The Weird and the Wonderful Part 2

Here are some more from the list from [name]Norfolk[/name] baptisms (1500-1800). The with a * are ones that occur on several different people.

Boys:
Alraka
Appleby
[name]Baker[/name]*
Baptist
Bayes
Bicker
Bloome
Brereton*
[name]Britton[/name]
[name]Brookes[/name]
Buckenham
[name]Butcher[/name]
Chambers
[name]Clare[/name]* – lots of male [name]Clare[/name]/Clere’s (no girls though)
Claxton
[name]Cory[/name]
Eastgate
Eastyn
[name]Firman[/name]*
Flowerdy
Forby
Fordby
French
Fulham
Halsum
[name]Hammond[/name]*
Hanover
[name]Harland[/name]
[name]Harrison[/name]
[name]Hilton[/name]
Hynford
[name]Ireland[/name]*
[name]Israel[/name]
[name]Jackson[/name]
Kettwood
Lammas
Littlewood
[name]Major[/name]
Mayes
Meadows
[name]Neve[/name]
[name]Osborne[/name]
[name]Park[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name]* – surprising number of male Pearls!
[name]Procter[/name]
Quartus
Riches
Riseborough
Rix
Rixen
[name]Sayer[/name]
Shearman
Shreeve
[name]Taylor[/name]
Thredisting
Walsingham
Wroth*
Zaphnathpaaneah
Zurishaddaj

Girls:
[name]Allen[/name]*
[name]Amariah[/name] – I know this is traditionally boy, but in this instance it was on a girl.
Attwood
Azoah
Bassey
[name]Benedict[/name]
Benney
Bethsabe / Bethsaby* (+ various other spellings)
[name]Britannia[/name]*
Boyden
[name]Burrows[/name]
Chrysanna
Elosin
Good
[name]Grissell[/name]
Horner
[name]Jarvis[/name]
Knevett
Marthanna
Pagra
Pagarane
[name]Robert[/name]
[name]Ro[/name]-Herring
Scholastica
Sebeliah
Selverton
Sustillian
Trim
[name]Trinity[/name]
Vecula
Wyborough

Used on both:

[name]Emery[/name]*
Palgran*
Parkins*
Simonds/Symonds*

It’s funny how we think of [name]Trinity[/name], [name]Cory[/name], [name]Harrison[/name] as ‘modern’ when they were used hundreds of years ago :slight_smile:

Another interesting practice I have noticed is that if a boy was born illegitimately (common in rural [name]Norfolk[/name]) to a [name]Margaret[/name] he is usually given the middle name Margetson. This occurs in several different parishes over the years. I’ve also seen Roseson, Marison, and [name]Janson[/name] given as mns to boys born to single mothers.

What a great list! Please keep these coming! It’s fascinating to see what names were commonly in use centuries ago.

– [name]Nephele[/name]

[name]Baker[/name], [name]Hammond[/name] and [name]Israel[/name] are actually high on my list! ^^

Loving the weird and the wonderful, thank you for posting them!

I feel like re-naming two of mine Wrath and [name]Grissell[/name] right this minute.

Thanks [name]Elea[/name] I love your lists.

My great grandfather’s mn was [name]Simpson[/name] but I’ve seen it as [name]Simson[/name] makes me wonder if maybe it was Simonds. :confused: He went by the nn Sims all though his first name was Willet/Willit. Sometimes I wonder how adulterated some names are do to being misspelled ect.

I imagine it was [name]Simpson[/name] and the ‘p’ got missed out. Either way the sound is the most important (as they usually spelt it like it sounds) and [name]Simson[/name] sounds a lot like [name]Simpson[/name].

There are so many different spellings of names (even for the same person) in these records, making some of them unrecognisable as that name (Adre = [name]Audrey[/name], Orsele =[name]Ursula[/name], Sislae = [name]Cecily[/name]). My gt x4 grandmother [name]Willoughby[/name] is also Williby, Willlowby, Wilobie and Welabye in certain records. It appears that even the same vicar/priest would sometimes be undecided how a name should be spelt and keep changing.

Sometimes it’s down to bad handwriting as well and the transcribers guess what they think it is.
Some of these ‘mispellings’ stick, especially with surnames. My surname is a [name]Norfolk[/name] spelling/misspelling of [name]Nicholson[/name]. The spelling seem to stuck.

One of the surnames in my family tree actually changed through the generations due to mispelling. Tildesley > Tilesley > [name]Tinsley[/name]