded my favourites.

M/M (by far the most popular in the queer romance genre, but F/F finally seems to be picking up!!):

An Unusual Courtship - Katherine Marlowe (Regency)

Briarley - Aster Glenn Grey (Beauty and the Beast retelling, WWII)

A Scot’s Surrender - Lily Maxton (Regency)

Invitation to the Dance - Tamara Allen (late 1800s)

The Only Gold - Tamara Allen (late 1800s)

Whistling in the Dark - Tamara Allen (early 1900s)

A Gathering Storm - Joanna Chambers (late 1800s, I think)

Mr Winterbourne’s Christmas - Joanna Chambers (Regency… ish)

Hither, Page - Cat Sebastian (WWII)

Spirits series 1, 2 and 3 - Jordan L Hawk (Victorian, paranormal)

Enlightenment series 1, 2, 3, 4 - Joanna Chambers (Regency)

The Pursuit Of… - Courtney Milan (US Civil War)

A Minor Inconvenience - Sarah Granger (Napoleanic Wars)

Contraband Hearts - Alex Beecroft (pfffft… 1800s some time)

Something Human - AJ Demas (sort of alternate Rome)

The Medium - Bonnie Dee (Victorian, I believe)

A Land So Wild - Elyssa Warkentin (late 1800s)

Think of England - KJ Charles (Edwardian)

Sins of the Cities series 1, 2 - KJ Charles (Victorian)

Honestly, anything by KJ Charles, and blessedly she has been very productive

The Turner Series 1, 2, 3 - Cat Sebastian (… Regency? I’m sure it’s Regency)

Seducing the Sedgwicks 1, 2 - Cat Sebastian (Regency)

Again, literally anything by Cat Sebastian

F/F (this is a way less popular genre, unfortunately; I am scouring the Internet for more):

A Lady’s Desire - Lily Maxton (Regency)

That Could Be Enough - Alyssa Cole (post US Civil War)

Mrs Martin’s Incomparable Adventure - Courtney Milan (… 1800s)

Proper English - KJ Charles (Edwardian)

Escape to Pirate Island - Niamh Murphy (Age of Sail)

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics - Olivia Waite (1800s some time! This one ISN’T OUT YET and I’m dying for it)

The incredibly few books which aren’t just entirely cis:

The Craft of Love - E.E Ottoman (post US Civil War, trans male protag)

Documenting Light - E.E Ottoman (contemporary but with a historical plotline, trans male and non-binary amab protags)

Peter Darling - Austin Chant (Peter Pan retelling, trans male protag)

Unmasked by the Marquess - Cat Sebastian (Regency, non-binary afab protag)

An Unsuitable Heir - KJ Charles (non-binary amab protag)

Various others:

A Duke in Disguise - Cat Sebastian (Regency, couple is M/F but the female protag is very openly bisexual and also wants to kill the rich)

Behind These Doors - Jude Lucens (Edwardian - polyamory, M/F/M)

"Acting!"

2. "I'm ruined."

3. "Coin Locker Baby"

4. Nobody wants your story

5. As your partner, I'm proud

6. "Let's just die right here together"

7. "I'm so pathetic I almost feel sorry"

8. "Closure is an imaginary concept for the traumantized"

9. I'm a victimized victimizer of my own infantile emotions

10. They don't want to bury something when it's still alive.

11. "Thank you so much God for making me rich and white!"

12. Like thousands of insects are squirming under the folds of his flesh"

I’ll tag @kaeru483 @grayed-out-typeface @12-cluh @blargh-500 @drivingmebonkas @wyvchard with no pressure ofc + open tag!

Ten Sentences Tag Game

Nobody tagged me but it was open tag! I’ll tag @differentnighttale @kaeru483 @imbecominggayer @grayed-out-typeface with no pressure ofc + open tag!

Rules: write a sentence with the number of words specified, so for 1-10 you write 10 sentences in total with an increasing word count each time.

I’m going to share sentences from my main WIP :)

1. Butterflies.

2. “You’re here.”

3. “What about life?”

4. To hell with regulations.

5. It was sunlight turned sunburns.

6. Left to linger in the air.

7. “Death is an event, not an end.”

8. “I’ve never felt so hopeful about my future…”

9. They don’t deserve our Motherland; those self proclaimed heroes.

10. It’s bad enough that every mirror here is covered up.

I love learning about everyone's characters and all the inspiration that went into making them! I normally don't go for historical fiction but this sounds amazing and genuinely well-researched. :D

Writers Challenge#4

Author Interview:

Hi guys.

It's me again and I guess I have another challenge this time and this is too all writers who haven't found their title, even if you have a title you can join.

OC inspirations.

And book inspirations.

How did your book grow into it now?

Was a fanfic to original story?

Vibes?

Optional.

What inspired you to write your WIP? It could be a book, a show, a person or even a character.

My current WIP is based on a Wolfblood, Twilight and Avatar:The Last Airbender.

Wolfblood gave me the way to write controlled werewolves, Twilight gave me my protagonist, Thalia but she was a nameless Black girl who had a relationship with a vampire and Avatar for my panther shifters but slowly the book changed, and the Avatar gave me inspo for her abilities and she was a mortal who lived with supernatural creatures.

So yeah.

Thats it.

The vibe is a snowy winter wonderland filled with secrets and monsters and strange happenings after a strange human girl meets a tribe of Inuit werewolves.

The tone is quite dark at first.

Sorry for the tags.

@morganthepen @imbecominggayer

@imbecominggayer @wyked-ao3 @thehighladyreads @blue-endy

@furrywrit3r @loverboyxbutch @blargh-500 @jj-the-hobbit171

Hello! How have you been? What were your top 5 favorite romances you read this year? 🌼

Hi! 👋 I’ve been well, thank you! My top 5 romances of 2023, in no particular order:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune 

The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood

The Lost Letter by Mimi Matthews

I’d love to know what your favourites are, I need more book recs. 😊

one of the best things david jenkins does with OFMD is that when he fucks with the historicity of 18th century pirate-adventure genre, the effect is not just comedic. it’s not just getting a kick out of leather gang + clipper ships + dramatic capture scene set to fleetwood mac’s the chain + british royalists in their stupid wigs. it’s that the obscuring of that timeline and ours allows u to perceive the setting of imperialism that the characters are playing in as both a past relic and present reality. is this more intentional than just an aesthetic choice? feels like it. why not tbh? the Pirates Dicking Around genre has always been about 1700s western european empire. and in OFMD we get an eerie insistence that there is actually no post-colonial era. there never was. there’s just the iterations of that violent legacy: from the trans-atlantic slave route, the pillaging of asia-pacific, etc. to the current forms of global imperial militarism and armed police states that took its place. on paper the show is based on a true story. in tone it’s present-haunted. and the central motley crew here works bc they’re all dynamic, hilarious, flirty, grimy, etc. but they also work bc they’re all visually, clearly a little united nations survey of colonized peoples whose shit was fucked up by 18th century imperialists. and it isn’t even subtext?? the whole show is about piracy as refuge. yea sure, from everyone’s dicey personal life dramas, sour romantic entanglements, the general banalities of life etc. but also, piracy as escape from the larger ills of societal outcasting and poverty as a result of …. . british/spanish/french/etc colonialism. consider: blackbeard’s voice in the show is just taika’s actual māori accent. and there’s a scene where you find out the kraken isn’t real, that blackbeard is monster and man. and behind his infamy is just some guy who’s traumatized, forlorn as all fuck, with insane daddy issues, etc. but whose tender humanity is brought into question against his own monstrousness. you see the whites of his eyes peering out of a soot smeared face, a mirror of the savage native caricature that all 18th century western europeans held of their colonized pacific islander subjects. blackbeard’s final act is a regression into that mythic dehumanization but rly it’s just him at his most heartbroken and lonely. and yea, this is mainly the angsty climax part of a multi-act love story. but also perhaps a purposeful genre-aware moment among many other similar moments within a show whose historical/present context is very explicit. and is meant to define the parameters of the world these characters are struggling in. ultimately OFMD makes u feel like. the absurd horror and wretchedness of colonialism’s totaling stain on history is in fact the most surreal wasteland valley-of-death setting for a group of outcasts to go and find refuge in love, gay sex, hooligan shit, and jokes. in the 1700s pirate hostile open seas, among their own fellow-othered. u know

Illustration for the giant Richard II fic I'm currently indulging myself with writing. (I have more, but they're definitely too NSFW for tumblr XD)

“It thrilled me to chase you, my Lord.”

“But have a care,” said Richard, great eyes shining, “that your quarry does not turn on you!” And without so much as a glance at the path he reached out and pulled Edward towards him. Edward knew it was reckless: this was no chaste and cousinly salute, and anyone who caught sight of them would know it. But that kiss beneath the open sky, between Richard’s warmth and the cool air, the scent of earth and leaves and the sound of water, rendered him entirely powerless.

(Am getting ready to draw more GO, but it's gonna be something challenging for me art-wise; so for the time being have retreated to my usual obscure-fandom lurking spot...)

She planed own her kidnapping to get away from a bad marriage and I love her for that

Guys you know who the og historical romance kidnapping girlie is?

Rukmini

Girl literally sent a secret message to Krishna to plz kidnap her on her wedding day to another man.

the bulletproof duke [yoongi x reader]

drabble count: 2

join my tag list for future works masterlist of all works previous | next drabble

summary: You've always been a wallflower during the season, content with watching the supposed "bulletproof" Duke Min Yoongi have women fawn over him. Except, when he shows up to your home with a wound and curses that'll haunt your family for the rest of your life, you choose to take care of him. What you didn't expect is to gain favor in his eyes.

tldr; Duke Min Yoongi might fall in love with you as you're nursing him to health

pairing: min yoongi x reader

warnings: swearing, slight slow burn

notes: ... I've been watching too much Bridgerton and reading Lisa Kleypas's historical fiction books. this is the aftermath, whoops. and the ao3 version of it is here. i love writing drabbles based on prompts, so if you want one, please don't hesitate to ask. thanks so much for reading! support is also greatly appreciated so my college loans won't cry <33

thinking of making a pt. 2 of this. let me know!

There are certain things to be expected of women in the season.

Chasing after men isn’t one of them. Er, well. You do have to chase men, but not literally. You have to chase them with your eyelashes—which will probably all fly off by the end of the year with the number of times you bat—and with the way you talk, with the way you dress.

Personally, you thought it was stupid. Because you thought it was stupid, you were not only violating one law, but you’re violating another: being a wallflower. How horrendous, your chaperone would say, if she was here. Instead, she’s finding your trouble-causing twin, the chaos loving sister, allowing your thoughts to be alone. You’re the quieter, book-loving twin, and you appreciate the corner. You have your wallflower friends, who are more than welcoming. Certainly more welcoming than—

“They said that the eligible bachelors are actually looking for a hand in marriage this year,” Chunga murmurs beside you. You realize that you’re staring in the center of the ballroom, directly in the sight of Duke Min’s exasperated expression as he twirls a lady around. The unfamiliar lady who has the honor giggles, like this made her whole year. Like she could get pregnant by dancing with him.

Thank goodness you all have the same reaction: snorting. There are a plethora of eligible bachelors, but when Chunga—who rarely gossips, and when she talks, speaks facts—mentions them, you all know what she means. Or, rather, who.

You call them the bulletproof bachelors, the seven of them. Not because they dodged a bullet or survived a gunshot wound—though, that would be far entertaining than seeing them grimace and dodge the love bullets directed their way.

“I can see the marry me eyes coming from Daeun,” Mina comments dryly, and tilts her head to the side. “Though, I can’t blame her. Good for her, for being so forward.”

A smile starts to form on your lips. “I still can’t figure out whether you hate half the people here for are rooting for them.”

“Why can’t it be both?” She replies innocently. “Oh, there comes Cassandra.”

By Cassandra, you mean your twin, along with your chaperone right behind her heels. The former has a face of glee, eyes bright with mischief. The latter is red-faced, crumbling a handkerchief in her hand while glaring at your sister’s head.

“I wonder what she did now,” Mina snickers.

“You know what I’ve heard in the powder room—”

“Cassandra,” your chaperone places her hands on her hips. “You will not run off again. This is the second time tonight. And the first was because your feet needed air.”

Ha. Well, at least she was becoming more diverse in her excuses. You did have to applaud her for that.

Cassandra waves her off, and takes a seat. “The bachelors are all up for the season because of Duke Kim Taehyung. Apparently, the rake thinks it’s time to settle down and find a wife.”

Ah, that makes sense why he seems the most genuine.

“I’m sure it’s because he wants to wed the high class now,” Mina mutters. You didn’t understand what was up with her, but she’s hated him since the beginning. And based on how her face darkened at the mention of him, you didn’t pry.

So you sat there, watching the women fawn over the bachelors and approach them.

That’s how you spent the rest of the season.

“You can’t enter,” you whisper to Cassandra. “He’s sleeping.”

“He’s not sleeping,” she snorts. “He’s dying. Haven’t you heard him groaning and growling in pain? The man is temporarily blind, in a fever haze, and for God’s sake Devon’s taking care of him. We all know that he even rubs his face with vigor, like he’s trying to scratch the whole thing off when he’s simply cleaning himself.”

Your brother in law, Devon—once a rake, sleeping around with all of London, but now happily married to Kathleen—had connections. You know that. You also know that he loves you and your sister more than anything, but what he is unaware of is the unfortunate circumstances the three of you were in.

Kathleen and your older brother who—upon taking the responsibilities, died after a brawl in the tavern because he had the ‘urge’ to get drunk—used to be the ones managing the estate. What was left of it, at least. Devon came and picked up the pieces like an angel, and fell in love with Kathleen, saving them all.

Emotionally.

Financially… you still didn’t have the money to buy fancy dresses, or the carriages to go around the season. The estate was still breaking down daily, from the leaks to the fragile doors. And yet, he had decided to invite his friend, Duke Min Yoongi.

Then he’d gotten into an accident upon coming here. A bullet wound and his carriage falling in the river was how Devon found him. Maybe they aren't so bulletproof after all, you muse.

And that was that. It’s been a few days since he entered your home, because it was impossible to move him elsewhere. Also because—

“Do you think we can find who the murderer is?”

You shoot her a look. “Cassy. Kathleen said no more trouble, especially when the Duke is in the house.”

“But he’s so boring,” she sighs. “There’s a permanent scowl on his face, too. What do you think he’d be good at? Drinking?”

A smile curves in the corner of your lips, and you shake your head.

“Fuck!” A string of curses follow, and the two of you stare with widened eyes.

“I don’t—”

“He’s not—”

“Should we—”

“No,” Cassandra announces. “You should go take care of him. If we let Devon do it, I think the Duke might kill him. Come on.”

Grabbing your hand, the two of you venture up the stairs and down the hallway, where the Duke is. He’s laying on the bed, with Devon disinfecting his gunshot wound, shouting every curse in existence.

“How are you too tired to talk, but not too tired to curse me?” Your brother in law asks in wonder, but hesitates approaching again. And you see the tiredness in the Duke’s face, his jaw clenched, lips pressed together, and hair messy. He hasn’t showered in days, struggling to survive.

But what shocks you is that Devon’s face seems to match his.

“Devon,” you begin. “I can take care of the Duke for an hour or so.”

“Get some rest,” Cassandra pipes up. “You look uglier than the time you stumbled in drunk.”

“What she means is,” you add hastily, “We care about your well being.”

“I can’t leave him unattended.” He shakes his head. “Much less with a young lady.”

“The door will be open,” you respond gently. “And you should spend some time with Kathleen.”

A knock on the door, and Kathleen seems to say her agreement.

And that’s how you find yourself taking care of the Duke.

Believe it or not, the Duke was proud of his ability to steer people away from him. He knew he was an influential figure in society, knew that people came to him for a reason to use him.

Being alone was better than being used.

Yoongi groans—he hates this. The feeling of vulnerability. Of having Devon and his family see how weak he is. But his body did ache. His lungs stopped working a while ago, every liquid going down is throat is like someone is strangling him. He’s a workaholic, not someone who jumps from tavern to tavern. There are things he needs to do.

Laying in bed is not one of them.

His caretaker switched out hours ago. He knows that much, from the hushed whispers of a feminine voice, and Devon’s gravelly one. One of his sister in laws, he assumes.

A cup presses against his lips.

“No,” he manages to spit out, throat on fire.

“Please,” her voice is softer, much better than Devon shoving the thing down his throat. “Water will make you feel better.”

He shakes his head—or tries to.

But the cup stays in place. The only difference is that a palm slides against his. Yoongi jolts at the contact.

They’re soft. Warm. Reassuring in a way.

So he swallows the liquid, even if it came from hell.

In the middle of the night, he feels a warm towel against his forehead. A hand pats his chest, as if he were a kid needing a lullaby to sing.

“Tell me your name,” he grinds out. This whole day, she was taking care of him, and he didn’t have a name for her, much less a face. It annoyed him to no end.

You reply.

Huh, he thinks. It suits you.

Duke Min has a lot of demands, you realize. And possibly a very limited vocabulary when it comes to dealing with people. It’s either “say something,” “come here,” “give me your hand,” or “get me your sister-in law.”

The last one to Devon.

Most of the time, you sit in silence with him, until he makes you talk.

“I like flowers,” you explain. “Not because they’re pretty, but because each one has a meaning to it. It’s symbolic, like a thousand of emotions in one living thing.”

It’s hard, talking about yourself to someone who barely replies. But you do it anyways, because you’re awful with silences.

The Duke grunts in acknowledgment. His fingers find yours, and his thumb caresses your palm. The callouses on his hands rub against your soft ones, and you glance down to see how your fingers intertwine so nicely together.

Thank goodness he’s blind, because you don’t want him to see the flush on your face.

Something clatters downstairs. You’re pretty sure it’s Cassandra dropping a plate. But it’s enough to startle you that you attempt to pull your hand away.

The Duke pulls back, keeping you where you are.

“Duke—”

“Yoongi. We are past that stage, are we not?”

“Ah, yes?”

“Good,” he says, voice lowering. It’s soft. Well, the softest you heard him say so far.

What you don't know is that in his head, he realizes: he might fall in love with you.

@noooodlllleeee @hahaha-darn-it

kate sharma doesn't confess her feelings, she just gives you the iconic "i'm in love with you look" conveyed through her eyebrows

i love this couple lmao

hahahaha

This is BEAUTIFUL. I don’t even need it but if someone does. And it was just so fun to read anyway.

A Guide to Historically Accurate Regency-Era Names

I recently received a message from a historical romance writer asking if I knew any good resources for finding historically accurate Regency-era names for their characters.

Not knowing any off the top of my head, I dug around online a bit and found there really isn’t much out there. The vast majority of search results were Buzzfeed-style listicles which range from accurate-adjacent to really, really, really bad.

I did find a few blog posts with fairly decent name lists, but noticed that even these have very little indication as to each name’s relative popularity as those statistical breakdowns really don't exist.

I began writing up a response with this information, but then I (being a research addict who was currently snowed in after a blizzard) thought hey - if there aren’t any good resources out there why not make one myself?

As I lacked any compiled data to work from, I had to do my own data wrangling on this project. Due to this fact, I limited the scope to what I thought would be the most useful for writers who focus on this era, namely - people of a marriageable age living in the wealthiest areas of London.

So with this in mind - I went through period records and compiled the names of 25,000 couples who were married in the City of Westminster (which includes Mayfair, St. James and Hyde Park) between 1804 to 1821.

So let’s see what all that data tells us…

To begin - I think it’s hard for us in the modern world with our wide and varied abundance of first names to conceive of just how POPULAR popular names of the past were.

If you were to take a modern sample of 25-year-old (born in 1998) American women, the most common name would be Emily with 1.35% of the total population. If you were to add the next four most popular names (Hannah, Samantha, Sarah and Ashley) these top five names would bring you to 5.5% of the total population. (source: Social Security Administration)

If you were to do the same survey in Regency London - the most common name would be Mary with 19.2% of the population. Add the next four most popular names (Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah and Jane) and with just 5 names you would have covered 62% of all women.

To hit 62% of the population in the modern survey it would take the top 400 names.

The top five Regency men’s names (John, William, Thomas, James and George) have nearly identical statistics as the women’s names.

I struggled for the better part of a week with how to present my findings, as a big list in alphabetical order really fails to get across the popularity factor and also isn’t the most tumblr-compatible format. And then my YouTube homepage recommended a random video of someone ranking all the books they’d read last year - and so I present…

The Regency Name Popularity Tier List

The Tiers

S+ - 10% of the population or greater. There is no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. 52% of the population had one of these 7 names.

S - 2-10%. There is still no modern equivalent to this level of popularity. Names in this percentage range in the past have included Mary and William in the 1880s and Jennifer in the late 1970s (topped out at 4%).

A - 1-2%. The top five modern names usually fall in this range. Kids with these names would probably include their last initial in class to avoid confusion. (1998 examples: Emily, Sarah, Ashley, Michael, Christopher, Brandon.)

B - .3-1%. Very common names. Would fall in the top 50 modern names. You would most likely know at least 1 person with these names. (1998 examples: Jessica, Megan, Allison, Justin, Ryan, Eric)

C - .17-.3%. Common names. Would fall in the modern top 100. You would probably know someone with these names, or at least know of them. (1998 examples: Chloe, Grace, Vanessa, Sean, Spencer, Seth)

D - .06-.17%. Less common names. In the modern top 250. You may not personally know someone with these names, but you’re aware of them. (1998 examples: Faith, Cassidy, Summer, Griffin, Dustin, Colby)

E - .02-.06%. Uncommon names. You’re aware these are names, but they are not common. Unusual enough they may be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Calista, Skye, Precious, Fabian, Justice, Lorenzo)

F - .01-.02%. Rare names. You may have heard of these names, but you probably don’t know anyone with one. Extremely unusual, and would likely be remarked upon. (1998 examples: Emerald, Lourdes, Serenity, Dario, Tavian, Adonis)

G - Very rare names. There are only a handful of people with these names in the entire country. You’ve never met anyone with this name.

H - Virtually non-existent. Names that theoretically could have existed in the Regency period (their original source pre-dates the early 19th century) but I found fewer than five (and often no) period examples of them being used in Regency England. (Example names taken from romance novels and online Regency name lists.)

Just to once again reinforce how POPULAR popular names were before we get to the tier lists - statistically, in a ballroom of 100 people in Regency London: 80 would have names from tiers S+/S. An additional 15 people would have names from tiers A/B and C. 4 of the remaining 5 would have names from D/E. Only one would have a name from below tier E.

Women's Names

S+ Mary, Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah      

S - Jane, Mary Ann+, Hannah, Susannah, Margaret, Catherine, Martha, Charlotte, Maria

A - Frances, Harriet, Sophia, Eleanor, Rebecca

B - Alice, Amelia, Bridget~, Caroline, Eliza, Esther, Isabella, Louisa, Lucy, Lydia, Phoebe, Rachel, Susan

C - Ellen, Fanny*, Grace, Henrietta, Hester, Jemima, Matilda, Priscilla

D - Abigail, Agnes, Amy, Augusta, Barbara, Betsy*, Betty*, Cecilia, Christiana, Clarissa, Deborah, Diana, Dinah, Dorothy, Emily, Emma, Georgiana, Helen, Janet^, Joanna, Johanna, Judith, Julia, Kezia, Kitty*, Letitia, Nancy*, Ruth, Winifred>

E - Arabella, Celia, Charity, Clara, Cordelia, Dorcas, Eve, Georgina, Honor, Honora, Jennet^, Jessie*^, Joan, Joyce, Juliana, Juliet, Lavinia, Leah, Margery, Marian, Marianne, Marie, Mercy, Miriam, Naomi, Patience, Penelope, Philadelphia, Phillis, Prudence, Rhoda, Rosanna, Rose, Rosetta, Rosina, Sabina, Selina, Sylvia, Theodosia, Theresa

F - (selected) Alicia, Bethia, Euphemia, Frederica, Helena, Leonora, Mariana, Millicent, Mirah, Olivia, Philippa, Rosamund, Sybella, Tabitha, Temperance, Theophila, Thomasin, Tryphena, Ursula, Virtue, Wilhelmina

G - (selected) Adelaide, Alethia, Angelina, Cassandra, Cherry, Constance, Delilah, Dorinda, Drusilla, Eva, Happy, Jessica, Josephine, Laura, Minerva, Octavia, Parthenia, Theodora, Violet, Zipporah

H - Alberta, Alexandra, Amber, Ashley, Calliope, Calpurnia, Chloe, Cressida, Cynthia, Daisy, Daphne, Elaine, Eloise, Estella, Lilian, Lilias, Francesca, Gabriella, Genevieve, Gwendoline, Hermione, Hyacinth, Inez, Iris, Kathleen, Madeline, Maude, Melody, Portia, Seabright, Seraphina, Sienna, Verity

Men's Names

S+ John, William, Thomas

S - James, George, Joseph, Richard, Robert, Charles, Henry, Edward, Samuel

A - Benjamin, (Mother’s/Grandmother’s maiden name used as first name)#

B - Alexander^, Andrew, Daniel, David>, Edmund, Francis, Frederick, Isaac, Matthew, Michael, Patrick~, Peter, Philip, Stephen, Timothy

C - Abraham, Anthony, Christopher, Hugh>, Jeremiah, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Walter

D - Adam, Arthur, Bartholomew, Cornelius, Dennis, Evan>, Jacob, Job, Josiah, Joshua, Lawrence, Lewis, Luke, Mark, Martin, Moses, Nicholas, Owen>, Paul, Ralph, Simon

E - Aaron, Alfred, Allen, Ambrose, Amos, Archibald, Augustin, Augustus, Barnard, Barney, Bernard, Bryan, Caleb, Christian, Clement, Colin, Duncan^, Ebenezer, Edwin, Emanuel, Felix, Gabriel, Gerard, Gilbert, Giles, Griffith, Harry*, Herbert, Humphrey, Israel, Jabez, Jesse, Joel, Jonas, Lancelot, Matthias, Maurice, Miles, Oliver, Rees, Reuben, Roger, Rowland, Solomon, Theophilus, Valentine, Zachariah

F - (selected) Abel, Barnabus, Benedict, Connor, Elijah, Ernest, Gideon, Godfrey, Gregory, Hector, Horace, Horatio, Isaiah, Jasper, Levi, Marmaduke, Noah, Percival, Shadrach, Vincent

G - (selected) Albion, Darius, Christmas, Cleophas, Enoch, Ethelbert, Gavin, Griffin, Hercules, Hugo, Innocent, Justin, Maximilian, Methuselah, Peregrine, Phineas, Roland, Sebastian, Sylvester, Theodore, Titus, Zephaniah

H - Albinus, Americus, Cassian, Dominic, Eric, Milo, Rollo, Trevor, Tristan, Waldo, Xavier

# Men were sometimes given a family surname (most often their mother's or grandmother's maiden name) as their first name - the most famous example of this being Fitzwilliam Darcy. If you were to combine all surname-based first names as a single 'name' this is where the practice would rank.

*Rank as a given name, not a nickname

+If you count Mary Ann as a separate name from Mary - Mary would remain in S+ even without the Mary Anns included

~Primarily used by people of Irish descent

^Primarily used by people of Scottish descent

>Primarily used by people of Welsh descent

I was going to continue on and write about why Regency-era first names were so uniform, discuss historically accurate surnames, nicknames, and include a little guide to finding 'unique' names that are still historically accurate - but this post is already very, very long, so that will have to wait for a later date.

If anyone has any questions/comments/clarifications in the meantime feel free to message me.

Methodology notes: All data is from marriage records covering six parishes in the City of Westminster between 1804 and 1821. The total sample size was 50,950 individuals.

I chose marriage records rather than births/baptisms as I wanted to focus on individuals who were adults during the Regency era rather than newborns. I think many people make the mistake when researching historical names by using baby name data for the year their story takes place rather than 20 to 30 years prior, and I wanted to avoid that. If you are writing a story that takes place in 1930 you don’t want to research the top names for 1930, you need to be looking at 1910 or earlier if you are naming adult characters.

I combined (for my own sanity) names that are pronounced identically but have minor spelling differences: i.e. the data for Catherine also includes Catharines and Katherines, Susannah includes Susannas, Phoebe includes Phebes, etc.

The compound 'Mother's/Grandmother's maiden name used as first name' designation is an educated guesstimate based on what I recognized as known surnames, as I do not hate myself enough to go through 25,000+ individuals and confirm their mother's maiden names. So if the tally includes any individuals who just happened to be named Fitzroy/Hastings/Townsend/etc. because their parents liked the sound of it and not due to any familial relations - my bad.

I did a small comparative survey of 5,000 individuals in several rural communities in Rutland and Staffordshire (chosen because they had the cleanest data I could find and I was lazy) to see if there were any significant differences between urban and rural naming practices and found the results to be very similar. The most noticeable difference I observed was that the S+ tier names were even MORE popular in rural areas than in London. In Rutland between 1810 and 1820 Elizabeths comprised 21.4% of all brides vs. 15.3% in the London survey. All other S+ names also saw increases of between 1% and 6%. I also observed that the rural communities I surveyed saw a small, but noticeable and fairly consistent, increase in the use of names with Biblical origins.

Sources of the records I used for my survey: 

Ancestry.com. England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988 [database on-line].

Ancestry.com. Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935 [database on-line].

Hi people! I've been busy with this book I'm writing and would like your guy's opinion on it.

I won't be giving context right now because I first want opinions before I post it. I will say it's an enemies to lovers and historical romance.

Warnings: suggestive, swearing, mentions of slight bullying (I think that's all)

Magdalene's big eyes, drowned in desire and wanton, stare deep up into Edward's dirt brown orbs. Challenging him. Testing him.

Edward notices the look of pure desperation and can't help but swallow the thick lump of spit in his throat, afraid he won't be able to control his urges. After all, he's just a man. A poor, desperate man.

"Stop." It comes out much whinier than Edward had expected. "Why? Does it make you nervous when I stare?" Magdalene speaks it so softly, so delicately, making Edward go mad in the head.

A cheeky grin creeps its way onto Magdalene's face upon seeing a deep crimson develop across Edward's cheeks. "Didn't know I had such an effect on you, sweetheart."

"Magdalene-" Edward's sentence is cut short as a hushed gasp escaping his throat at the feel of Magdalene's hand tightly intertwined with his midnight coloured locks as she tugs on it with just the right amount of force.

"What's the matter?" A fed up Edward so badly wanted to pin Magdalene against one of the four walls of the tiny closet and wipe that self-sastisfied look off of her face.

"You know damn well what's wrong." He retorted a bit louder this time, his voice still not missing that whiny edge to it.

Magdalene looks down at the noticeable bulge underneath Edward's trousers and scoffs in amusement.

"You're hard, sweetheart." Edward would've run away from embarrassment if it weren't for Magdalene's body entrapping his.

"Let. Me. Go." It sounds as if it's forced its way through the tiny gaps in between his pearlescent teeth. "I don't think so." Magdalene coos.

"Please, Magdalene," Edward pleads, "let me go before I do something I'll regret."

Magdalene can't deny the feeling that developed deep in her gut at the sound of her name said so prettily by Edward, but it wasn't enough for her to stop her torture.

"Tell me what it is you'll do. Let me hear it." Magdalene challenges.

The gap between the two's almost none existent. They might aswell just kiss each other already, but that would mean they've claimed one another, and they both knew they weren't ready for that. Not yet, at least.

Edward is hesitant at first, scared he'll fuck up. "I..." James words get caught in his throat as he feels Magdalene's hands slowly journey downwards toward his nether regions.

Magdalene silently urges him to continue by placing soft kisses along his jawline.

"First, I'd get you out of here, I'd take you some place more private, like my bed chamber, and then I'd tease the absolute living hell out of you just as you have done to me." Magdalene's ears perk up in anticipation. "Then, I'd fuck you so good I'll ruin any other guy for you. You won't be able to think of anything but me." Their breaths quicken, the tension between the two rising, "would you like that?"

Edward manages to get the words out. Not without struggle, though.

"I would like that, Edward. I would like that very much."

There's a pause that hangs in the air.

"Then surrender. You know you won't win this one, Dolly." There's that godforsaken pet name that she's so familiar with.

Memories of her childhood come flooding like water through a broken and busted dam.

Memories of Edward.

How he'd pick on her, how harshly he'd tug on her hair and break out in a fit of laughter once he'd hear her groan in pain.

How he'd stare her down from across the room, causing her to breakout in goosebumps.

Edward takes advantage of the situation and, in God's speed, gains the upper hand

Magdalene feels her body being hauled onto the small round table, involuntary. Her mind warns her of how wrong this is.

How she may not be able to turn back, but it's almost as if her bodie's been taken over by an unnamed force.

All Magdalene can do is sit still and take it.

Her ass so close to the edge of the table that if she wasn't careful, she'd fall off.

Her body tenses up at the feel of Edward's ice-cold hands playing with the straps of her dress as his other hands force her legs open. Her thighs are now bracketing his thighs.

Edward's hands ghost over the place where Magdalene needed him most. Not that she would ever admit it.

At least not to him.

"Why so quiet?" Edward teasingly whispers against the shell of Magdalene's ear.

The two feel each other move closer, as if they're two magnets. The pull was too strong to fight off.

Closer.

And closer.

Just before either of them could close the gap, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the door. It didn't sound too close, but it still managed to cause a panic.

Oh shit.

"We best leave before we start a scandal." Edward suggested as he unknowingly takes a hold of Magdalene's hand.

His grasp makes Magdalene feel some sort of comfort and protection. Something she's not used to receiving from him. He guides both of them out of the small closet and into the narrow hallway.

They check both ends of the corridor, and once they've determined that the coast is clear, the pair make a run for it, all while giggling.

Once they've made to one of the doors that would lead right into the huge ballroom, the two face eachother.

They wait for the other to say something and replace the silence, but it remains quiet.

Not until Magdalene decides to break the silence. "I shall- um... enter through this door so they won't suspect anything."

"That's wise." The two speak as if what had just happened between them was a mear fantasy.

Edward and Magdalene go their separate ways, but not without sparring each other one last glance. They would discuss this another time.

I still need to do some more editing, but let me know your thoughts ☺️

Have a good day, y'all

Book Recommendations <3

So this book is an historical romance and mystery novel with a strong female main character, and if you want more book boyfriends and girlfriends to add to your collection then you need to read it and share who your newest obsession is.

There are bushrangers, a murder mystery, a slow burn love story, and heaps of suspense.

It's called Among The Grey Gums and it's by an Australian author that is probably one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet (my favourite non-biological family member).

Unfortunately the book hasn't sold enough copies yet and she now has to look for a new publisher, if you are interested in the genre and want to support a small author I urge you to buy a copy of her works. Among The Grey Gums is her second book and it has gotten me into the Historical fiction genre.

PS. There's no spicy scenes :)

PSPS. Here's where to get the audiobook (there's a huge sale at the moment): https://amzn.asia/d/3deqWvE

Edit: I forgot to mention - there's an adult puppy