Abel, the name of Adam and Eve's unfortunate younger son, compensates with positive connotations: capable, competent, ready and willing. I am researching the surname Culbert worldwide, and the data can be found at: culbert.one-name.net There are a growing number of African Americans with this surname, which I believe originates in Scotland. Benson, Susan. Enslaved people remained legally nameless from the time of their capture until their purchase by American enslavers. Chery Meaning: derived from the Latin Cariacus, which means "land belonging to Cariu"; darling Origin: French 5. It is from this myth that the plant genus, Phoebe is the Latin variation of the Greek name Phoibe, which derived from. Eliza Moore (1843 - January 21, 1948) Source = Pinimg. ", "No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished? I also see that in 1900 she is listed as widow with 1 child living, so you may have luck trying to find out who her child was. And now that it's been chosen by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, it could take off as their first son's nameKingstonhas. I am the identical person who was named called and known as Dick Lewis Smith before the Civil War and during the Civil War and until I returned home after my military service . In his pension file, my great great grandmother his widow expressed that he chose his former enslaver surname because his father had been enslaved by them, too. Q. Thank you as always, your posts are so helpful. Well, Ive gone off on a tangent again;) But thank you again for writing and thank you for the cemetery work (especially trying to include African-Americans you are doing that will be of benefit to others. Isaac evolved from the name Yitzchaq, derived from the Hebrew word, Lysander is a distinctive Greek name that could be thought of as a more creative cousin of Alexander. Thank you for your comment, Just from the detail in your first comment, I knew there was a good chance you were already familiar with those authors. My mothers name was Octavia Smith and it was from her that I got it but where the name came from to her I never knew. Abebe: The genesis of this Ethiopian name is Amharic, and it means 'flower' or 'blossom'. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The population was more than 16 million and the industrial revolution was under way, which debunks any perception of a broadly colonial society. Beginning in the early nineteenth century, more biblical names were given to enslavedchildren, a reflection of the widespread attempts to Christianize enslaved communities. There was often a fluidity to the surnames that enslaved people had. However the frequent rebellions by . Runaway ads illustrate how many slaveholders knew the surnames of their slaves. My father once told me his grandfather ran away from the Carrington place and changed his name to Williams. It had always been passed down in the family that Thomas has been owned by the Blacks. Ref. -Winston Churchill, "The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never ever introduce yourself to had life not done it for you." All children of a female slave were automatically slaves, considered as belonging to the owner of the mother. By the late 19th century, England was home to about 300 surnames with traceable genealogy. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. If a surname was needed, the slave owners family name might be used. The slave schedules of 1860 Arkansas do not give the names of the slaves. If the name is spelled Rodrigues, the name is Portuguese but has the same meaning) 3. Nameberry is a registered trademark of Nameberry, LLC. Also included here are common names among slaves, many of which were classical and had ties to the Bible or mythology, such as Keziah and Venus. Ethereal and delicate, Cassandra was in the Top 70 throughout the 1990s but is now descending in popularity. Im jealous;) The common names there (Marie, Louise, etc) would test anyones genealogical skills, so I take my hat off to you. Percy is an adorable old name that is finally shedding its pampered Little Lord Fauntleroy image in this new era of boys with soft yet traditionally, Titus, once seen as a slightly forbidding Roman, New Testament, and Shakespearean name, was brought back to contemporary life in the USA by the TV series, French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge, Latin, meaning unknown, possibly "title of honour". Place names that were disproportionately popular among Black Americans in history include Boston, Jamaica, York, and Africa. He took his last enslaver surname. One of the less well known aspects of the history of slavery is how many and how often non-whites owned and traded slaves in early America. 30 January 2022, [PAST EVENT], Eastern Standard Time: Join special guest genealogist Taneya Y. Koonce and I as we present our joint Zoom webinar, Organize Your Genealogy! Col. Joshua John Ward of Georgetown, South Carolina: 1,130 Known as "King of the Rice Planters," Ward had 1,130 enslaved Blacks on the Brookgreen plantation in South Carolina. Samuel had only two slaves: the man that could be Wilson and a 42-year-old woman. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts South Atlantic Creole Archipelagos Bernard Meaning: brave warrior Origin: French 4. One thing we should keep in mind is that the practice of referring to enslaved people by a given name only was a part of the attempt of the system of slavery to dehumanize them..to other them. My hat goes off to you and your passionate efforts. Can you steer me in the right direction? CLARKE - The name comes from 'clerk, a clergyman, a scholar, one who can read and write' and is most prevalent in England, where some 89,337 people are recorded with this surname. My great great grandfather in Mississippi took the surname of the previous SC enslaver, whose widow sold him away. I liked the name better than Octavia, and so I took it with me to Danville, and was never called anything else there than that name. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. Enslaved people resisted in ways large and small. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries African-American slaves retained Africanisms in their naming practices. Post Author: Post published: 18 avril 2022; Post Category: . Start your year off with tips and strategies that can help you in the new year & beyond. In small communities when slaves were sold, they were often bought by someone in the area. E. Togo Salmon Conference, E. Togo Salmon Conference 1993 Mcmaster University: Goodyear III, Frank H. "Photography changes the way we record and respond to social issues". It means 'bought land'. In 1850, Ward. When slave owners married, they often received slaves as wedding gifts and inheritances from their wifes family. CLICK HERE TO SAVE YOUR SEAT! South Atlantic Creole A Spanish America After Independence, 1825-1900, Tudor and Stuart Britain in the Wider World, 1485-1685, Warfare, Medicine, and Disease in the Atlantic World. I worked for him as nurse for his children, and my full and correct name was OCTAVIA, but the family could not catch on to that long name and called me LOTTIE for short. Finding State Laws About Slaves and Free Blacks, More Suggestions for White Slaveholder Descendants, http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-r-yarborough-where-it-all-began.html, http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2013/11/many-rivers-to-cross-my-priscilla.html, https://www.historicpathways.com/articles.html, http://whitneyplantation.com/the-louisiana-slave-database.html. Even many given names of ancestors eventually became a surname, such as Todd or William. After emancipation, he became William Smith. Farley, (English Origin) Victorian-era last names meaning "fern woodland". Harris: A patronymic meaning son of Harry. 17. Alfred Francis Russell (1817-1884), 10th President of Liberia. College, Advanced AA Gen. Class, September 2009, Alice, Robyn and Lajoye, CM AAHGS, September 2017, Robyn and Andrea, NGS Conference, May 2014. This may reveal your family used the surname of the slave owners wifes family. Explore the most common surnames in England. Were there any famous slaves? 18. Plus, Jonah comes with a ready-made nursery-decorating motif. I would appreciate any constructive comments on this question, which can be posted to me via my website address above. Others who wanted no connection to their former owners used surnames like Freeman or Freedman. 2019 (cited under the Anglophone Caribbean) includes a good general introduction to slave naming. This phenomena makes research very complicated when you dont know the mothers surname. College, Advanced AA Gen Class, September 2011, AAHGS Annual Genealogy Conference, November 2008, Howard Comm. This was done more because it was the logical thing to do and the easiest way to be identified than it was through affection for the master. The most common of 603 names of female Slaves were Bet, Mary, Jane, Hanna, Betty, Sarah, Phillis, Nan, Peg, and Sary. This potential brother had been sold to a local and remained there in SC. Gerald, however, is a Germanic name meaning ruler) 2. I find it interesting that they often used the strange phrase he calls himself in the ads, as if having a given name and a surname was silly: Ran away from the subscriber on the 25th of October, a well set dark mulattoe man named Jem, but calls himself James Ferguson.. Middle Tennessee, where tobacco, cattle, and grain became the favored crops, held the . CAs Push to Restore Voting Rights to System-Impacted Individuals Still in Custody, Eli Lilly to Cap Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs, Asm. Copyright 2023 Facing History & Ourselves. The resources Im getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. It is certainly possible that Wilsons siblings could have been sold away or owned by others. They identified 21 distinctly Black male names, among them biblical classics such as Abraham and Moses, and word names including Freeman and Prince. Renate, Abel, et al. Are you thinking this woman Eliza Ellis was married to Wash Ellis? Hi Jim, With mythological names rising, the handsome son of Zeus and god of medicine, music, and poetry among many other things might offer an interesting, if high-pressure, option. Spanish areas had male Slave names as Francisco, Pedro, and Antonio; and for females: Maria, Isabella, and Juana. Got.the name.Auber.. Hi Roxana, Names. 782 Lists of Slave owners with names of slaves Tamme, 766 Tom, 766 West, 766 Will, 766 Barker, Nathaniel Harry, 591, 700, 746, 767 Barkley, Barbary Grace, 651 Table 7. . Dear Robyn, They called me OCK. Choose the best name for your child. Former slaves often made up surnames based on their occupations. In Greek mythology, Athena is the name of the daughter of Zeus who was the goddess of wisdom, warfare, handicrafts, mathematics, and courage, among others. . My great grandfather Wilson Percival was born in South Carolina and I believe he took his surname from last slave owners family. It can be a difficult path, but just might be reachable. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. ", "Call it a clan, call it a network, all it a tribe, call it a family. It is not uncommon to see an African American family listed with one surname in 1870 and another in 1880. Email:genealogy@slcl.org is for you. What remains utterly amazing to me is that in the worst of circumstances, and in spite of every attempt to crush any idea that slaves were anything other than commodities, slaveholders did not succeed. When I was born my mother was known as Phillis Smith and I took the name of Smith too. All rights reserved. Slave Names Below are some best cute and catchy slave names: Infirm Mite Lunn Amanda Walter Garner Hannah Delia Bastard Inferior Weevil George O'Hanlon Jordan John Owen Rachel Fetid Spider Betty Nathan York John Wright Wicked Whelp Thornton Dick Field Robert Dick William Hunter William Sam Kiner Augustus Dick a/k/a Richard Ferguson Foul Beast You already know the rich historical terrain of FPOC in Louisiana, what terrific grounds for family research. Q. Garcia is the Spanish variation of the word Gerald that means a pointed weapon, like a spear. Your insight is always welcome and I am glad you shared these posts for other readers to see. I think mostly about family separationas a mother now myself, the very idea that my dear child could be sold to who knows where, never to be seen again..just reduces me to tears anytime. In 2001, I began a process of transcribing names of some of the largest slaveholders and matching the surnames with numbers of African Americans on the 1870 . African Americans tended to use surnames associated with their own families instead of the last slave owner. "Albumen print of enslaved women and their children near Alexandria, Virginia." Smithsonian Institution. I am not able to find any slaveholders in the Versailes area by the name of Ellis. I am an engineer by day, but my true passion lies in genealogy. Letter to James Edward Calhoun, August 27, 1831. There are issues, too, about how to interpret the recorded names, which have been classified in different ways depending on researchers interests. A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. It means 'clerk' or 'secretary'. The following documents are excerpts from government records in which Dick Barnett and Mollie (Smith) Russell explain when and why they changed their names. With your explanations in mind, I will go back over a couple of family groups and re-assess the surname ambiguousness I have in my notes. Login Forgot . Through Reclaiming Kin, I share tips on genealogy skillbuilding for all genealogists, and on researching slavery and the enslaved. I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. Aruba Congo Bob D'Sean Latoya Dilsy Lopez Lunah African Emmaline Ebo Mema Milla Kyser Ibo Medwin Oilsay Cupad Viney Centere Minta Zoruba Tyzer Nefar Phiba LaVaughn Congo Bob Ladia Ikbo Abah Medger Bossy Shand Cufee Uri Zulu jenee Sorce Tomm Dedib Slave Names Of The 1800's Cena Billah Quarker Lamoney Minba Geto Tonesia Zulu Jana Brutis The names that were brought together to form "Geffery" were "Gaufrid" (territory-peace), "Godafrid" (god-peace), and "Galfridus" (song-peace). A. I was first called by that name in the family of Col. Morrow in whose service I was in Louisville, Ky., just after the war. Spencer is a name that has everything: it's both distinguished sounding and accessible, dignified but Spencer Tracy-like friendly. I also have a Slavery and Freedom Collection available for $20. Osprey Publishing 2008. Kindest regards, I mean, really retro. One ancestor was known as Baber Masse, Elizabeth SENET and Elisabeth Leveille in different documents. But, my mtdna also said I share ancestry with the Kru people of Liberia and the Mende from Sierra Leonne! I love how you have documented the history of your own surname. Location the owner of ones ancestor is crucial for an African American genealogist to trace his family before 1870. However, many African Americans faced a problem when they applied for their pensions. Copyright 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Of the 972 names of male Slaves recorded between 1619 and 1799 the leading ones were Jack, Tom, Harry, Sam, Will, Caesar, Dick, John, Robin, Frank, Charles, Joe and Prince. In many cases this is ignored and children use their fathers name! Geographic names were common, as were the names of ships or distant ports for enslaved peopleborn in places such as Wilmington or New Bern. Im very familiar with the work of Gwendolyn Hall and Elizabeth Shown Mills. This was the case with several others from Wessyngton. Interestingly, the five most common American surnames as of 2010 haven't changed that much over time and are Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones. Robyn. -Kendall Hailey, "If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all the generations of your ancestors. Students consider how US history books, films, and other works of popular culture have misrepresented the history of the Reconstruction era. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Slavery's reach is still with us, and part of the gift of doing African-American genealogy, "The past is not dead. Q. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. A valuable and incisive discussion, both theoretically and historically informed, of slave naming in two African societies, the Caribbean, and the American South. A. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories. After emancipation, he became William Smith. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough about African and Caribbean research in the areas you name. American slave owners or slaveholders were owners of slaves in the United States which typically worked either as agriculture laborers or house servants. . Robyn. Seating is limited. Is this the work of the evil spirits or from my bad karma? Is this my fate!To worsen matters, a given new European label applied only to one aspect of the nature (whereas his/her original name referred to a total identity) of the enslaved and this was an effective way to try to fragment a victims mindset. . I first wrote about this in this 2009 post: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-r-yarborough-where-it-all-began.html, And,then, more recently in 2013, here: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2013/11/many-rivers-to-cross-my-priscilla.html. . 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Finding Aids for the National Archives at Atlanta, National Archives Catalog (National Archives Identifier 2767350). Thats a goal that I am working towards. Search 30 million given names. Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974). I took the name of Jackson for the reason that I preferred to go by my fathers name, rather than the name of my last owner.. 1754 Excerpts from the Courant for June 22 to 29, 1754 at Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library - contain the names of some "runaway slaves" or indentured servants, and information about them. ", "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city;)", "Where does the family start? This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. It was after emancipation on that I went back to work for Col. Morrow and where I got the name Lottie, as already explained.