The Family Name Game

I loved it when Lara shared some of the names from her family history in her comment the last time we played the Old Lady Name Game (they were amazing), and I've wanted to do a family-themed, old-person name post ever since.

And then my friend Sandra sent me these treasures she came across when doing some indexing:

Alfereta

Therilonia

Artuda

Arsolene

Two groups of sisters:

Nicey Lee & Honey Bee

Christine, Ernestine, and Frostine

and a man named Uritha

These were also amazing. I mean, Frostine? Come on! You can't get better than that.


And a while back, a good friend of mine shared with me the first and middle names of her aunts on her mom's side. Can you believe these?

Nellie Carolyn

Gladys Louise

Stella Ruth

Bernie Annette

Patsy Wathalene

Norma Colene

Flora Marlene

Now, besides Wathalene, the names themselves aren't all that bizarre, but the combinations are delightful. And I think I have to agree with my friend, who said that "Bernie Annette" is her favorite. WOW.

But it was showing Anna our pedigree chart the other day and seeing a few of the winners on there of our very own that made me put pen to paper. Or keys to board.

Both sides of my family are mostly British (at least for a few generations), with plenty of Anns and Jameses and Hannahs and Williams. But every once in a while, there is a name that's almost unrecognizable as a name. (Most are female, which is interesting. Maybe I'll put a star by the men's names.) So are you ready for these? These are actual, bonafide names in my family line:

Pirene

Elsone

Nielsine (not to mention that she had the last name NIELSEN—can you imagine?)

Thola

Emma Scragg (I've always loved that last name)

Philomelia (what the what?)

Huldah

Delectah

Easter

Pleasant * (this one's definitely recognizable, but I loved that it was a man)

Detmorus * (okay, okay, so he was from Holland...)

Avice (this is a little too close to "avarice," if you ask me)

Comfort

Fernice * (how do you think you pronounce it?)

Gamaliel * (which is a name, there was one in the bible, but it's certainly unusual)

Wheatly *

Kunigunde (from Germany, but still)

Mehitable (?)

I could probably go on and on, but that's enough for now. Some of the coolest names I found? 

Luke Raven, which sounds like a character in a detective story (or am I just thinking of The Maltese Falcon?)

and

Ann Lovelace, whose father and grandfather were named William Lovelace Knight (maybe they were knights? I feel another good story coming on...)

Now what are some of yours?