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Original poster

Can anyone decipher this name from 1877?

245 replies

TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 20:58

I know at first glance it looks like Lucy M Lloyd

But the capital L of Lloyd is completely different to the capital letter of the first name - and I'm sure Incan see an o! Making it not Lucy

Any thoughts please?

Can anyone decipher this name from 1877?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
SwedishEdith · 23/07/2023 21:23

TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 21:19

@SwedishEdith look at the top of each letter. It's subtle but it's there

I think they're both the same letter and that we don't all write every letter exactly the same way. As a pp said, it's probably the pen hadn't quite got going.

TattiePants · 23/07/2023 21:23

TattiePants · 23/07/2023 21:19

Could the first name be Loney? Look at the ‘n’ in the word ‘and’. They both look like a u.

Also, if you look at the first u in August, the bottom is much more rounded than the letter in the first name.

CavalierApproach · 23/07/2023 21:23

… back in the days of ‘proper’ penmanship as it is now.

Original poster
TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 21:23

@ferntwist you know, I think you're right!

The surname is Floyd and that's why the initials are so different

I'd say it's Loucy M Floyd but obviously Loucy is not a name

OP posts:
Bristolnewcomer · 23/07/2023 21:25

I think it’s Louey, probably a nickname for Louisa or maybe Lucinda. Lovely ring, I’d love to know the story behind it.

CavalierApproach · 23/07/2023 21:26

I would honestly bet proper money on it not being an F!

OP, have you got any other info about this person — age, location, etc.? Anything that would enable those of us who enjoy trawling Ancestry to search for them?

SwedishEdith · 23/07/2023 21:26

The lower case letter y differs slightly in both words but I don't think anyone is suggesting they're not the letter y. I think you might be overthinking it, OP, but maybe you have reason to think it's Floyd.

MoralOrLegal · 23/07/2023 21:26

TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 21:23

@ferntwist you know, I think you're right!

The surname is Floyd and that's why the initials are so different

I'd say it's Loucy M Floyd but obviously Loucy is not a name

But why would a capital F link to the next letter from the bottom...?

Pansypotter123 · 23/07/2023 21:27

I think it could be an L and an F , so Louey M Floyd - looking at the top of the first letter on the surname and the top of the word "From" further down.

Isn't this interesting, I thought at first that because of the full stop/period after Louey that that was an abbreviation but the writer uses the same punctuation elsewhere, as is shown on the other photograph.

Have you tried tracing these people?

AvengedQuince · 23/07/2023 21:27

I'd say it's Loucy M Floyd but obviously Loucy is not a name

Misspelling? It was pretty common to misspell names. I can't remember how many different spellings of Phoebe I came across!

Welliouta · 23/07/2023 21:28

Looks like Louey to me.

Pansypotter123 · 23/07/2023 21:28

And the capital L in Louey is the same as the capital L in Love on another photograph.

Original poster
TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 21:28

@CavalierApproach sadly not and that's very frustrating!

I usually can work a lot of stuff out and find out who was who etc from the letters / postcards / antique bits I pick up on my travels

But this one is going to prove impossible I think as this is all I have

A citrine and (paste) diamond rolled gold ring and a note where the name should be clear but weirdly isn't!

OP posts:
MonsterCalling · 23/07/2023 21:29

It’s not Floyd. The L in Lloyd is exactly the same as the L in Love from the inside of the note. The F joins differently.

I was taught copperplate at school (I have no idea why - it was the 90s) and use fountain pens. I’m really familiar with the slight variations in penmanship that you will get with both of these.

orangeleavesinautumn · 23/07/2023 21:29

TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 21:03

Hmm

But can it be Louey if the capital letter L is so different to the surname L?

different in what way? They look to be the same letter to me, L

Original poster
TheOwlChronicles · 23/07/2023 21:30

@SwedishEdith no, no reason to think it's Floyd and can be persuaded either way! Grin

OP posts:
daisychaindays · 23/07/2023 21:30

Velvian · 23/07/2023 21:02

Louey M Lloyd.

I agree it's this

LookItsMeAgain · 23/07/2023 21:30

Perhaps because the surname starts with two letter "L" it has to appear different to the letter L that starts the first name

MixedTocopherols · 23/07/2023 21:30

Sorry, what?

Plenty of other people are explaining their thinking or the reasons for their opinion, and we are all interested. Someone asked about yours because it was an outlier.

No need to get all defensive like it’s some big secret why you think it’s an h

Joolsin · 23/07/2023 21:30

I've met an elderly lady called Louey. I don't know what it was short for, but that was definitely the spelling of her everyday name. So it's a valid female name!

AdaColeman · 23/07/2023 21:31

I think the first name is Loney, possibly shortened from Alonso.

I'd say the surname was Floyd.

Loney M Floyd

ohwhatadustyanswer · 23/07/2023 21:31

Avid amateur genealogist here. I’d bet money on Louey M Lloyd. Louey/Louie a really common nickname for Louisa/e in those days. I have several in my family and seen it spelt like that for a woman’s name on my husband’s side too.
do you have any more detail about who she is/how old/where from? If so you can look up her birth/marriage/death on Freebmd
There is ZERO chance of it being Floyd imo - it’s just not how F was written

MixedTocopherols · 23/07/2023 21:31

^ meant to tag @Lifeetc

Chatillon · 23/07/2023 21:31

I collect old books, stamps, manuscripts, cheques and Bills of Exchange. YMMV....🙂

The older you go back in time, pre Edwardian really, the more chance you have of finding more diverse spellings for what we now call first names. The forward twist at the bottom of the first letter indicates, at least to me it is an 'L' and not a 'S'. They also had more unusual names before then. I have a Bill of Exchange in front of me that is signed by a Mr Shuly Smith. The 'S' is identical to the 'L' in the OP's picture but for the finish to the left and not to the right. So it is 'Louey' I believe, which is a name I have seen before.

The last name is Lloyd. There are different ways of writing an 'F' but I have never seen one that is not cross-hatched in some way.

Louey M Lloyd is where my money is.

Gloriousgardener11 · 23/07/2023 21:32

Louey M Lloyd