Odd Forenames in your Family?

[Jeuel]

My paternal grandfather was called Jeuel Jabez Gray.  He's the only Jeuel I've found in the censuses - and in each one he's been mistranscribed!  He's also listed in the electoral roll as Jule!

Jeuel is a name mentioned only once in the Bible, in Chronicles.  My gt grandmother was very devout and gave several of her 10 children Biblical names, including Samuel and Lemuel.


My husband's Jewish gt x 2 grandfather was registered as Zusman, though he's appeared as Zuzeman, Zuesman, Zuseman and Zuzman.  As if that wasn't bad enough, he's been mistranscribed as Tesman, Luisman and other variants. 

[aghadowey]

My favourite family name is Kaniaronkas (she gathers snakes) whose brother was Atonwa (great sky)- much more original than their 'English' names Marie Joseph and Thomas. Their uncle was an Indian Chief called Oughtsorengoughton (he passes through the year) who'd been christened Timothy.

[rachelralph]

reading all these different names i got to wondering what the 2011 census will show in 100 years time? we have so many odd names nowadays but i wonder if the names that are around now that are seen as odd have been used before?

my son is called leland which i though was a new name, but there seem to be a lot in the census so its obviously not.  in fact doing some research into my dads family, his ancestors were all married by reverand leland in the 1800's!

i do have a decima in my tree which i had never heard of, i now know the meaning of it and that it was used a lot. poor girl went on to marry a man called knob!  

[Sloe Gin]

As it happens, the statistics for baby names registered in 2010 were published this week.  They are on Excel documents, so it's not really possible to give a link, but start here

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/product.asp?vlnk=15282

then click on either 2010 Baby Names Statistics Boys  or 2010 Baby Names Statistics Girls .

The resulting spreadsheets have several different tables:  go to tab 6 (at the bottom of the sheet) where it lists all names given in 2010 and their frequency (down to 3).  Fascinating stuff!  The only problem (in my eyes) is that spelling variations are all treated as different names, which does skew the results rather.  (eg Isabel, Isabelle, Isobel etc)

[Redroger]

On the earlier version of this thread we decided that a person named Pelligin was probably a mangled version of Peregrine. While checking out at Waitrose today I say a person on the next aisle with 4 bottles opf S.Pelligino water, so who knows? I also knew a Redvers, who was born in the Boer War; not named for the General though in this case it was his mother's maiden name!

[Ray T]

Nothing to do with my family but I thought I should mention that this week's local paper has a report of a wedding where the bride's first name is "Weed". I don't think its a mis-print as the name also appears on the caption to the photo.

[BumbleB]

Oh dear!!  Had someone been watching too much children's television, whilst pregnant    I know she was a flower, BUT !!!!!  Or maybe it was the other kind 

BumbleB

[joboy]

Got a couple of odd ones with these but their father was a grammar school master
Percy Herbert Benoni
Stanley Tertius Benoni

Benoni is Biblical - it was the name given to Benjamin by his mother Rachel, and means 'son of my sorrow'.  Sometimes given to children whose father had died, or whose mother died giving birth, as Rachel did. 

Genesis 35:18
And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

Tertius suggests that he was the third child, so if he appears to be the second, I'd be looking for an older sibling who died in infancy.

I had'nt thought that there may have been an older child ........ thanks for that I shall start looking.
Joe

[joboy]

Whilst the forenames in my Flower (maternal line) are not unusual in themselves when linked to the surname they can be sweet and amusing.
On the sweet side I have May,Lily and Rose and in a fellow Flower researcher's list he has Wall and Colly which I think are most amusing;
A Pallot's birth record ;
Flower, Rebecca     
Baptism Date: 1797 St. Anne Soho 
Parents:  "Colly" and Rebecca.

The father of 'Colly FLOWER' worked at Covent Garden..... (where else?)