Just for fun- your family's old fashioned and unusual names

[ElizabethB]

Not in the family, but, a literacy tutor teaching a class I went to in 1995 was named Dorcas, she was a sweet old lady in her 90's.  A student in the class asked if she got made fun of her for her name.  She replied, "No, why would I, it's a fine Biblical name."

He said something along the lines of "well, I just wondered, it's an unusual name." (No one told her!)

[Innisfree]

 g-g-grandfather Telemachus (called Lem)

and his sister Parthenia

 a few generations of Archibalds

Gaynelle

[ikslo]

5 minutes ago, ElizabethB said:

Not in the family, but, a literacy tutor teaching a class I went to in 1995 was named Dorcas, she was a sweet old lady in her 90's.  A student in the class asked if she got made fun of her for her name.  She replied, "No, why would I, it's a fine Biblical name."

He said something along the lines of "well, I just wondered, it's an unusual name." (No one told her!)

Oh, well if we include Biblical names, I have two uncles named Shiloh and Shem!

[Scarlett]

7 minutes ago, Dotwithaperiod said:

 If her maiden name was Goddard and then married name Lord( how cool was that) then he’s related to me!

That is cool!  No the one in her tree was a Loggins who married a Drawhorn.

[Selkie]

Two of my favorites are Cleo and Annie Belle.

 

[kbutton]

Teofila

Tryphena 

Dever

Howard is repeated (often as a middle name) on one side of the family in many, many generations. It supposedly came from way back in the family on a wife's side: "Alice was the illegitimate daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Duke of Suffolk and his mistress, Alice Bretton." I'm not even sure how many people along the way realized that's where it came from--they probably just carried it along with the many, many other names they repeated. 

We also have some ethnic names (Hedvig) as well as lots of ordinary but old-fashioned names, some of which are coming back.

We have a former FBI director's name (1st/middle) repeated at least twice, but the person who held it first had the name before that person was well-known, so I think it's a coincidence. 

DH's family has a lot of ordinary repeated names, but to deal with it, they all had nicknames, many of which were real names, but not their own. (It's as weird as it sounds.) 

[May]

Not as a sensitive subject as before but I have one of those old names that was mentioned.  It was after a great aunt, who died in childbirth. Fortunately, my fate wasn’t the same. Probably a thread that was better left unopened.

Edited April 3, 2020 by May

[medawyn]

My g-grandfather was Ransom, which I love.  My married name is King, so DH said definitely not.  He also vetoed Lola, who was a great grandmother, because all he could think of was the Kinks song.

Lurlene, Junkett, and JeanAlberta (yes, one word) are names I wasn’t as keen to pass on.

[Lady Florida.]

Dh's grandfather on one side: Kleiber - I've never heard of that name before or since.

His grandmother on the other side: Bertha, who was married to Clarence. 

He and I both had great aunts named Alma.

I had a great aunt we called Aunt Tillie. I was an adult when I found out her full name was Mathilda.

Most of the names on my father's side were fairly common because they were Irish and English. I have a cousin a few years younger than me though named Bonnie Lee. For some reason we never called her Bonnie; always Bonnie Lee. She dropped the Lee when she got older but many family members still call her Bonnie Lee. One of her brothers is Theodore - called Teddy, and later Ted.

I had a great aunt named Emma and always thought of it as a old fashioned name. Now of course it's back and I have a granddaughter named Emma. ❤️ 

Several names in my father's family are everywhere. Steven is one. My brother is Steven, several cousins married Stevens, and others gave their sons the name. There are quite a few men named Tom who were either born into or married into the family. Dennis is another, including ds 22 who is named after my father. And there are many Kathleens, of which I am one. Tom and Steven are still fairly common names but both my name and ds' have become old fashioned.

My mother's side had mostly Italian names or Americanized versions of Italian names. Except for my mom. My grandmother heard of Alsace-Lorraine as a young girl during WWI and years later decided to name her daughter Lorraine. Since the Catholic church insisted on a saint's name back then and there's no St. Lorraine, grandma threw her own name, Mary, in front of Lorraine. My mother never in her life used Mary. It was only there to make the priest happy. Even her marriage license and death certificates didn't have Mary on them. I always thought Lorraine was a pretty name but now that too is an old lady name.

My mother's younger sister is named Alberta. She was supposed to be a boy and would be named after my grandfather Alberto. (They ended up having 3 daughters and no sons) For most of her life she was known as Sis or Sissy, as my mother's sister. We even called her Aunt Sis. She was in her late 40s when she finally decided enough is enough and started using her own name. Her 2nd husband and the friends she made since that time call her Albie. 

9 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

went digging through the family tree and came up with Dorinda

My brother dated a girl named Dorinda when he was a teenager. I've never heard of anyone else with that name.

8 hours ago, RootAnn said:

Lots of relatives named Louis or Louise

My great grandmother who came here from Italy was Louisa. Oddly though there hasn't been anyone named Louise or Louis in later generations. 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Lady Florida.

[RootAnn]

2 hours ago, Dotwithaperiod said:

 If her maiden name was Goddard and then married name Lord( how cool was that) then he’s related to me!

My roomie in college's last name was Lord. She started her answering machine messages with, "You have reached The Lord!..." (I can't remember the rest, but she had a whole spiel.)

2 hours ago, kbutton said:

 DH's family has a lot of ordinary repeated names, but to deal with it, they all had nicknames, many of which were real names, but not their own. (It's as weird as it sounds.) 

Is this weird? I have it on both sides.

One of my dad's brother's was named after his dad so he's a Junior. Instead of going by that name, a shortened version, his middle name, or "junior," he went by a completely different name. I didn't find out until senior year that it wasn't his real name. [My math professor (DE night class) knew how to pronounce my maiden name because he worked with a guy who shared it. Asked if I was related. I said I wasn't because my only relative with that name was my grandfather & he was dead. My mom corrected me when I told her the story.]

On my mom's side, her brother was called "Arch" which wasn't one of his names. He was a Donald James or something like that.

So, I guess it was a common practice on both sides of my family.

[Eos]

M

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Eos

[Miss Tick]

Balthesar - can't believe that hasn't been mentioned, shows up frequently in one of my "branches"

I knew and loved Wilbert, Selma, and Lavina (pron. La-VI-na)

There are others that were a definite no when I was making my kids, but I immediately blotted them from my mind.

[Lori D.]

Gladys Mildred -- same person, first and middle names -- 🤮 so grateful those names are no longer common!
Morris
Fern
Allyne (AL-lean)
Mamie
Alvin
Lenora (lee-NOR-ah)

Also, in the family genealogy listing, apparently some generations back, one person was only remembered by their nickname: "Pud" (rhymes with Fudd, of Elmer Fudd).

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Lori D.

[Miss Tick]

I forgot Eulene and her cousin Olene! One of them changed their name to a name on Lori D.'s list, which is what reminded me.

[Lori D.]

10 minutes ago, SusanC said:

I forgot Eulene and her cousin Olene! One of them changed their name to a name on Lori D.'s list, which is what reminded me.

Oh gosh, now I need to know -- it wasn't Gladys or Mildred, was it?? 

Gladys Mildred was one of my grandmothers -- and Mildred was the first name of one of DH's grandmothers. Must have been popular back right around the turn of the century. 😉 

[Miss Tick]

43 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

Oh gosh, now I need to know -- it wasn't Gladys or Mildred, was it?? 

Nope, Fern. So, 50 years ago, Fern was cooler than the available, acceptable alternatives. 😄

[mom31257]

Some from our families:

Agnes

Norma

Billie

Shirley

Nan

Mamie

Jewel

Harvey 

Horace

Harlan

Edited April 4, 2020 by mom31257

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, RootAnn said:

Is this weird? I have it on both sides.

Maybe regional vs. weird? It's very uncommon where I am from no matter how many people you have in the family (or that marry into the family) that have the same name.

[GoodGrief]

13 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

Lucile Zada. That was my grandmother. Found out she had a child as a single lady, and my grandparents raised him as their own. He didn't find out about his parentage until he reached adulthood.

Alvin McGhee was my granddad.

 

She also nursed in a TB hospital. She ended up getting TB and was a patient there.

 @fairfarmhand. my mother was Zada Louise, as was her grandmother! It is such an unusual name, so interesting that it is in your family too.

[Meriwether]

11 hours ago, I talk to the trees said:

I can’t recall right now how many generations back, but in my family tree are 

Jubal 

Emmazetta

Lumpkin.

One of my nephews has one of these names. 

[math teacher]

I have paternal grandmothers named Alto and America.

• For a bunny trail, we think my grandfather changed his first and middle names around so his initials wouldn't be A__S😃

[Shellydon]

Bessie

Thelma

Eldon

Rufus

Lottie Petunia

[ikslo]

I just remembered DH’s grandfather was Lloyd.  

[Arctic Bunny]

For two days, I have read the title of this thread as “... your family’s old fashioned and unusual MEMES.” And for two days, I have been so VERY confused, but not had the time to look. When I saw so many responses, I just had to click!

[Denise Still in Florida]

My husband's mother was named Beryl and her mother was Zelda

My mother was named Naomi and her mother was Copia.  Copia was the last child of a large family and her father named her Copia because that was 'enough'.

 

[GoodGrief]

On 4/3/2020 at 6:37 AM, Dotwithaperiod said:

 My maternal side has Zada, it’s a family name. Do you know the origins of it?

The females had names like Jewel, Ruby, Pearl, Opal. Usually with a short middle name- Pearly May, Ruby Fay. Para-Lee was another popular one.

The men were Cecil, Marvin, Dude( I love that one!) and several with Bird as a middle, like Ira Bird.

My father’s side seemed more city type names-  Francis, Walter, Lila, Lucille, Margaret , Herbert, Theodore

This is a bit off topic, but I’m reading a book about FDR and was really surprised to see multiple Americans in his circle named Adolf. I keep meaning to google how popular a name it was at the turn of the century in America.

 

I lost track of this thread but coming back now. SO interesting to me to hear of other families that have "Zada"s. I do know of a couple others beside my mother and great grandmother, but they are also descendants of that great grandmother and some degree of cousin to us.

[GoodGrief]

On 4/3/2020 at 9:10 AM, fairfarmhand said:

My grandmother's family was from a small town in rural Alabama. Her parents were first cousins, so both sides of that family have similar origins. (Britain)

 I wouldn't be surprised if we have some relation. 🙂 My Zadas were in Mississippi, but the original immigrants started in North Carolina and worked their way across. I know some stopped in Alabama 

[Melissa in Australia]

these are relatives still alive

Gewneth

Hansjoerg

Jutta 

if I had ever had another girl I was going to call her Joyce

[iamonlyone]

I'm late to the party, but I'll add:

Nina (pronounced "Nine-a")

Also Erna and Erma like others (Erma always went by "Sis")

Also a Beulah and a Hazel

Several Myrons

Gale (male)

Harry

Ross

Jeannette

Norbert

Emilia

Valentine (male)

Oh, and generations of Dominic

That one has really come back around. When I was growing up, my grandpa, dad, and brother were the only Dominics I knew. And even 10 years ago people would read and pronounce my dad's name as "Dominique."

Edited April 8, 2020 by iamonlyone

[BakersDozen]

Most of the older family names in our history are typical: Bertha, Wilbur, Earnest, etc. But dh's grandfather was named Elmo.

[BlsdMama]

On 4/3/2020 at 7:47 AM, Carrie12345 said:

My mom told us that my grandfather used to joke about having wanted to name her Petronella. My genealogy research uncovered a Petronella in his family tree, so maybe it wasn’t actually a joke!

My husband’s grandmother, still alive and a wonderful lady, is named Petronilla, Nilla for short. His other grandma was Bertha. 

On 4/3/2020 at 1:03 PM, rebcoola said:

Most of our family names are boring William, Paul, James, Charles, Joan, Elizabeth, Helen the only exception was Euphemia.  

Maybe that's why the lastest generation has Lorelei, Saoirse, Torreston.

Lol. All of our children have classic names and are named for someone back a generation. My grandpa (James) was well liked.  When William (our 5yo) was born, he had three grandchildren born that year named after him. It would have been more but a girl and a set of twins. 😉

On 4/3/2020 at 4:51 PM, Ordinary Shoes said:

My mother's name is Dorcas. She was named for her grandmother. She has always hated her name. 

My daughter is named for her but with a different name. Props to anyone who can guess my daughter's name. (hint - Bible) 

 

 Is it Hadassah? I always wanted that one. My great grandmother was Esther.

Our grandchildren have “old” names - Garth, Magdalyn, and Tobias.  I love them. 

[fairfarmhand]

5 hours ago, BakersDozen said:

Most of the older family names in our history are typical: Bertha, Wilbur, Earnest, etc. But dh's grandfather was named Elmo.

I forgot that we have an uncle Elmo. Married to aunt jewel. 

[BakersDozen]

Quote

My great grandmother was Esther.

Ah, one of my favorite names! I've always wondered why Esther and Ruth were so underused - such beautiful names.

[73349]

If you go back all the way to the early colonists, as we can on some sides, you get kids with names like Thankful.

Edited March 3 by 73349

[lmrich]

Parneice

Wilma

Alma

Otilla 

Olive (love this name - we called her Ollie - she was s gem) 

And several of the others mentioned here, but I had a great uncle who I always called Uncle Doc. I don't know his really name, kind of sad. (and he was a doctor)

[lynn]

We have Winifred, alfred, Everett, Irma, Eleanor Jane, Abbey Grace, Barbara, Helen

Edited April 8, 2020 by lynn