Interesting Family Tree Finds

My great grandmother passed away last week. She was 95 years old and lived a great life. She was a wonderful woman and will be missed.

While attending her funeral, I got the opportunity to see lots of old family members and take a look at her family tree. I ran across some interesting names.

[name]Lucy[/name] [name]Melvina[/name] (my great grandmother) - I adore [name]Lucy[/name]. [name]Melvina[/name] is probably after someone named [name]Melvin[/name], if I were guessing. Definitely “old school.”
[name]James[/name] “[name]Buster[/name]” (my great grandfather)

[name]Nellie[/name] (her mother) - I love [name]Nellie[/name], nn [name]Nell[/name]. I’d like to use this some day.

[name]Hortense[/name] (one of her brothers) - Never heard this one before
[name]Ronald[/name] [name]Francis[/name] (my grandfather) - My grandpa talked about the fact that everyone’s middle name was usually to honor someone back in that time, whether it be a girl or a guy. His middle name is after one of his aunts.
[name]Essie[/name] (one of her sisters)
[name]Velma[/name] (another sister)
[name]Cleta[/name] (another sister)
[name]Herbert[/name] [name]Hughes[/name] (a brother)
[name]Evelynn[/name] (sister)

[name]Joyce[/name] [name]Clementine[/name] (my other great grandmother)

[name]Eveleen[/name], goes by [name]Evie[/name]
[name]Emil[/name] (my great grandmother’s brother) - Pronounced A-mull. I’m really liking this for a boy. [name]Evie[/name] and [name]Emil[/name] are married and I love their names together.

We also saw some interesting names at the cemetery:
[name]Lora[/name] [name]Dora[/name] and [name]Cora[/name] [name]Ora[/name] (sisters) - What a mouthful. It’s too much.
[name]Virgil[/name] (a girl) - I always thought this was a male name

First, I’m sorry for your loss.
I think [name]Lucy[/name] is a great name (it’s what I go by most of the time)! [name]Lucy[/name] and [name]James[/name] are lovely together.
[name]Nellie[/name] ([name]Nell[/name]) is sweet, too.
I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Hortense[/name]! I love [name]Hortensia[/name] a lot, too. I didn’t think [name]Hortense[/name] was usable at all until a couple years ago and for a class I took in my 4th year of school, we read an ethnography by [name]Hortense[/name] Powdermarker, and [name]Hortense[/name] really struck me then.
I also love [name]Francis[/name]!
[name]Evelynn[/name] is really nice, and [name]Essie[/name] is cute.
While [name]Clementine[/name] is not really my style, [name]Joyce[/name] [name]Clementine[/name] is charming.
I love [name]Emil[/name], too!

Oh wow, [name]Lora[/name] [name]Dora[/name] & [name]Cora[/name] [name]Ora[/name]? Intense!

I’m very sorry for your loss.

[name]Buster[/name] is such a cool nickname. I like [name]Nellie[/name] as a nickname for [name]Helena[/name] and [name]Essie[/name] as a nickname for [name]Elisabeth[/name]. My great-grandfather’s sister was named [name]Essie[/name] [name]Lee[/name], which I think is adorable.

My great-grandparents were going to name my grandmother [name]Hortense[/name] after a nice lady they knew. They announced this to their other children (between ages 10-19 at the time), were told [name]Hortense[/name] was a terrible name, and let my grand-aunt name my grandmother instead. Thus my grandmother became [name]Linda[/name] instead of [name]Hortense[/name], and she is forever thankful to her sister for that.

I hope this isn’t too off-topic. I love unearthing old family names. My dad ran into some of the most interesting while doing genealogy. I have around 5 ancestors with some derivative of the name [name]Valentine[/name]; we found Volentine, [name]Valentina[/name], and many others in an old grave yard in [name]West[/name] [name]Virginia[/name]. Other interesting names include [name]Americus[/name] and [name]Marcus[/name] [name]Aurelius[/name] after the emperor.

Thanks for the condolences everyone. She will be missed, but she had a great, long life.

@ajenmie - I love looking at old names as well. Probably sounds creepy, but I love checking out names at the cemetery and looking at old family trees. There are some real hidden gem names out there! I like [name]Americus[/name] a lot. Seems like it would fit right in with the [name]Atticus[/name] and [name]Atlas[/name] trend. [name]Valentina[/name] is also a very pretty name.

[name]Love[/name] [name]Essie[/name]! I would use it for a nickname for [name]Estella[/name], which I also love.

[name]Estella[/name] nn [name]Essie[/name] is super cute! And a great alternative to the very popular [name]Stella[/name]. I like it :slight_smile: