Historic Baby Names: Quirky picks From Amaziah to Zebina
Our star intern Hannah Tenison wanders through some New England graveyards and makes some fascinating discoveries of some great historic baby names.
I recently moved to the Hartford, Connecticut area for the summer, and one of my favorite things about this state is its long history, because it yields so many fantastic antique baby names! The area is not only beautiful, with green rolling hills and lush forests, but chock-ful of historical, peaceful cemeteries, as well. As many a name nerd knows, cemeteries are ripe with fresh possibilities, and the older they are, the more likely one is to find truly rare names.
With this in mind, I set out to comb the best cemeteries in my neighborhood for the most unique and undiscovered gems. In my quest, I noticed some strong preferences for virtue, occupational, and Biblical names, as well as names referencing ancient historians or philosophers. For girls, anything long and feminine was game, and the “l” sound was particularly popular. For boys, parents seemed fond of either distinguished sounding appellations ending in the fusty “us,” or jaunty, cute names with prominent “o” sounds.
I found so many interesting names in my search that it was hard to narrow them down, but eventually I managed to come up with the following lists, which seemed to represent the best variety of Connecticut’s plentiful history and its stellar names.
In the cemeteries I searched, I found that as long as a girl’s name sounded frilly and ended in an “a,” what the parents did with the rest of the syllables was fair game. With the exception of a few legitimate names like Sophronia and Antonina, the following names are unique indeed. Amongst the frills, I noticed a preference for the “Phil,” and “Rose,” prefixes, along with a fondness for the “l” sound, a trend that is shared by today’s baby namers, who have been using Layla and Lily like nobody’s business.
The Phils:
Philanda
Philinda
Philomela
Philomene
Philura
The Roses:
Rosannah
Rosebella
Roselda
Roselinda
Rosetta
Rosilda
Others:
Althea
Alvilly
Amarilla
Antonina
Apphia
Arthusa Dethalia
Austra
Corintha
Decima
Dellaphine
Edessa
Erminia
Fairvine
Florella
Lamira
Leokaida
Lorintha
Lucretia
Lurannah
Orvilla
Parthiena
Pluma
Roena
Savilla
Sophronia
Theodotia
Tryphena
Zebina
For boys, the round and happy “O” was a fascinating baby name denominator, and made for some truly lively and unusual finds:
Apollos
Arno
Meno (the name of a philosopher—I also found a “Pliny,” an ancient historian/philosopher)
Nello
Odilio
Olin
Orestes
Orvis
Osco
Otho
Unique Baby Names with Biblical Meaning
Today’s popular lists are flowing with Biblical standbys like Abigail, Adam, Joseph and Jacob, but in America’s early history, parents dug a lot deeper into the Bible, plumbing it for what sometimes look like a Scrabble grab bag rather than a legitimate name. If you’re a fan of the zippiness of Z names, then one place you may want to look is in the Bible, where a surprising number of names share that zesty consonant:
Amaziah
Azariah
Hepzibah
Hezekiah
Ozias
Zaccheus
Zebulon
Zenas
Zerah
Zillah
Zilpha
Zopher (Zophar)
If you think the trend for naming your child after nouns and verbs, adverbs and adjectives is a new one, think again. The Puritans were big fans of word names, particularly virtue and occupational names. Some names I found particularly intriguing to see used were “Starling,” a nouveau bird name I’ve seen tossed around on the nameberry boards lately, and “Minor” — which sounds a bit cruel in comparison to Major. Here are the best of the rest:
Bishop
Butler
Charaty (Charity)
Cornish
Delight
Friend
Garland
Grove
Love
Marshall
Mercy
Mindwell
Minor
Newbold (could also be a surname)
Peal
Prudence
Royal
Salmon
Squire
Starling (b. 1806)
Thankful
Tudor
Wait
Wealthy
Word (middle name Day)
“Us” :
Finally, in contrast to the prominent “o” trend, I found several names for boys ending in the gruff and serious “us” suffix, a trend I’ve noticed coming back with contemporary baby namers in the form of Atticus and Magnus, Rufus and even Lazarus:
Augustus
Aurelius
Dositheus
Erasmus
Erastus
Festus
Jairus
Lucius
Sylvanus
Titus
So, what are my favorites from these lists? I’m a big fan of the luscious Rosebella and Dellaphine, the happy, hippy choice Starling, the distinguished Augustus, and the quirky Zebulon, which reminds me of both the Old West and outer space at the same time! What are your favorites, Berries? Any names you find particularly interesting?
Hannah will be entering her senior year at the University of Michigan in the fall. This summer, she is living in New England and loving it! Besides finding more names to love, Hannah enjoys reading fantasy, watching movies, exploring new places, playing with her Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Doggus, and running. After graduation, she plans on going to law school.
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