To her, the name of father was another name for love.

The line equates “father” not with authority or mere biological relation but with an experienced, dependable affection. By saying the name itself is “another name for love,” the speaker implies a childhood in which paternal care was so consistent that the concept of fatherhood became synonymous with emotional safety and tenderness. The phrasing also hints at contrast: this is not presented as universal, but as something distinctive “to her,” suggesting other characters or readers may know fathers differently. In Fanny Fern’s work, such a sentiment can function as both idealization and quiet critique—holding up attentive fatherhood as a moral standard against which neglect, cruelty, or social hypocrisy may be measured.