These all come from my family tree on my father’s side, from the present (my siblings, nieces and nephews, parents, et c.) all the way back to the 1450’s. I went through all the documentation I have and picked out the names I thought were the most interesting or unusual. They were all used as either a first or middle name.
BOYS
[name]Addison[/name]
[name]Arch[/name]
[name]Avery[/name]
[name]Barron[/name]
[name]Benoni[/name]
Bigelow
[name]DeLancie[/name] (middle name, x2)
[name]Dodge[/name] (middle name, x4)
[name]Gilbert[/name]
Grinnell
[name]Herbert[/name]
[name]Jotham[/name]
[name]Miles[/name]
[name]Norman[/name]
[name]Peabody[/name]
[name]Phineas[/name] (x2)
Sanyek
[name]Sheppard[/name]
[name]Silas[/name] (x4)
Stillman
[name]Sylvanus[/name]
Tertulia (as a first name!)
[name]Washington[/name]
GIRLS
[name]Almeda[/name]
[name]Arethusa[/name]
[name]Bessie[/name] (as full name)
[name]Betsey[/name]/[name]Betsy[/name] (as full name)
[name]Cassandra[/name]
[name]Charity[/name]
[name]Edna[/name]
[name]Emeline[/name]
[name]Ester[/name]
[name]Eunice[/name]
[name]Gertrude[/name]
[name]Helenora[/name]
[name]Johane[/name]
[name]Lilith[/name]
[name]Lotta[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]
[name]Marguerite[/name]
Mehetiable
[name]Mercy[/name]
[name]Mildred[/name] (x2)
[name]Norma[/name]
[name]Orley[/name]-[name]Anna[/name] (first name)
O’[name]Ruth[/name] (middle name)
[name]Polly[/name]
[name]Prudence[/name]
[name]Sally[/name]
WDYT? Any catch your fancy? Any still usable today? I was surprised by quite a few, especially [name]Arethusa[/name] (daughter of [name]Mercy[/name] and [name]Jotham[/name]) who was born in the late 1600s. Those were some daring parents, probably inspired by unique names of their own!