Colonial Names for Girls

Queen Hecuba was the legendary queen of King Priam of Troy, mother of Hector, Paris, Cassandra and others. Euripedes' tragedy Hecuba depicts Hecuba's grief over the death of her daughter Polyxena, and the revenge she takes for the murder of her youngest son Polydorus.

Replaced Patsy as the midcentury's popular, peppy babysitter.

A name mentioned in the Old Testament as the wife of a king of Edom. A curious blend of clunky biblical style, and a "bel" ending that mirrors the feminine sound of names like Isabel and Annabel. Hettie and Belle / Bella are nickname possibilities.

In the Zulu and Xhosa languages of Southern Africa, Phila is a unisex name pronounced "PEE-la" and means "to live of life" It's also the feminine version of the ancient Greek name Philo, pronounced "FEE-la", meaning friend or lover and present in several contemporary names and words used throughout the Western World. The name Philip, for instance, means lover of horses, while the city name Philadelphia means "brotherly love" and philosophy means "love of wisdom".

Kizzy remains the most popular spelling of the Keziah short form, at least in some part thanks to its appearance in the 1977 television show Roots.

Feline nickname for Tabitha — a bewitching vintage choice.

Modesty is a virtue name dating to Roman times, but never widely used, except for hot 1960s movie spoof heroine, Modesty Blaise, based on a comic strip.

Experience was used by the Puritans but probably too joke-worthy for a modern child...or teenager.

Azuba is a form of Azubah, the Old Testament wife of Caleb. The name was used among early African-Americans.

Donia is a name with many possible origins. Besides a short female form of Donald, it may also be a form of the Italian Donna meaning lady, a variation on the Arabic Donya meaning world, or a Celtic name of the Don family, which all have meanings related to dark or darkness.

Place-name mentioned in the New Testament and not yet on the name map. Philadelphia Thursday was the character played by Shirley Temple in John Ford's 1948 "Fort Apache."

These days Sophie would be the most likely nickname for Sophronia, but back in Colonial times, Fronie was a common diminutive.

The Early Americans invented names too, sometimes variations of classical or biblical favorites. This one appears in Colonial rosters; the Aur beginning is Latin and means "gold."

Hatty is an old school nickname for Harriet, itself an old-fashioned choice. The more usual spelling historically is Hattie, with was given to more than 750 baby girls last year in the US, three times as many as were named Harriet. Hatty, by contrast, was used for fewer than five babies -- quite a contrast!

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names. It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning.