What's in a Baby (Boy) Name? Part 3- The Odd Edition

I have come to the conclusion of my "Baby Name" series. I know, I know. You, my loyal followers, are devastated. I'll come up with something...

There is a conflict here. My go-to website for this project (http://www.babynames.com/) is letting me down on this one. So,  I will reference another website which I used when I posted the "odd" girl's names back in June (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/).

Harper- English- harp player/ harpist (Hey, this one they agree on. I could have figured this one out!)

Arlen- It is either German- from Erland^, or Gaelic- pledge, oath*. (Being more Irish than German, I would chose the Gaelic.)

Orlando- Italian- famous land^ or Spanish- variant of Roland (German)- renowned land*

Percy- French- pierce valley^ or Latin/French- penetrate the hedge* (I know! Apparently "penetrate the hedge" means you are an effective hunter in Old French. Being that Percy is derived from Perseus, the Greek hero who beheaded Medusa, it might be better to just say it means "effective hunter".)



The constellation Orion



Orion- Greek- dweller on the mountain^ (Another Greek mythology reference. Orion was the son of Poseidon & a mighty hunter*. I love looking up at the evening sky in the fall & seeing his constellation.)

Ensign- Latin- badge*

Waldon- English- wooded valley*- variant of Walden

Volney- German- spirit of the folk*

Wickham- English- village paddock* (Another literary reference. So, we had one mother reading Jane Austen & one reading Virginia Woolf? Not really Orlando wasn't published until 1928. But, I think Austen chose a great name for the ne'er-do-well villain in Pride and Prejudice.)

Lastly, we have a traditionally female name...

Jewell- English- precious stone^

I kind of like Volney.

^ http://www.babynames.com/

* http://www.thinkbabynames.com/

What's in a (Baby) Name? The Boy Edition Part 2

On with my baby name project. Meanings for the popular boy names are as follows...

The Brits have 10 of the 20(ish) most popular boy names in Greenwich 1881-1913, so here we go

English
William- strong-willed warrior
Frank- free or truthful
Robert- bright fame
Edward- wealthy guardian
Harry- diminutive of Harold- army ruler (also dem. or Henry- see German)
Walter- (also) army ruler
Albert- noble & bright
Fred- peace ruler
Clarence- British title
Lewis- famed warrior

Shocking that there are so many war/ military references.

Next the Germans weigh in...
Charles- freeman
Henry- ruler of the home
Willie- diminutive of William- strong-willed warrior (Why not English?)
Louis- famed warrior (same as English spelling)

Hebrew
John- God is gracious
James- supplanter (What! I looked it up- one who wrongfully seizes & holds the place of another- Hmm)
Joseph- God will increase

Greek
George- farmer
Thomas- twin

Scottish
Donald- world leader
Kenneth- handsome

Latin
Paul- small

Welsh
Arthur- bear

Aside from the meaning of James, nothing was overly surprising. I'll compile the odd ones and have them up soon.

Thanks as always to http://www.babynames.com/

What's in a (Baby) Name? The Boy Edition

You guessed it! I'm back to my baby name research.

Since the last three part segment dealt with girl's names, I figured I'd better be fair & give the boy's names their turn. I'll try to have meanings for you next month. So, here we go...

The 20(ish) Most Popular Baby BOY Names in Greenwich, NY 1881-1913*
1.)   William
2.)   John
3.)   Charles, George
5.)   James
6.)   Robert
7.)   Edward
8.)   Harold
9.)   Raymond
10.) Walter
11.) Earl, Henry, Thomas
14.) Frank, Harry
16.) Albert, Donald, Kenneth
19.) David, Joseph, Lewis

The 20(ish) Most Popular Baby BOY Names in USA 1881-1913^
1.)   John
2.)   William
3.)   James
4.)   George
5.)   Charles
6.)   Joseph
7.)   Robert
8.)   Frank
9.)   Edward
10.) Thomas
11.) Henry
12.) Harry
13.) Walter
14.) Arthur
15.) Albert
16.) Fred
17.) Willie
18.) Clarence
19.) Paul
20.) Louis

* compiled from Town & Village of Greenwich, NY birth records 1881-1913
^ compiled from data on the Social Security Administration website http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

What's in a (baby name? Part 3

As promised, some uncommon & odd girl names from the Town & Village of Greenwich birth records...

To start off, let's go with Latin. Quite a few uncommon ones here.
Generous- of noble birth
Flossie- flowering- diminutive of Florence
Mertie- evergreen sacred to Venus as a symbol of love- diminutive of Myrtle
Lucina- light- variant of Luncinda/Lucy

Retta- speaker- variant of Rhetta



Leitha Cronin- Witches Basketball- 1930

 Betris- bringer of joy- variant of Beatriz/Beatrix/Beatrice

The Greeks weigh in-
Ione- person of Ionia
Leitha- forgetfulness- variant of Letha/Lethia

Hebrew...
Jerusha- inheritance
Rena- joy
Wanita*-God is gracious or pale skinned- variant of Juanita

Habla Espanol?
Verda- truth
Wanita*-God is gracious or pale skinned- variant of Juanita

On to the Scotts-
Iona- from the island of Iona
Melvina- gentle lady

American- What? Really?
Leola- lioness- variant of Leona/Leala
Enola- possibly "alone" spelled backward- modern

Scandinavian
Anneke- gracious, merciful- diminutive of Ann

That leaves me with a few to scratch your head over-
Alveretta, Oviretta, Orvelia, Bellzora & Delsie.

Alveretta is probably an attempt to name the poor girl after her father, who's name was Albert (Why not Alberta?). The parents could have changed the "b" to a "v" themselves, or the person recording the name was confused & wrote what they thought they heard.

Oviretta & Orvelia were also, probably attempts at keeping names going in the family. Or maybe a lack of (or too much) imagination. I dislike both of these. Give the girls their own names!

Bellzora, if you take it apart can mean "beautiful dawn". Zora is Slavic meaning dawn & Bell/Belle/Bella means beautiful. I like Zora, but the whole thing is kind of a mouthful.

Delsie? I'm stumped. It's pretty though.


*I'm thinking I should give it to the Hebrews. The language has been around a lot longer than Spanish. Plus, the Jews probably brought the name with them when they migrated to the Iberian peninsula.

Thanks again to http://www.babynames.com/
& for the more unusual suspects- http://www.thinkbabynames.com/

What's in a (baby) name? Part 2

First off... who knew that the Hebrew name Mary means "sea of bitterness"? Really? So, of course, does the French version, Marie, and the diminutive version, Marion.

Post Card sent to Miss Mary Moriarty Greenwich, NY- June 17, 1906 

That said, other Hebrew names on the lists I provided last week are as follows:

Elizabeth- God is my oath

Ruth- friendship

Anna- gracious, merciful

Sarah- princess

Edna- delicacy, tenderness


I'm sensing a pattern here. It's a whole lot of sugar & nice. Where is the spice?


Let's try the English...
Alice- of noble kin
Ethel- noble
Margaret- pearl
Jennie- fair phantom, white wave
Annie- gracious, merciful (same in Hebrew & English, humph)
Rose- rose (duh)


OK. So we have more nobility coming in, shocking I know! Flowers & jewels. What's up with "fair phantom" and "white wave"? Oh, Jennifer (& the diminutive Jennie) come from the Welsh Gwynhwyfar. That would explain the strange meaning. I wonder why it was Anglicized? I thought the British loved the letter "Y" (tyres, pyjamas)?


The dead language of Latin, ladies & gentlemen.
Florence- prosperous, flowering
Frances- from France, (or my favorite) free
Julia- youthful, downy
Emma- universal
Grace- grace of God
Clara- illustrious


"Universal" is intriguing. "Free" is great (but I'm biased since Frances is my middle name).


On to the Greeks!
Helen- light
Irene- peace
Dorothy- gift of God


Wow, I was hoping for more pop from Athens and Sparta. I like "peace" though. My great-grandmother was named Irene.


The continental Europeans give more of the same.
German
Bertha- bright
Elsie- God is my oath (diminutive of Elizabeth)


French
Blanche- white


Spanish
Ella- young girl


So, not much unusual with the popular names for girls. The meanings show a strong tendency toward piety, beauty, femininity... I wasn't really surprised with the similarities in the lists either. The names are biblical, European, typical.


Next, I see what names I can find in the records that we might consider odd!


Check out http://www.babynames.com/ for more meanings.

What's in a (baby) name?

While creating a workable database of birth records, I thought it might be interesting to see if the baby names in the Town & Village of Greenwich follow along with the popular baby names of the country... or if they diverge. Since I get sidetracked by helping the public (being a public historian, that's what I'm here for), my self-created research tends to get left under a pile of dust for months at a time. In an effort to jump-start this concept, I decided to add it here. Periodically, as time allows, I will add updates to this ongoing project.

Here goes...

The 20(ish) Most Popular Baby GIRL Names in Greenwich, NY 1881-1913*
 1.)  Mary
 2.)  Elizabeth
 3.)  Helen
 4.)  Florence
 5.)  Bertha
 6.)  Alice
 7.)  Ruth
 8.)  Anna, Blanche, Irene, Marion, Sarah
 9.)  Ethel
10.) Dorothy, Elsie, Margaret
11.) Edna, Ella, Frances, Jennie, Julia

The 20(ish) Most Popular Baby GIRL Names in USA 1881-1913^
 1.)  Mary
 2.)  Anna
 3.)  Helen
 4.)  Margaret
 5.)  Elizabeth
 6.)  Ruth
 7.)  Florence
 8.)  Ethel
 9.)  Alice
10.) Dorothy
11.) Marie
12.) Emma
13.) Lillian
14.) Mildred
15.) Edna
16.) Annie
17.) Grace
18.) Rose
19.) Frances
20.) Clara

* compiled from Town & Village of Greenwich birth records 1881-1913
^ comipled from data on the Social Security Administration website http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/