Old Church Directory names

General Name Discussion
1

I work at a church, and this afternoon as I was digging through the filing cabinet, I found a bunch of church family directories (complete with photos) from the 1980s. They turned out to be a gold mind of interesting names, many of which I’d never heard before or had heard only rarely. [name]Bear[/name] in mind many of the church members were in their 70s and 80s at the time (30ish years ago). Here are some that stood out:

Men
[name]Cornelius[/name] (more than one; I have a soft spot for this name), [name]Elwood[/name], [name]Ewald[/name], [name]Glover[/name], [name]Mervin[/name], [name]Norval[/name], [name]Simeon[/name], [name]Theophilus[/name] (actually know someone who just used this for her baby)

Women
[name]Augustina[/name], [name]Barton[/name], Berdena, Delsena, Emgar, [name]Etheline[/name], [name]Evona[/name], Faylene, [name]Fronnie[/name], [name]Germaine[/name], Henzel, [name]Hyacinth[/name] (this is the only real one I’ve met; it’s hitherto been all “Keeping Up Appearances” to me), [name]Jacoba[/name], Keitha, Letris, Mapleine, [name]Melvena[/name], Normalyn, Oatley, [name]Pearline[/name], Pearlyn, Sabrian, Toddinya (whose brother was named [name]Todd[/name] - yikes!), [name]Williamina[/name]

Mer/Myr seemed to be a hip first syllable at some point. In addition to [name]Myrtle[/name], there was [name]Merle[/name], [name]Merna[/name], Mervis, Myricyl, and [name]Myrtice[/name] (all women).

[name]Ver[/name]- names were also hip. There was a [name]Verda[/name], Verleta, and [name]Verna[/name].

And lest we think creative spelling is a new phenomenon, there was an Imojene, and a Taunya.

What do you think of these names, berries? Would you use any of them? I like [name]Augustina[/name], Sabrian, and [name]Pearline[/name], [name]Hyacinth[/name].

2

For the men, I like [name]Simeon[/name] and [name]Theophilus[/name]. I could see myself using [name]Simeon[/name], but [name]Theophilus[/name] is a little bit [name]OTT[/name]. The only one I like from the women’s names is [name]Hyacinth[/name], but if I considered that it’d be middle name only. [name]Pearline[/name] is okay, too, but I prefer Pearlette.

3

Wow! What a cool find! And love the “Keeping Up Appearances” reference. :slight_smile: [name]Barton[/name] for a woman’s name? That one stood out to me as interesting even amidst all the other strange picks. The odd spellings also strike me even in addition to what you pointed out: [name]Merna[/name] instead of [name]Myrna[/name], the [name]Pearline[/name]/Pearlyn combo, Myricyl sort of like [name]Marisol[/name]…

I totally want to do this at my home church where my dad is still a minister! I bet there are some gems in those files.

4

If you find any interesting names, be sure to post them! I’m going to skim the more recent directories today for more names. I’m really wondering where the pre-1980s books are, since the church has been around much longer than that.

I never thought of Myricyl/[name]Marisol[/name]. My first thought was that Myricyl sounds like some kind of prescription drug! I have actually spoken to [name]Barton[/name] on the phone and the first time was taken aback by her name.