RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: suttontrust on Sunday 07 November 04 00:16 GMT (UK)
-
I have a family on a census where the mother is named as "Betsey". A birth certificate which might be the right one gives the mother as "Elizabeth". I know that Betsy was a name in its own right, but could it also be a diminutive of Elizabeth?
-
Yes. Also Lisbet, Betty, Betsy, Liza, Bessie , Bess, Beth, Eliza, Liz, Lizzie, and lots of others but not Uncle Tom Cobley.
Elizabeth and Mary were so prevalent that every family had several amongst the cousins - that is why all the variants were used.
-
I recently found 2 children from the same family with the same name ::) One was called Elizabeth and the other was called Eliza.............I thought it wasn't possible at first but it proved to be true. I've also got another one named Maria, but called herself Mary.
Kimi
-
I've seen innumerable examples of 2 children in the same family with the same name. Generally the elder had died before the younger was born, but this may not always be the case. George Foreman the boxer, had four sons all name George. Perhaps all those punches did something to his brain? With hindsight, everytime I find myself calling one of my children by the name of one of their siblingsI wish I'd not given them different names.
On the naming front, I have found an ancestor baptised Nellie who called herself Nancy. Now that's just pretentiousness and there's nowt so queer as folk as they say in her native Yorkshire.
-
And I've got an example of Maria Mercedes who also called herself Mary Mercy.
-
And who can blame her?
-
I found an ancestor who was named Esubia after her grandmother but by the time she was age 14 (and forever after) she was going by Elsie. With a name like Esubia who could blame her, but it does make for some confusion when looking for her in records. If I had't found her w/parents at age 14 I never would have known who to look for in later records. Now I look for Elsie not Esubia.
-
Hi can I add mine? My husbands gran was Eliza but known as Lilie (even put it on her husbands headstone!)
Cheers Ronnie
-
I have a friend now whose dau. is named Elizabeth but Everyone calls her Lilly to the point the child doesn't even Know her name is Elizabeth. Leagen
-
I have 2 cousins I never knew were named Elizabeth till another relly did a genealogy book . They went by Bessie and Betty, I thought Those were their names. In the same book I discovered my cousin Bunny was really Veronica. My family had a habit of giving kids odd nick-names, Fats, Dumb-Dumb, Ike (For anyone named Ira). We also have the unusual name of Favor in the family, for men. Haven't found where That came from. Where did they get this stuff???? Leagen
-
Transcribing for Freebmd throws up some odd names, but my favourite so far is the man who died in 1906 (forget his age) whose Christian name was True.
-
While going through the electoral roll in my home town of Renfrew back in about 1980 (not for genealogical purposes - as Labour Party Young Socialists, we were on the lookout for first-time voters turning 18 so we could encourage them to vote for us), I came across a woman with the first name of Titania.
She was not, of course, and 18 year old! I can only assume the poor woman was named in honour of the Titanic - before it sank, I'd imagine.
I wonder if she had a diminutive...!
-
Then of course she could be named after the Queen of the Fairies :D
-
In my family I have found Bessie and Eliza as forms of Elizabeth.
-
For a Long time I thought my best friend at junior school had two brothers, Bobby and Leo. Turned out he only had one (Robert Leonard) but his parents each called him by a different name!
-
I've seen innumerable examples of 2 children in the same family with the same name. Generally the elder had died before the younger was born, but this may not always be the case. George Foreman the boxer, had four sons all name George. Perhaps all those punches did something to his brain? With hindsight, everytime I find myself calling one of my children by the name of one of their siblingsI wish I'd not given them different names.
On the naming front, I have found an ancestor baptised Nellie who called herself Nancy. Now that's just pretentiousness and there's nowt so queer as folk as they say in her native Yorkshire.
My late great grandmother was called Nellie - personally I wouldn't blame any Nellie for calling herself something different. I changed my own first name because I thought it was revolting - not saying what it was though! You can all have fun guessing!
-
As I posted somewhere on here before I too changed my first name. Actually I just dropped it and use my middle name even on passport. I am sure people have done things like that forever which can make it very hard to find them in records so I go by other factors such as age, birth place etc. If all else fits but part of the name is wrong I err on the side of Accepting that it Is who I am looking for until I discover otherwise. Leagen.