I have been doing some geneology research lately, and have uncovered some pretty unique family names, including these:
Sparrowhawk (from a family member in the 16th century!)
[name]Nevada[/name] (for a girl)
Electious
[name]Delinda[/name]
[name]Do[/name] you have any, for better or worse, in your family tree?
I have an ancestory.com account, but I haven’t gone back very far because I like to be absolutely certain that I’m actually related to them.
Some unusuals in my family:
Berma
Gleemer
Arzula
[name]Jeptha[/name] (the only male)
My husband’s family:
Tarlton
Also, his family kept with the common tradition of giving children Presidents’ names. He has a [name]George[/name] [name]Washington[/name] [Last Name] and a [name]John[/name] [name]Adams[/name] [Last Name]
I have people in my family called [name]Eunice[/name] and [name]Eustace[/name], they are siblings. We also have a family member called [name]Lawrence[/name] but he ALWAYS went by [name]Roy[/name], to the point that no one in may family knew his real name so when we tried to find his birth and death it took a long time to find his real name
I have a Telesphore and a Theofiel lurking in the family tree. I also discovered a branch of the family that were practically Pilgrims, so there were several men named [name]Comfort[/name]. My grandmother always went by her middle name - Euphema.
Oh my, Sparrowhawk is a find! We have lots of names I’ve either never heard before or rarely hear anymore. Almost everyone on my mother’s side of the family is into genealogy and has been for many generations. Some of these are from as far back as the 16th century.
female names:
Alegrine
[name]Elice[/name]
Faige
[name]Forrest[/name]
[name]Tekla[/name]
male names:
[name]Ludwig[/name]
Luloff
Mortenus
[name]Mortimer[/name]
[name]Olof[/name]
Passmore
[name]Silas[/name]
[name]Thor[/name]
Timen
[name]Ward[/name]
My Cajun relatives had some good ones–[name]Elida[/name], Aglia, and twins (?) named Minos and [name]Mina[/name].
From past generations:
[name]Ferris[/name]
Gayheart
Maryuarite ([name]Margaret[/name])
Marauder (long story. went by [name]Mara[/name])
Meriwether
Magdolna (went by Dolly)
Symond
[name]Minnie[/name] Appleton (thought the combination was strange.)
Welty (first name on a girl. surname of the family. she married young to avoid Welty Welty. oh the 1600s)
My family was pretty boring. Lots of [name]Marys[/name] and Josephs and saint’s names. The most unusual was [name]Cornelius[/name]. And there was a Juozas, but that’s just the Lithuanian spelling of [name]Joseph[/name].
We have an
[name]Eliphalet[/name]
[name]Electra[/name]
[name]Thor[/name], [name]Napoleon[/name], Reginleif, Adalida, [name]Gustava[/name], [name]Beauregard[/name], [name]Helsa[/name], [name]Olga[/name], [name]Theodoric[/name], etc
I’ve run across:
Female
Philotheta (or something similar… the census records give a couple of spellings)
Demaris
[name]Parthenia[/name]
Deliverance
[name]Delphi[/name]
Sisson
[name]Zellah[/name]
[name]Zona[/name]
[name]Albina[/name]
Males
Reasin (middle name)
[name]Denver[/name]
[name]Berlin[/name]
[name]Ebenezer[/name]
Welsie
Devoe
We also have a lot of hero names… [name]George[/name] [name]Washington[/name], [name]William[/name] [name]Wallace[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Magdalene[/name], [name]Henry[/name] [name]Ford[/name], etc.
Including ones from my family, past and present, close and distant relatives. I will include middle names if they are also unusual. Some go as far back as 17th century. (Warning: this is long! I sort of go nuts with genealogy…)
Female
Laronna (my aunt)
[name]Adaline[/name] [name]Lillith[/name]
[name]Almeda[/name]/Almeada (two separate people, each with a slight spelling variation)
[name]Alpha[/name] (wife of [name]Jewell[/name], see male list)
[name]Alta[/name]
[name]Ardina[/name]
Arreda
[name]Artie[/name]
[name]Cella[/name]
[name]Chloie[/name]
[name]Cleona[/name] (a mn)
[name]Della[/name] [name]May[/name] (has a twin, see male list)
[name]Dollie[/name] [name]Mae[/name]
[name]Doretta[/name]
[name]Easter[/name] [name]Elvina[/name]
Elzora
Eppa
Estaline
[name]Gena[/name] [name]Fae[/name]
Genieve [name]Alta[/name]
[name]Gladys[/name] [name]Athene[/name]
[name]Goldie[/name] [name]Darlene[/name]
Halene
[name]Hulda[/name]
[name]Imogene[/name]
[name]Jane[/name] O’Phellia MacAlice
[name]Lavinia[/name]
[name]Lella[/name]
[name]Letha[/name]
Lorinza
[name]Martha[/name] [name]Louann[/name] Marlette
[name]Mollie[/name] [name]Adeline[/name] [name]Nancy[/name] [name]Catherine[/name]
[name]Monika[/name] [name]Monique[/name]
[name]Nichelle[/name] (first cousin’s mn)
[name]Nova[/name] (two of them, a grandmother and granddaughter)
[name]Oda[/name] [name]Inez[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name]
[name]Ollie[/name] (a mn)
[name]Ora[/name]
[name]Regina[/name] (father’s cousin)
[name]Rhiannon[/name] (step-brother’s daughter)
[name]Rosamond[/name]
[name]Rosella[/name]
[name]Sharyn[/name]
[name]Sharen[/name] (daughter of [name]Sharyn[/name])
Syvada
Teraleann
[name]Thelma[/name] [name]Athene[/name] (daughter of [name]Gladys[/name] [name]Athene[/name])
[name]Tinnie[/name] ([name]Homer[/name]'s wife, see male list)
[name]Veta[/name] Dorlea
[name]Zella[/name] [name]Drew[/name]
Zeona
[name]Male[/name]
[name]Abner[/name]
[name]Argus[/name]
[name]Arley[/name]
[name]Barton[/name] [name]Gaylon[/name]
Chancie [name]Loy[/name]
[name]Cleve[/name] (a father and son both share this name)
[name]Columbus[/name] (a mn)
Corlace
Crannel
[name]Delbert[/name]
[name]Delmar[/name] [name]Ray[/name] (has a twin, see female list)
[name]Drury[/name] [name]Pinkney[/name]
[name]Duke[/name]
[name]Eldon[/name]
[name]Eldridge[/name]
Enoc
Ferlow (a mn)
[name]Garvin[/name]
[name]Granville[/name]
[name]Harvey[/name] (always went by [name]Doc[/name])
[name]Homer[/name] ([name]Tinnie[/name]'s husband, see female list)
[name]Horace[/name] Rankin (grandfather)
Hurshel
[name]Ira[/name] (a mn)
[name]Jewell[/name] (husband of [name]Alpha[/name], see female list)
[name]Lonnie[/name]
[name]Major[/name]
Melviny
Otte
[name]Pleasant[/name]
Taten (first cousin)
Virgal
Wilborn
Some are a little more out there:
I only went back to 1700-1800
Medford
[name]Zelda[/name]
[name]Dinah[/name]
[name]Woodrow[/name]
[name]Clarence[/name]
[name]Valentine[/name] (boy)
[name]Madora[/name]
Vona
Decinda (she went by Dicey)
[name]Cornelius[/name]
Tryntje
[name]Magdalena[/name]
[name]Male[/name] names:
[name]Luther[/name] Melanchthon
Eilert [name]Heinrich[/name] ([name]German[/name])
Tonnies Henrich ([name]German[/name])
Helmerich ([name]German[/name])
Oltmann ([name]German[/name])
Edo ([name]German[/name])
Female names:
Seborg (Norwegian)
=====
On my husband’s side:
[name]Male[/name] names:
Azro [name]Aaron[/name]
Elhanan
[name]Jabez[/name]
Female name:
[name]Capitola[/name] [name]Maria[/name]
[name]Achsah[/name]
[name]Mehitabel[/name]
Standouts from my family tree:
[name]Algernon[/name]
[name]Cadwallader[/name]
[name]Ethelbert[/name]
Meyrick
[name]Sutcliffe[/name]
Wittington
[name]Agnessa[/name]
[name]Hephzibah[/name]
[name]Male[/name]:
[name]Thor[/name]
Barncroft
Coffin
[name]Royal[/name]
Searles
Sprague
Female:
Shemariah
[name]Merrick[/name]
[name]Aurelia[/name]
[name]Dean[/name]
[name]Kimble[/name]
Rormelia
Loujuanna
I’ve only been able to get back to early 1800’s/late 1700’s, but:
[name]Atlanta[/name] Georgea
[name]Clora[/name] (maybe Clova - details are murky)
[name]Elva[/name]
Fanna
[name]Sabra[/name] [name]Mahala[/name] (probably not that uncommon, if you actually have Jewish ancestry, which she didn’t :D)
Rozene
Verdy
[name]Carlin[/name]
[name]Commodore[/name]
[name]Percy[/name]
We’ve also got an [name]Abraham[/name] [name]Lincoln[/name] [last name] and [name]Grover[/name] [name]Cleveland[/name] [last name] as well a [name]John[/name] [name]Calvin[/name] [last name].
I suppose women’s names have always been more interesting, at least in my family!
nothing too exciting…
on Dad’s side there is a [name]Jemima[/name] and several Percivals
on Mom’s side there was a common theme of giving maiden names as mn, which brought about:
[name]Ruel[/name] Lovejoy [last name]
[name]John[/name] [name]Fish[/name] [last name]
[name]Newberry[/name] (this was another maiden name given as a mn, but it’s the name he used, nn [name]Bud[/name] (as in new berries start off as buds! lol)
[name]Cordelia[/name]
[name]Rosina[/name]
Bloomfield (male) tops my list
I’ve never done geaneology reasearch (but would love to!) but my great grandfather was named Elo! It is my baby brothers middle name!