There’s certainly no shortage of unusual names in our ancestry.
I had written a blog post about this last July and you can read it here - Unusual Ancestor Names - How many are in your family? Where did they originate?
When speaking of given names, what we consider unusual today, was common 100, 200 or 300 years ago. As to surnames, there are some that I’ve found in my research and I think “how did they come up with that?”
One of my more recent finds is the wife of a 1st cousin once removed, William Allen Lindsay. He married a lady named Edith A. SIDEBOTTOM. I’d certainly never heard that surname before. We also know that sometimes a surname is used as a middle name or even a first name. Many Biblical names were used by our ancestors. Achsah, Bethsheba, Barnabas, Cornelius, Ebezezer, Ezekiel, Moses, Theophilus etc.
What are some other unusual names that I’ve run across over the years?
Here’s a list in no particular order and just a sample.
- Okla Allen (1912-2004)
- Mahala Armstrong (1822 – ?)
- Wild Auten (1895-?)
- Cemanthe Avery (1831-1899)
- Sophie Baerbalck wife of Homer Clay Smith
- Pheriba Barbour (abt 1840-1879)
- Renick Beverage (1874-?)
- Burritt Blakeslee (1800-1866)
- Freada Emma Meta Fink (1895-1981)
- Eglatina Blodgett
- Ovde Boggs
- Awilda Booth (abt 1854-?)
- Rebecca Plybon (abt 1790-1873)
- Elzina Power (1899 – ?)
- Eunishba Rosette (1798-1872)
- Albert Edward Schmadel (1870-1945)
- Qiuelletta Scovell (1846-1922)
- Lavancha Searls (1847-1923)
- Fred Woodfin Siler
Do you have an unusual first, middle or surname in you family? I’d love to hear about them.
Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl
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Gosh, Diane, you've found some really unusual names in your search for ancestors. Of the first names, I don't think there's a single one I would use today.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, I certainly agree with you. None of those first names would work for me either. Isn’t family history fun?
DeleteThanks for stopping by.