So, one of the things I've done in my name-searching is go through our combined PAF file to see if any ancestral names jump out at me. Not much progress on names I would actually want to use, but the following names did appear way back when:
Obedience
Submit
Hopestill
Hopewell
Wait
Mindwell
Thankful
Desire
Silence
Living
Comfort
Relief
Deliverance
Record
Temperance
And those are all for girls! And there are multiple Silences and Submits (there were lots of Prudences and Patiences, too, but those seemed more common and expected). Some of the names make me wonder if they had older children who were terribly misbehaved, and they were trying to send subliminal messages to their later offspring. Why else would you name a kid Silence?
I was only looking for girl names, but one boy name did jump out at me: Remnant.
There were a couple of interesting non-Puritan names, too. Anyone know the origin of the name Cypian? There was also a Frenes, but I'm thinking that might be a misspelling of Frances.
10 comments:
Oh hell, JA - just cut to the chase and name her "Preside," thereby ensuring that in the fine tradition of Scary Feminists everywhere, nice mormon boys will not want to date her. Tee hee.
"Submit" and "Silence," eh? Your charitable reading of it as a reaction to a naughty child rather than, say, a blatant value-based wish for their female child is very nice.
I'm not so nice. So I'll stop commenting now. :-)
Nearly wet myself laughing, Swizzies. Preside. Why not aim higher and name her President?
No Truth or Justice among the old names, eh? Too bad.
ME
I should have named all my kids "Wait." Or Mindwell. I wonder if that ever worked. If I should have another child, I'll have to name him or her Mindwell. Mindwell Screamnot. Let's hope I never get pregnant again.
Aw, you gals are awesome. Just the chuckles I needed today.
mhw, all the Mindwells in my genealogy were girls, but I'm sure modern-day Murricans wouldn't have any reason to think of the name as gendered. There were a bunch of names that appeared for people of both sexes, including Experience and Hopestill.
Sorry, does this mean that you are related to people with all of those names? Cypian, of course, is a corruption of an Old English school newspaper name.
What are the translations of some of these names in Swedish? Since most of them are nouns or verbs, you could end up with some interesting names and most "Murrikans" would be none the wiser.
Personally, for Scandinavian names for girls, I like Ingrid, Solvay, Birgit, and Anneliese. Dull, I know. But better that than be the laughingstock of the playground. It's hard enough being a girl without having a name you have to explain and constantly spell for people. My two cents...
All that said, barring something Norse, I vote with ME and Swizzies: Preside seems like an excellent choice!!
MWR, yes, one or the other of us (or both) is related somehow to all these people.
Tewkes, Annalise is the name of one of my first cousins, and I grew up with a Solveig (the usual spelling--pronounced either sole-vay or sole-vye depending on where you're from). Birgit I like, but I'm leery of people frequently misreading it as Brigit (which is out--there are no fewer than 3 Bridgets in my ward: an adult, a tweener and a toddler). Ingrid's way too popular--in the 600s last year! ;)
I'm glad my ancestors were all still safely speaking German when such names were in play.
I like Astrid - have you discussed that one?
Well, all I beg of you (and I know it's really none of my business, but I have to debase myself here in thinking my opinion will totally sway yours and others!) is, please, please, please don't name her Gudrun. I knew a Gudrun in Austria. It's not a very pretty name. I'd rather name a child Gretchen or Gretl than Gudrun.
And speaking of names in Austria, I knew a Sybille and an Angelika while I was living there. Both were drop-dead gorgeous. One was the former mistress of Formula 1 racer Nicki Lauda and the other was a model. (Hm. Not sure why I shared that. Certainly not for inspirational reasons or as something for the wee-one-to-be to aspire to.)
Okay, I'll stop now and go back to my original vote: "Preside."
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