Old Fashioned Names from Genealogy

General Name Discussion
1

I’ve been drowning in genealogy lately, and I find it neat to see names that were so common “back then”, that we never hear now. Of course, there are a lot that I still think of as very old and then realize that I have heard it recently. [name]Estelle[/name] and [name]Estella[/name] seem to be getting used here and there. I know a little girl with the middle name of [name]Esta[/name]. [name]Millicent[/name] is poking out her head also.

Anyway, here are some “common” names that I saw in my tree. Would any of them pick back up?

[name]Alma[/name], [name]Alta[/name], [name]Arlet[/name],
[name]Electa[/name] (I always liked this)
[name]Essie[/name] (I know a 30ish one!), [name]Etta[/name] (my grandmother!)
[name]Lafayette[/name], [name]Lemuel[/name] (this seems everywhere in my tree, but I can’t imagine it now!),
[name]Lettice[/name]/[name]Lettie[/name] (well [name]Lottie[/name] is showing up, but I can’t imagine [name]Lettice[/name] – maybe [name]Letitia[/name] will bring [name]Lettie[/name] back)
[name]Minerva[/name], [name]Myrtle[/name]
[name]Nelle[/name]/[name]Nellie[/name], [name]Netta[/name]/[name]Nettie[/name] (this reminds me of the Hatties coming back)
[name]Waldo[/name]

And here are some uncommon ones!

[name]Albina[/name], Alcesta, Arrilla, Diadema, Elburn, Fodie (or maybe Foda) Melona, [name]Ozell[/name], Sherburn, [name]Urania[/name]

2

I really like [name]Alma[/name]! It was my great-grandmother’s name and it’s high on my list if we ever have another girl. I love the meaning of “soul”, too.

I have a friend that just named her new son [name]Lafayette[/name] earlier this year.

I can’t see [name]Lettice[/name] coming back - too close to lettuce.

3

My newborn cousin has the nn [name]Essy[/name] / [name]Essie[/name] (nn for Debussy) .
i have a 35 yrs old aunt named [name]Urania[/name] whose nn is [name]Rania[/name] !
I particularly love [name]Nelly[/name] and [name]Electa[/name] .

The names i would definetly use are :

[name]Nelly[/name] .only as a nn for [name]Penelope[/name] or [name]Eleanor[/name]
[name]Electa[/name]
[name]Etta[/name] only as a nn

the others are not my style

4

My two times great grandmother’s middle name was [name]Electa[/name]

5

I see [name]Matilda[/name] a lot in records from the 1700s and 1800s. It started to drop off around the 1850s. [name]Malinda[/name] is another one that’s surprised me. In general I’ve noticed that names were a little more “out there” pre-Victorian era.

[name]Seaborn[/name]
[name]Minerva[/name]
[name]Godfrey[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name]
[name]Parthenia[/name]
[name]Sophronia[/name]
[name]Justinian[/name]
Hazeltine
Cornellis
Glovenia
Marcenia

[name]Seaborn[/name] was actually kind of trendy in the 1850s. I’ve found at least 7 in my family tree born in that decade.

You also don’t start seeing “filler” middle names until the 40s and 50s. In my experience the common formula was a classic first name with an unusual middle name. Most people in my family went by a quirky nickname for their middle name or a nickname that had something to do with their their appearance or personality.

6

[name]Do[/name] you guys mind me asking where you found information on your ancestors?

7

Uncommon names in my family tree:

[name]Ichabod[/name], [name]Archibald[/name], [name]Clementina[/name], Thankful, [name]Franz[/name], [name]Ebenezer[/name], [name]Constance[/name] (not too weird), [name]Giles[/name], [name]Bethia[/name], [name]Solomon[/name], [name]Blanche[/name], Laurencia, [name]Elodia[/name], [name]Isidore[/name], [name]Rudolph[/name]

8

pemdas, I have been working on my tree off and on for years. Currently I subscribe to ancestry.com and use familysearch.org, but I have also used old-fashioned library research and some branches have plenty of on-line stuff available for free!

9

Ancestry is a good starting point, but you have to pay for it. There’s also HeritageQuest, which is free but you need a library card for a subscribing library to use it. I think some libraries have free access to Ancestry as well.

Some state archives have started putting their records online. Search Google and see if your state has something like this. Also try USGenWeb and [name_f]Cyndi[/name_f]'s List. The latter is a treasure trove of possible resources.

Depending on how much you know about your family, it might be easiest to print out a five-generation chart and fill in what you know. Once you’ve done that you can work on filling in the blanks, and if you get hooked like I did it will spiral out of control from there. :wink:

[name_m]Don[/name_m]'t expect to be able to do everything online, because you can’t. Document all sources. Have an unquestionable source for every person, name, place, date, and event you add to your tree. I learned that the hard way.

10

Two of my favorite names are on this list! I absolutely adore [name_f]Electra[/name_f] and [name_m]Waldo[/name_m]. I’ll thrilled to see that [name_f]Electra[/name_f] in particular has a much longer and more consistent history of use than I’d thought. I wish [name_m]Waldo[/name_m] would come back. It’s so quirky and handsome. I would use [name_m]Waldo[/name_m] in a minute.

I could see [name_f]Alma[/name_f] and [name_f]Alta[/name_f] getting more use thanks to the popularity of [name_f]Ava[/name_f] and the [name_m]Ad[/name_m]- names ([name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], [name_f]Adele[/name_f], etc), but [name_u]Arden[/name_u] is more likely than [name_f]Arlet[/name_f] to climb the charts.

I would love it if [name_f]Etta[/name_f] became a sleeper hit like [name_f]Matilda[/name_f]. [name_f]Essie[/name_f], on the other hand, is too nicknamey to stand on its own. It could be a sweet short form of [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], though.

With Southern-inflected surname-names like [name_m]Colton[/name_m] and [name_m]Dalton[/name_m] and [name_m]Remington[/name_m] becoming popular, [name_m]Lafayette[/name_m] could gain traction – though I wouldn’t be surprised to see it appropriated for girls. [name_m]Lemuel[/name_m] is a nice alternative to [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], but with a hickish, redneck twang a la [name_m]Jethro[/name_m].

[name_f]Lettice[/name_f] isn’t coming back. [name_f]Lettie[/name_f], on the other hand, might join [name_f]Etta[/name_f] and [name_f]Hattie[/name_f] as hipster favorites.

I could even see [name_f]Myrtle[/name_f] picking up in use, given the fad for old lady names ([name_f]Adele[/name_f] used [name_f]Ethel[/name_f]!). [name_f]Minerva[/name_f] deserves to be heard more – it’s a wonderful mythological name, strong yet delicate.

I really like [name_f]Nell[/name_f], [name_u]Nelly[/name_u], and [name_f]Nella[/name_f], particularly as short forms for the gorgeous and underused [name_f]Antonella[/name_f]. [name_f]Nettie[/name_f] and [name_f]Netta[/name_f] are cute but feel unfinished, and I’m not crazy about [name_f]Annette[/name_f].

11

[name_m]How[/name_m] about things like [name_m]Barnabas[/name_m] and [name_m]Bartholomew[/name_m]? [name_m]Will[/name_m] they make a comeback? There are also all the hick-rednecks like [name_m]Clovis[/name_m] and [name_m]Cletus[/name_m] that I hope won’t come back!

12

from your list, I can see: [name_f]Alta[/name_f], [name_f]Arlet[/name_f], [name_f]Nellie[/name_f], and [name_f]Essie[/name_f] potentially picking back up!

I’ve been spending a whole lot of time doing my geneology as well and aside from the MANY well-used names, at least in my family (i.e. [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_m]William[/name_m], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Ann[/name_f], etc.) I’ve found alot of names I never knew were buried in my family tree!

Female:

[name_f]Honor[/name_f]/[name_f]Honora[/name_f] …used alot years ago, after one of my first known ancestors [name_f]Honora[/name_f] O’[name_u]Flynn[/name_u] ([name_u]Flynn[/name_u] was used a bit too)
[name_u]Comfort[/name_u]
Aravilla
Margare -not sure if this is supposed to be [name_f]Marjorie[/name_f] or something
[name_f]Patience[/name_f]
[name_f]Clemency[/name_f]
[name_f]Charity[/name_f]
[name_f]Thomasine[/name_f]
[name_f]Drusilla[/name_f]
[name_f]Polly[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]

[name_m]Male[/name_m]:

[name_m]Josiah[/name_m]
[name_m]Edward[/name_m]
[name_m]Cornelius[/name_m]
[name_m]Phillip[/name_m]
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m] [name_m]Bond[/name_m] (bond was a common mn)
[name_m]Augustine[/name_m]
[name_m]Dann[/name_m]
[name_m]Nicholus[/name_m] -acutal spelling they used
[name_m]Austin[/name_m] -I was just surprised to see this used in the late 1700s
[name_m]Leonard[/name_m] [name_m]Edward[/name_m]
[name_u]Maurice[/name_u]
[name_m]Hugh[/name_m]

That’s just from the farthest back branches! I got sidetracked and ended up looking up literally every relative I found, plus their branches so yeah…not done yet :wink:

13

So with the help of another berry I was able to find my great and great great grandparents from [name_f]Austria[/name_f]/Hungary and Germany and their children.

[name_m]Otto[/name_m]
[name_f]Augusta[/name_f]
[name_f]Anna[/name_f]
[name_m]Frederick[/name_m]
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_m]Elmer[/name_m]
[name_f]Mildred[/name_f]
[name_m]Donald[/name_m]
[name_m]Russel[/name_m]
[name_f]Shirley[/name_f]
[name_f]Elvira[/name_f]
[name_m]Stephen[/name_m]
[name_f]Julia[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosalia[/name_f]
[name_m]Joseph[/name_m]
[name_m]John[/name_m]
[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]
[name_f]Irene[/name_f]