Cordelia is a feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

. It was borne by the

tragic heroine A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his ''Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ba ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen

Cordelia Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with Latin '' cor'' ( geni ...

. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

'' cor'' (

genitive In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...

cordis The Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) is the European Commission's primary public repository and portal to disseminate information on all European Union (EU) funded research projects and their results in the broadest se ...

'') "

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

", and has also been linked with the Welsh name

Creiddylad Creiddylad (also known as ''Creirddylad'', ''Creurdilad'', ''Creudylad'' or ''Kreiddylat''), daughter of King Lludd, is a minor character in the early medieval Welsh Arthurian tale ''Culhwch ac Olwen''. Role in Welsh tradition Creiddylad, daugh ...

, allegedly meaning "jewel of the sea", but it may derive from the French ''coeur de lion'' "heart of a lion".

Real people with the name

Cordelia Botkin Cordelia Botkin (1854 – March 7, 1910) was an American murderer who sent a box of poisoned candy to her ex-lover's wife. This was the first American prosecution for a crime which took place in two different jurisdictions, as Botkin had sent the ...

, American murderer * Cordelia of Britain, legendary queen of the Britons, youngest daughter of

King Leir ''King Leir'' is an anonymous Elizabethan play about the life of the ancient Brythonic king Leir of Britain. It was published in 1605 but was entered into the Stationers' Register on 15 May 1594. The play has attracted critical attention princ ...

Cordelia Bugeja Cordelia Bugeja (born 5 March 1976 in Chichester, West Sussex) is a British actress, best known for her roles as Julie in ''Not Going Out'', Nikki in ''EastEnders'', Melanie Hart in ''Family Affairs'', and sex worker Kate in '' Respectable''. ...

, British actress *

Cordelia Cameron Cordelia Cameron (d. ''after'' 1844), was an Australian stage actor and theatre manager. She was the first woman theater manager in Australia. Life Cordelia Cameron was married to her colleague, the actor-manager Samson Cameron, and managed a t ...

, Australian actor-mananger *Cordelia de Castellane, French designer *

Cordelia Throop Cole Cordelia Throop Cole (, Throop; November 17, 1833 – April 29, 1900) was a 19th-century American social reformer, who lectured, wrote, and edited on behalf the temperance crusade and social purity movement. She made valuable contributions with h ...

(1833–1900), American social reformer * Cordelia Fine, British academic psychologist and writer * Cordelia Agnes Greene, 19th-century physician, philanthropist and suffragist from Upstate New York * Cordelia Harvey,

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Louis Harvey, known for founding

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Orphans homes and advocating for war

field hospital A field hospital is a temporary hospital or mobile medical unit that takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent facilities. This term was initially used in military medicine (such as the Mobile A ...

conditions *Cordelia Hawkins,

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the U.S. town of Cordele, Georgia *

Cordelia James, Baroness James of Rusholme Cordelia Mary James, Baroness James of Rusholme (née Wintour; 30 November 1912 – 12 March 2007) was a British teacher and judicial officer. She served as a justice of the peace and as chairwoman on the report of the Howard League for Penal R ...

, British educator and justice of the peace *Cordelia Knott, wife of Walter Knott and foundress of Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

Cordelia Scaife May Cordelia Scaife May (September 24, 1928 – January 26, 2005) was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area political donor and philanthropist. An heiress to the Mellon-Scaife family fortune, she was one of the wealthiest women in the United States. Her p ...

, philanthropist * Cordelia Urueta Sierra 1908-1995 Mexican Artist She has been called the “Grande Dame of Abstract Art * Cordelia Mendoza, American antiquarian and appraiser *

Cordelia Strube Cordelia Strube is a Canadian playwright and novelist. Raised in Montreal, Quebec, Strube began her career as an actor. After winning a CBC Literary Award for her first radio play, ''Mortal'', she wrote nine more radio plays for CBC Radio before ...

, Canadian playwright and novelist *

Cordelia Wilson Cordelia Creigh Wilson (28 November 1873, Georgetown, Colorado – 7 June 1953, Seattle, Washington) was a painter noted for her landscapes of New Mexico and the American Southwest. Biography Cordelia "Cordie" Creigh was born in Clear Creek Co ...

, painter of New Mexico and American Southwest landscapes

Fictional characters with the name

*A supposed

anglicization Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by Culture of England, English culture or Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English ...

of ''

'', the name of a character in

Welsh mythology Welsh mythology (Welsh: ''Mytholeg Cymru'') consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. As in most of the predominantly oral societies Cel ...

.Doubt has been cast on the linking of these two names, beyond "the string of consonants C-R-D-L
Sara L. Uckelman, "Concerning the name Cordelia"
/ref> *

Cordelia (King Lear) Cordelia is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's tragic play ''King Lear''. Cordelia is the youngest of King Lear's three daughters, and his favourite. After her elderly father offers her the opportunity to profess her love to him in re ...

, a central character in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's tragic play ''

'', based on the story of

. *Cordelia, the main character of the eponymous Dutch adult comic strip by Belgian cartoonist "ILAH"

Inge Heremans Ilah is the nom de plume of Inge Liesbeth Alfonsina Heremans (Leuven, 25 January 1971), a Belgian comic book artist, mainly known for her ''Cordelia'' series, a gag-a-day comic about a young woman, which has gained popularity and notoriety for open ...

. *Cordelia, character in James Lapine and William Finn's 1990 off-Broadway musical

Falsettoland ''Falsettoland'' is a musical with a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by William Finn. Following ''In Trousers'' and ''March of the Falsettos'', it is the third in a trio of one-act musicals centering on Marvin, his wife Trina, his psyc ...

and later its two Broadway revivals, renamed Falsettos. *Cordelia, humble and supremely talented, the sole survivor of Ylisse's pegasus knights in Fire Emblem Awakening. *Cordelia Frost, character in MARVEL's " Emma Frost" comics, Emma's sister.

Anime

Cordelia Capulet Cordelia is a feminine given name. It was borne by the tragic heroine of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (1606), a character based on the legendary queen Cordelia. The name is of uncertain origin. It is popularly associated with Latin '' cor'' (genit ...

, Japanese anime character in "

Romeo x Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a priest ...

". *

Cordelia Gallo is a Japanese light novel series written by Kazuki Sakuraba, with illustrations by Hinata Takeda. The series includes 13 novels published by Fujimi Shobo between December 2003 and July 2011. Set in a fictional European country in 1924, a ...

, Japanese anime character in " Gosick". *

Cordelia Glauca This is a list of characters who appear in Bushiroad's ''Tantei Opera Milky Holmes'' franchise. The series, which takes place in the Great Detective Era where both detectives and thieves use special powers known as Toys to battle against each o ...

, Japanese anime character in '' Tantei Opera Milky Holmes''. *Cordelia, Japanese anime character in '' Diabolik Lovers''.

Films and television shows

Cordelia Abbott A list of notable characters from the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' that significantly impacted storylines and debuted between January 2000 and December 2009. Alex Perez Alex Perez first appeared on November 29, 2000, later be ...

, in the television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

The Young and The Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

''. *

Cordelia Chase Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''; she also appeared on ''Buffy's'' spin-off series, ''Angel''. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as a serie ...

, character in the television series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'' and ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

''. *Cordelia is a 1980 Québec movie starring Louise Portal about real life Cordelia Corriveau, who was hanged in 1763 in Saint-Vallier, Québec, after being condemned for murdering her husband. She was after her death exposed in an iron cage at a crossroad. *

Cordelia Foxx The third season of the American horror anthology television series ''American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Coven'', is set in 2013 New Orleans and follows a coven of witches descended from Salem as they fight for survival, and features flashback ...

, character in '' American Horror Story: Coven''. * Cordelia Winthrop Scott, from the 2011 film

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, played by Selena Gomez. *Cordelia Thornberry, a character in the Wild Thornberrys, wife of Radcliffe Thornberry, mother of Nigel Thornberry, mother-in-law of Marianne Thornberry, and paternal grandmother of Debbie, Eliza, and Donnie.

Literature

*In Kierkegaard’s

Either/Or ''Either/Or'' (Danish: ''Enten – Eller'') is the first published work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Appearing in two volumes in 1843 under the pseudonymous editorship of ''Victor Eremita'' (Latin for "victorious hermit"), it o ...

in the section of

Diary of a Seducer ''Either/Or'' (Danish language, Danish: ''Enten – Eller'') is the first published work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Appearing in two volumes in 1843 under the pseudonymous editorship of ''Victor Eremita'' (Latin for "victorio ...

. *In

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

, Anne requests that she be called Cordelia rather than Anne when she believes she will only be staying with the Cuthberts for one night. *Cordelia Blake, titular character of the Winston Graham novel ''Cordelia'' (published in 1949). *

Cordelia Flakk The Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde currently consists of the novels ''The Eyre Affair'', ''Lost in a Good Book'', ''The Well of Lost Plots'', ''Something Rotten'', '' First Among Sequels'', '' One of Our Thursdays Is Missing'' and '' The Wo ...

, character in Jasper Fforde's ''

Lost in a Good Book ''Lost in a Good Book'' is an alternate history fantasy novel by Jasper Fforde. It won the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association 2004 Dilys Award. It is the second in the Thursday Next series. Synopsis ''Lost in a Good Book'' is the seco ...

''. *Lady Cordelia Flyte, in '' Brideshead Revisited'' (1945) by Evelyn Waugh. *Cordelia Geard, in

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

's novel '' A Glastonbury Romance'' (1932). *

Cordelia Gray Cordelia Gray is a fictional character created by English author P. D. James. Gray is the protagonist of two novels, ''An Unsuitable Job for a Woman'' and of ''The Skull Beneath the Skin''. Cordelia Gray is a young woman who works as a private dete ...

, in two books by

P.D. James Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuring t ...

. *

Cordelia Ransom This is a list of fictional characters appearing in the stories set in the Honor Harrington universe or Honorverse, a best-selling series of over twenty military science fiction novels and anthologies invented and written by David Weber. The stori ...

, in the Honorverse novels by David Weber. *The main character of the short story "Cordelia the Crude" by Wallace Thurman. * Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan in the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. *Cordelia Carstairs, protagonist of ''

The Last Hours ''The Shadowhunter Chronicles'' is a media franchise based on the writings of American young adult fiction writer Cassandra Clare, which currently encompasses six series of novels, three short-story collections, five graphic novels, one film, a t ...

'' series by Cassandra Clare.

Video Games

* Cordelia, playable character in Fire Emblem Awakening * Cordelia, final boss in

Panel de Pon ''Tetris Attack'', also known as in Japan, is a puzzle video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A Game Boy version was released a year later. In the game, the player must ar ...

* Cordelia, youngest daughter of King Regna, in

Triangle Strategy is a 2022 tactical role-playing game co-developed by Square Enix and Artdink for Nintendo Switch. The game was published by Square Enix in Japan and Nintendo internationally for the Nintendo Switch on March 4, 2022. The Microsoft Windows vers ...

References

{{given name English feminine given names