BRITISH AND IRISH GIVEN NAMES
Our ancestors' names are the gateway to tracing our family history. Without a surname and a given name, we almost always hit a research brick wall.
Sometimes our ancestor's given name can be spelt in a form that doesn't resonate with us:
- a Latin version (e.g. Christopher/Xtopherus, William/Guglielmus)
- a "diminutive" version (aka abbreviation) (e.g. Margaret/Polly, Helen (or Ellen/Eleanor)/Nellie)
- a "foreign" version (e.g. John/Evan/Giovanni/Hans/Ian/Jean/Johann/Juan/Sean)
Additionally, these variants might be recorded or transcribed incorrectly, making them even harder to identify.
That being the case, we should arm ourselves with knowledge about these naming possibilities to maximise our chances of finding ancestral information.
Sources of information about given names are provided below.
Genealogist and author Carol Baxter first became interested in given names when she was eleven. She began "collecting" girls' names and ended up with a list of 22,000. When she started tracing her family history at the age of seventeen, her interest extended to surnames. She has pursued both topics in her genealogy talks.
Free online lesson
British and Irish Given Names (snippet)
This free lesson is a 22-minute snippet cut from Carol Baxter's British and Irish Given Names lesson (see below).
The snippet covers the historical naming backdrop — that is, the trends that produced the names used by our ancestors in the 1700s and 1800s.
Duration: 22 minutes
Online lesson
Duration: 63 minutes
British and Irish Given Names (full version)
Most genealogists know little about their ancestors' given names, especially how common the common names were and how uncommon the other names were.
This seminar focuses on given name popularities, changes in popularity, and the reasons for such changes. It also covers spelling variants, abbreviations and diminutives.
This lesson can be accessed by Writing Fabulous Family Histories Annual Members as part of the A Helpful Miscellany series. It can also be made available as a individual pay-per-view lesson (contact Carol if you would like this to be produced in the near future).
carol@writingfabulousfamilyhistories.com
Handy guides
This series of Unlock the Past handy guides explore given name popularity, spelling variants, diminutives, abbreviations and, in the English guide, Latin forms of the name.
Each handy guide is A4 in size and 8 pages in length and is published on cardboard rather than paper.
English
Given Names
handy guide
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 10.00
Website price:
$AUD 9.00
International purchases
Scottish Given Names
handy guide
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 10.00
Website price:
$AUD 9.00
International purchases
Irish
Given Names
handy guide
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 10.00
Website price:
$AUD 9.00
International purchases
Welsh
Given Names
handy guide
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 10.00
Website price:
$AUD 9.00
International purchases
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