While searching for “star” names recently, I discovered the curious name Castara, which was given to dozens of baby girls in the U.S. during the 1800s.
Some examples…
- Castara Mason (b. 1822 in New York)
- Castara Austin (b. circa 1825 in New York)
- Castara A. Queen (b. 1830 in Ohio)
- Castara A. Blankenship (b. 1835 in Kentucky)
- Castara Snell (b. 1836 in Pennsylvania)
- Castara Dorinda Douglass (b. 1838 in Vermont)
- Castara J. Spelman (b. 1841 in Ohio)
- Castara Shively (b. 1843 in Ohio)
- Castara A. Joy (b. 1843 in Maine)
- Castara Roberts (b. 1844 in Ohio)
- Castara Burton (b. 1854 in Ohio)
- Castara Fletcher (b. 1857 in Michigan)
- Castara E. Farr (b. 1864 in New York)
“Castara” reminded me of both Castor, the name from Greek mythology (and also the name of a star, coincidentally), and Castoria, the name of the old-timey patent medicine.
But I think the most likely explanation for this one is literature.
A volume of poetry called Castara was published anonymously in London in 1634. Later editions of the collection included extra poems and revealed the name of the author: William Habington, who’d invented the name “Castara” as a pseudonym for his wife, Lucy Herbert.
Habington’s poems had titles like…
- “To Castara, Softly singing to her selfe.”
- “To Castara, Inquiring why I loved her.”
- “To Cupid, Upon a dimple in Castara’s cheeke.”
- “To Castara, Upon a trembling kisse at departure.”
- “To Castara, Weeping.”
- “To Castara, Upon an embrace.”
Many of the poems praised Castara’s innocence and purity, so I believe Habington created the pseudonym from the Latin word castus, which means “morally pure,” “chaste.” (Castus is the word from which chaste derives, in fact.)
One researcher noted that, after Habington’s poems were published, the name Castara “rapidly [became] a generic name for a woman one might be in love with” in literature. For instance, in British writer Anna Maria Porter’s novel A Sailor’s Friendship (1805), the hero (who was probably modeled after Admiral Horatio Nelson) had a love interest named Castara.
Habington’s poems could be found in anthologies published in the U.S. during the 19th century. Several are featured in Richard Henry Stoddard’s The Loves and Heroines of the Poets (1861), for example. I also spotted mentions of Castara in various American periodicals (e.g., “…eloquent lines of Habington to his Castara…” in a California newspaper in 1857).
Despite this, the name Castara never caught on like some of the other names coined by writers — names such as Lorna, Pamela, Vanessa, and Wendy.
What are your thoughts on the name Castara?
Sources:
- Habington, William. Castara. 3rd ed. London: T. Cotes, 1640.
- William Habington – Wikipedia
- Castara, or Cruelty Without Hate – Lost Plays Database
- Williams, Kate. “Nelson and Women: Marketing, Representations and the Female Consumer.” Admiral Lord Nelson: Context and Legacy, edited by D. Cannadine, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 67-89.
- “Smiles and Kind Words.” San Andreas Independent 25 Apr. 1857: 1.
- FamilySearch.org
- Find a Grave
Image: Clipping from Castara
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