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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Amazing names from your family tree

142 replies

OrangeAndYellowAndBlue · 29/11/2021 21:45

Following a conversation at work today.

I had an (great great ?) Aunty Ceinwen. Much further back on the family tree we found a Rosina, which I thought was rather pretty.

A colleague recently discovered he had a distant cousin with the first name Macdara, which is apparently a local Irish saint, and means Son of Oak!

Any cool or unusual names from way back in your family tree?

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ParishSpinster · 30/11/2021 12:13

Recent (Grandparents level) include Andrewina and Corneilius.

ChocolateDeficitDisorder · 30/11/2021 11:35

There's a Sven Svensson in my tree going back through my Grandfather from the Shetland Islands. Viking blood!

Twizbe · 30/11/2021 11:25

We have an Alpheus.

He had 4 sons, Ernest, Eustace, Montague and Frederick.

Their surname was Smith but both Montague and Frederick double barrelled their names. I'm slightly sad we're not in the Montague-Smith family

MrsGhastlyCrumb · 30/11/2021 11:22

There's a wrong 'un in my tree called Theophilus who abandoned his wife with several children, who died not too long afterwards. His daughter called him 'Theophilus DeVille' on her marriage certificate, which I think gives an indication of his character.

We also have Osbaldiston as a family name, which died out at the start of the 20th C- thank God!

WheresMyCycle · 30/11/2021 11:20

Winnifred (Grandmother's middle name)

merryhouse · 30/11/2021 11:14

Cinderella, twice (1887 and 1907, mother and daughter) - very distant. Maybe the same people as @ElEmEnOhPee?

Enoch, Levi, Moses, Amos, Ephraim, Abraham, Jesse, Emmanuel, Obadiah, Jabez, Job
Rosetta, Rosina, Angelina, Lauretta
Mahala (three, not closely related)
Thirza
Herodias (born 1807; mother-in-law of 3rd cousin 4 times removed, but died in my birth village)
Cyrus Aquila and Ernest Onesimus
Victor Hugo (as given names together)
Baziel (born 1905)
Melita (born 1886) married Prince
Rochefort (middle name)
Airlie
Phineas
Cornelius
Horatio
Barzillai
Lucretia
Keziah (several)
Helah
Mould (as a middle name - grandmother's maiden surname, but still, poor girl)
Decima (middle name)
Tubal Cain Seaman (!) born 1841
Damien born 1963, poor boy
Roderick
Asenath (girl - name of Joseph's Egyptian wife, apparently)

a whole load of people with the variant of my unusual surname were called Ambrose or Orlando or both

Sammilouwho · 30/11/2021 09:57

Lettice (with the surname Plant!) And i also have a Hedwig in there too :) I dont know much about her though as she was born in Nazi Germany.

Cattenberg · 30/11/2021 09:56

Damaris appears several times in my family tree.

Other names include:

Regine
Mariette
Ephram
Yehuda

Babdoc · 30/11/2021 09:44

We had a Chater, Burnetta and Augusta in the 1780s and an uncle Temple in the 1880s. Chater shares a birthday with my DD, exactly 200 years apart!

Narnianoon · 30/11/2021 09:33

Gwenllian 💜

EmBeEmBe · 30/11/2021 09:18

We have some good ones: Keziah, Amos, Christiana, Graham (for a girl!), Hartley, Philadelphia, Carew and my fave Silence. Also a shed-load of Fannys.

SweatyAmy · 30/11/2021 08:43

Ooh I love these threads. Saint is my favourite name from my family tree. Also amongst the men are Israel, Amos, Johem, Mesech, Jeremiah, Eifion, Levi, Eardley and Faulkinder.

There's also Keziah, Thirza, Cleoner, Joney, Lowri, Olwen, Miriam, Ida, Hester and Jennet in the women.

ofwarren · 30/11/2021 07:08

Aaronis
Richardi
Bowyer
Lambert
Repentance
Prudence
Nehemiah
Aquilla
Shadrach

Original poster
OrangeAndYellowAndBlue · 30/11/2021 06:52

@LoveFall "Experience" has made me laugh!

@TerrifiedandWorried @BobbieT1999 Bobby Shafto was a real person - a politician - probably named after him!

OP posts:
Justilou1 · 30/11/2021 04:23

We recently found out that my grandmother’s name was actually Henrietta, not Louise. I wonder if she knew?

ThiagoSilvasToe · 30/11/2021 04:20

Pontilious, Mahala

KloppsTeeth · 30/11/2021 01:49

We have
Farse
Tasson
Lambert and
Clodoweg

StartupRepair · 30/11/2021 01:31

I have a Forestina and a Meliora

dunkery · 30/11/2021 01:25

I have Sophia Pricilla,
Nelson,
Alfonzio,
Richard Lorenzo (not related to Alfonzio) and both are english
and Levi
Quite a few Phoebe's each side of the family.

Rebeccasmoonnecklace · 30/11/2021 00:34

I have a Moses, Laurina, Hiram and a Tryphenia 😊

Riskyrice · 30/11/2021 00:28

A sibling of one of my forebears was named 'barcham barcham'

He was the 5th child, so all I can think is his mother ran out of names 🤣 poor barcham, all his siblings has normal names!

SingingSands · 30/11/2021 00:21

I don't know much of my family history, but it always made me smile that my great-grandparents were called Mary and Joseph. Smile

rubydoobydoo · 30/11/2021 00:19

My mum had an uncle Ambrose (known as Uncle Amby) - always thought that was a great name!

Garriet · 30/11/2021 00:17

Peaceful is probably my favourite, from the 1800s.

LoveFall · 30/11/2021 00:17

Fyler
Johan
Barnabas
Mehetable
Judah
Elkanah
Aert
Patience
Ebenezer
Tamesin
Elizabetha
Wakefield
Chapman
Alyce
Mercy
Ichabad
Wyntje
Burdon
Experience
Denys
Fulke
Symon
Brita
Lena
Tekla
Mickel
Pasco

I could scour my family tree and find a few more, but that seems like enough.

A lot of early settlers in New England had interesting names.

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