When William, John, James, George and Thomas met Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Nancy, and Martha
© Thomas Wilson Shawcross 14 June 2003
Have you noticed? It’s not “every Tom, Dick, and Harry” anymore. Everyone knows that “popular” names go in and out of fashion. According to the US Social Security Administration, the most popular baby names in the US in 2002 were:
Boys: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan
Girls: Emily, Madison, Hannah, Emma, Alexis
What names were popular in the days of our g-g-grandparents and their parents?
During a recent visit to the Jackson County Historical Society in Murphysboro, IL,
I purchased a copy of the 1860 Federal Census for Jackson County. The book included two tables showing the ten most popular women’s names and men’s names in Jackson County in 1860. I was surprised to see that more than three-quarters of the Jackson County women were named Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Nancy, or Martha and that more than three-quarters of the men were named William, John, James, George, or Thomas.
Perhaps this explains the preponderance of colorful nicknames that my ancestors had back then. I am descended from families in which the men had nicknames such as “Coon,” “Big,” “Little,” “Black,” “Sawmill,” “Doc,” and “Captain.” I have sometimes wondered if my ancestors had been leaders of early Jackson County street gangs.
Of course, in a population where 23.40% of the men were named William and 28.55% of the women were named Mary, it is not hard to see why nicknames were so popular. It is easy to see how some of the nicknames were formed. For Elizabeth (13.68% of the women), the nicknames of Betsy, Lizzie and Liza can be seen as obvious derivatives. However, some nicknames, such as “Sally” for Sarah (14.73%) are not quite so obvious, and I have never understood how “Polly” came to be a nickname for “Mary.”
Some names had their brief taste of success and managed to survive in reduced popularity, while others had their fifteen minutes of fame and then disappeared. In the latter category, I would put the once fairly-popular-but-now-almost-forgotten girls names of America, Dicey, Melvina, and Sophronia. Making the top-ten list in 1890 but now not as common were Rose, Ethel, Florence, Ida, and Bertha. Likewise for boys, the once top-ten names of Tom, Dick, and Harry (actually, Thomas, Richard, and Harry) have fallen out of the top ten but not into near-total disuse, as have the boys names of Connie, Lavern, and Shirley (yes, the girls took them!).
Why is it that some boy’s names become girl’s names, but it never seems to happen the other way around? Perhaps the answer can be found in the song titled “A Boy Named Sue.” Many Americans in the mid-1800’s named their sons for Revolutionary War heroes (soldiers or statesmen). Hence the large numbers of George Washingtons, Benjamin Franklins, Thomas Jeffersons, etc., but there was one RW hero whose name caused consternation for his namesakes: Francis Marion.
Gen. Francis Marion, (who had the cool nickname of “the Swamp Fox”) was a true hero of the Revolutionary War. He was the subject of a very popular biography written by author and preacher Marion Locke Weems, who wrote a series of books about American founding fathers. It was the 1806 version of Weems’ book about George Washington that contained the apocryphal hatchet-and-cherry-tree episode. The Life of General Francis Marion helped inspire many thousands of American parents to name their sons Francis Marion. One of these sons was my g-grandfather Francis Marion Fielder (1841 – 1909). Like most of his fellow-generation Francis Marions, he was keenly aware that both his first and middle names sounded like “girl’s” names Frances and Marian, so he went through life by the nickname of “Frank.”
Looking at online copies of the old hand-written census records offers additional insights and challenges regarding the old names. Spelling was much more casual in the mid-1800’s than it is now, and many names were spelled according to the census-taker’s best phonetic guess. Hence, one sees census records for Barbara and Barbery, Rebecca and Rebekka, Simon and Simeon, Pheobe and Phebe, Herman and Harmon, Aaron and Heron. Further confusion is created in trying to decipher the old script forms of letters in which the “L” looked like an “S” (or vice-versa, so was g-g-g-grandmother named Sara or Lara?). The old script “H” looked like “He” and the double-s ending of “ss” looked like “fs” or even “p.” I have found records of my Shawcross ancestors that have been transcribed to online census indices as Shawcrofs or Shawcrop.
As an amateur genealogist, I have wondered why it was common for individuals to be listed in census records by their “middle” names. Worse yet, many people were listed in some census years by their “first” names but by their “middle” names in other census years. I suspect this confusion was caused by the old German naming convention. In that system, a child was given a spiritual name and secular name. The spiritual name was listed first, but the secular name (which was listed second and hence appears to be a “middle” name) was the name used in everyday reference (unless of course, a person was called “Coon” or “Sawmill” or had some other “cool” nickname). Some parents would have favorite Saints and give many of their children the same “first” name. My Jackson County pioneer ancestor Dr. Conrad Will was the son of German-born parents, and he had brothers named Johann Daniel, Johann Jacob and Johann Adam, and sisters named Maria Elisabeth and Maria Barbara, as well as sisters named Anna Magdalena and Anna Christena,
The German convention of having three names caught on with all Americans, who prior to Revolutionary War days had settled mostly for two-part names, such as Benjamin Franklin or George Washington (or Francis Marion). The only time people were given three names was if the wife’s family was significantly richer than the husband’s such as John Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, whose mother’s family (the Quincys) was one of the wealthiest families in America. By the mid-1800’s, most Americans were receiving three names, but the Germanic system was not always followed exactly. The first name was not always that of a saint, and sometimes the first name was used as we use the first name today but sometimes the middle name was used as the “first” name. This resulted in some very confusing census records. There were other old naming conventions, but they were less confusing than the German one. Some were actually quite helpful, as they named children in a specific sequence that recycled the names used for the children’s grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts. Often, this pattern can be used as clues to search for “missing” people in the family tree. Perhaps I will write about other naming conventions in a separate article.
In case you have been wondering, the top ten women’s names in Jackson County, Illinois in 1860 were: Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Nancy, Martha, Margaret, Jane, Lucinda, Ellen, and Ann. The top ten men’s names were: William, John, James, George, Thomas, Henry, Samuel, Joseph, Benjamin, and Charles.
Have you noticed? It’s not “every Tom, Dick, and Harry” anymore. Everyone knows that “popular” names go in and out of fashion. According to the US Social Security Administration, the most popular baby names in the US in 2002 were:
Boys: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan
Girls: Emily, Madison, Hannah, Emma, Alexis
What names were popular in the days of our g-g-grandparents and their parents?
During a recent visit to the Jackson County Historical Society in Murphysboro, IL,
I purchased a copy of the 1860 Federal Census for Jackson County. The book included two tables showing the ten most popular women’s names and men’s names in Jackson County in 1860. I was surprised to see that more than three-quarters of the Jackson County women were named Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Nancy, or Martha and that more than three-quarters of the men were named William, John, James, George, or Thomas.
Perhaps this explains the preponderance of colorful nicknames that my ancestors had back then. I am descended from families in which the men had nicknames such as “Coon,” “Big,” “Little,” “Black,” “Sawmill,” “Doc,” and “Captain.” I have sometimes wondered if my ancestors had been leaders of early Jackson County street gangs.
Of course, in a population where 23.40% of the men were named William and 28.55% of the women were named Mary, it is not hard to see why nicknames were so popular. It is easy to see how some of the nicknames were formed. For Elizabeth (13.68% of the women), the nicknames of Betsy, Lizzie and Liza can be seen as obvious derivatives. However, some nicknames, such as “Sally” for Sarah (14.73%) are not quite so obvious, and I have never understood how “Polly” came to be a nickname for “Mary.”
Some names had their brief taste of success and managed to survive in reduced popularity, while others had their fifteen minutes of fame and then disappeared. In the latter category, I would put the once fairly-popular-but-now-almost-forgotten girls names of America, Dicey, Melvina, and Sophronia. Making the top-ten list in 1890 but now not as common were Rose, Ethel, Florence, Ida, and Bertha. Likewise for boys, the once top-ten names of Tom, Dick, and Harry (actually, Thomas, Richard, and Harry) have fallen out of the top ten but not into near-total disuse, as have the boys names of Connie, Lavern, and Shirley (yes, the girls took them!).
Why is it that some boy’s names become girl’s names, but it never seems to happen the other way around? Perhaps the answer can be found in the song titled “A Boy Named Sue.” Many Americans in the mid-1800’s named their sons for Revolutionary War heroes (soldiers or statesmen). Hence the large numbers of George Washingtons, Benjamin Franklins, Thomas Jeffersons, etc., but there was one RW hero whose name caused consternation for his namesakes: Francis Marion.
Gen. Francis Marion, (who had the cool nickname of “the Swamp Fox”) was a true hero of the Revolutionary War. He was the subject of a very popular biography written by author and preacher Marion Locke Weems, who wrote a series of books about American founding fathers. It was the 1806 version of Weems’ book about George Washington that contained the apocryphal hatchet-and-cherry-tree episode. The Life of General Francis Marion helped inspire many thousands of American parents to name their sons Francis Marion. One of these sons was my g-grandfather Francis Marion Fielder (1841 – 1909). Like most of his fellow-generation Francis Marions, he was keenly aware that both his first and middle names sounded like “girl’s” names Frances and Marian, so he went through life by the nickname of “Frank.”
Looking at online copies of the old hand-written census records offers additional insights and challenges regarding the old names. Spelling was much more casual in the mid-1800’s than it is now, and many names were spelled according to the census-taker’s best phonetic guess. Hence, one sees census records for Barbara and Barbery, Rebecca and Rebekka, Simon and Simeon, Pheobe and Phebe, Herman and Harmon, Aaron and Heron. Further confusion is created in trying to decipher the old script forms of letters in which the “L” looked like an “S” (or vice-versa, so was g-g-g-grandmother named Sara or Lara?). The old script “H” looked like “He” and the double-s ending of “ss” looked like “fs” or even “p.” I have found records of my Shawcross ancestors that have been transcribed to online census indices as Shawcrofs or Shawcrop.
As an amateur genealogist, I have wondered why it was common for individuals to be listed in census records by their “middle” names. Worse yet, many people were listed in some census years by their “first” names but by their “middle” names in other census years. I suspect this confusion was caused by the old German naming convention. In that system, a child was given a spiritual name and secular name. The spiritual name was listed first, but the secular name (which was listed second and hence appears to be a “middle” name) was the name used in everyday reference (unless of course, a person was called “Coon” or “Sawmill” or had some other “cool” nickname). Some parents would have favorite Saints and give many of their children the same “first” name. My Jackson County pioneer ancestor Dr. Conrad Will was the son of German-born parents, and he had brothers named Johann Daniel, Johann Jacob and Johann Adam, and sisters named Maria Elisabeth and Maria Barbara, as well as sisters named Anna Magdalena and Anna Christena,
The German convention of having three names caught on with all Americans, who prior to Revolutionary War days had settled mostly for two-part names, such as Benjamin Franklin or George Washington (or Francis Marion). The only time people were given three names was if the wife’s family was significantly richer than the husband’s such as John Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, whose mother’s family (the Quincys) was one of the wealthiest families in America. By the mid-1800’s, most Americans were receiving three names, but the Germanic system was not always followed exactly. The first name was not always that of a saint, and sometimes the first name was used as we use the first name today but sometimes the middle name was used as the “first” name. This resulted in some very confusing census records. There were other old naming conventions, but they were less confusing than the German one. Some were actually quite helpful, as they named children in a specific sequence that recycled the names used for the children’s grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts. Often, this pattern can be used as clues to search for “missing” people in the family tree. Perhaps I will write about other naming conventions in a separate article.
In case you have been wondering, the top ten women’s names in Jackson County, Illinois in 1860 were: Mary, Sarah, Elizabeth, Nancy, Martha, Margaret, Jane, Lucinda, Ellen, and Ann. The top ten men’s names were: William, John, James, George, Thomas, Henry, Samuel, Joseph, Benjamin, and Charles.
posted by Tom Shawcross | 10:55 AM
2 Comments:
Very interesting, how names are "fashioned by fashion." I note you call Pastor Weems' account of George Washington and the cherry tree "apochryphal." Note Bill Bryson's account of Weems in your copy of "Made In America" (pg 61) where he calls Weems "not just a fictionalizer of rare gifts but a consummate liar." Bryson says Weems made up nearly every word he wrote in his 1806 book on Washington (the cherry tree episode just one small item in it), including the credentials he listed for himself on the title page. What a guy, Weems.
This is fascinating to me as well. Doing family research, I have found instances of familial names being carried down through generations. It can some times cause confusion when you don't have a lot of "hard copy" documentation to go by.
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