Woven Tapestry Throw Blanket, Pittsburgh Pepperoni Rolls Recipe, Mandatory Definition In Black's Law Dictionary, Articles C

(Media Note: If you quote a post, please credit me by name, Robyn N. In small communities when slaves were sold, they were often bought by someone in the area. It helps me to understand the complexity of surname variation I have found in researching the ancestral patterns of an African-American cemetery in my local area. And you get to tell the story of Jean-Louiss life in slavery and also in freedom. Q. Wesley is one of a group of W-starting surname names reminiscent of the Old West that are making a comeback -- though it's not as well used as it was in the 1970s, when he ranked as high as Number 66. 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 . I especially recommend Mother, Thy Name is Mystery! 2019 (cited under the Anglophone Caribbean) includes a good general introduction to slave naming. One ancestor was known as Baber Masse, Elizabeth SENET and Elisabeth Leveille in different documents. The quote below, from a Southern Claims Commission file, is one of the most powerful and one of my favorites to use in lectures: I enlisted under Ross because that was my fathers name. This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am and is filed under Civil War, Genealogy & DNA, Interviews. ", "Case Overview: Ann Williams, Ann Maria Williams, Tobias Williams, & John Williams v. George Miller & George Miller Jr", "Augustine Tolton: From slavery to being the first black priest", "Cornish (and Other) Personal Names from the 10th Century Bodmin Manumissions", "Gospel-book with added Cornish records of manumissions ('The Bodmin Gospels' or 'St Petroc Gospels')", "Following Brigid's Way The Irish Catholic", Charity Folks, Lost Royalty, and the Bishop Family of Maryland and New York, "The Untold Story of How an Escaped Slave Helped Sir Francis Drake Circumnavigate the Globe", "Slave's 400-year-old grave in Dutch Jewish cemetery now a Black pilgrimage site" by Cnaan Lipshiz, Times of Israel, 6 February 2021, Roman Theater and Society: E. Togo Salmon Papers I, "Professor Says He Has Solved a Mystery Over a Slave's Novel", "Day of history to unfold in Muthill museum", "Cornelius Tacitus, The History, Book I, chapter 13", "An Old Actor's Memories; What Mt. An accessible introduction to the field. Place names that were disproportionately popular among Black Americans in history include Boston, Jamaica, York, and Africa. Places; Login. Although it is not widely known, some African Americans used surnames before they were emancipated. The difficulties include using records that provide no surnames, the constant sale and breakup of families, and the lack of identification of fathers. He was sold to my master William Orr and he always went by the name Edward Orr after that.. According to the latest search data available, Italian last names and their meanings are searched for nearly, 40,500 times per month. Ref. Trinidad and Tobago. Many enslaved people were allowed to keep their original African names or names assigned them elsewhere (as reflected by the frequency of Spanish and Portuguese names among the first generation of enslaved people in the Carolinas.) Many took the surname of famous or celebrated people; such as 'Lincoln', 'Grant', and 'Washington' was very popular. When I was born my mother was known as Phillis Smith and I took the name of Smith too. I hope this post also helps us to think about how the surnames former slaves had were connected to their experiences in slavery. This topic interests me greatly and Id like to do more research. My surname of SAM originated from Sem or Sam FUSELIER, a free man of color who freed my ancestor,Jean-Louis, out of slavery in 1811. Index by slave owner's name | Surname unknown or illegible. After emancipation, he became William Smith. I was called mostly Lewis Smith till after the war, although I was named Dick Lewis SmithDick was the brother of John Barnett whom I learned was my father . They identified 21 distinctly Black male names, among them biblical classics such as Abraham and Moses, and word names including Freeman and Prince. Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Many names, whether African derived or English, refer to birth circumstances, including both the ubiquitous day-names, which derive from the West African Akan-Twi language group, and others such as birth order and time of birth (e.g., day of the week, month, or season). Join me as I present this NEW webinar that covers why we miss our ancestors in these records and presents numerous strategies to assist in finding every clue in census records. Several names have been added under the letter representing the person's last name. Surnames like Chantimel have disappeared, while names like Horsford and Ackie, coming from Antigua (where they are common), or Quarless, Dowden, Chandler, and Dottin from Barbados, have enriched Grenada's family history and cultural identity. Other common surnames included Jones, Matthews, Sinclair, and Bennett, Price, and Gray.. It is certainly possible that Wilsons siblings could have been sold away or owned by others. Enslaved people suffered constant sale, where children were frequently torn away from parents at young ages and spouses were often separated. Once the slaves were freed they found they did need another name besides a given name. That alone can make if difficult to research an African- American family during those years. "More than half of the surnames are derived from the Christian or fore-name of the father," [1] and based on a total of 3,253,800 people, nearly 18 in every 100 persons was known by one of these fifty surnames. Analyzing Creole names, especially those of African origin, demands a combination of historical and linguistic expertise that has not yet been systematically applied to slave names. The naming of slaves has not been treated in dedicated monographs, but it often figures in general accounts of plantation culture and the practices of enslavement. In fact, the previous enslaver widow sold most of the slaves. This causes many researchers to wrongly conclude that enslaved people did not have surnames until after emancipation, which was not the case. There are issues, too, about how to interpret the recorded names, which have been classified in different ways depending on researchers interests. Another common way of distinguishing people would be 'son of', for example Johnson (son of John), Richardson, Wilson, Harrison etc. Thanks LaBrenda! I was only three years old when she died. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. He took his last enslaver surname. Three formerly enslaved people discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation. Renate, common last names in the 1800s Patronymic surnames such as Jansen/Janssen, Hansen, and Petersen are the most common names in the far north (Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein). Please share, in the comments below, examplesyou have come across of the surnames of enslaved people, especially if it was different from their last slaveholder. In these cases, unless the name change had been passed down in the family by oral history, it would be impossible to trace the family back any further. Kindest regards, -Unknown, "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you might as well make it dance!" In Greek mythology, Daphne was the nymph daughter of Peneus, a river god. Slavery existed in the United States from its founding in 1776 and became the main . Hi Jann, It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl. There are 15 tables, blank and editable for you to populate, as well as samples of using each. Even many given names of ancestors eventually became a surname, such as Todd or William. On the 30 rolls of NARA Microfilm Publication M1895, Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860 (30 rolls), are reproduced manifests filed with the collector of customs at New Orleans, Louisiana, of slaves transported in coastwise trade to or from New Orleans during the period 1807-1860. Plus, Jonah comes with a ready-made nursery-decorating motif. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts South Atlantic Creole Archipelagos Dick Lewis Barnett and Phillip Fry were African American veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War. Post Author: Post published: 18 avril 2022; Post Category: . [15] Alice Clifton (c. 1772-unknown), as an enslaved teenager, she was a defendant in an infanticide trial in 1787. The names they gave their children provide a valuable, if limited, index of that process over time. this page. Thank you as always, your posts are so helpful. The private name served as a form of Selfhood Armor (you cant take all of me, White man!); gave them a sense of power over their captors; and provided their children with a sense of heritage and pride. American slave owners or slaveholders were owners of slaves in the United States which typically worked either as agriculture laborers or house servants. Ho Joanne, But, my mtdna also said I share ancestry with the Kru people of Liberia and the Mende from Sierra Leonne! I focused on surnames but many of these books also discuss first names. Ebba: One of the more unique girl names from the 1800s. My mother then told me my fathers name was John Barnett, a white man, and I took up the name Barnett., My mothers name was Jane and she was called Jane Nunn because she belonged to the Nunns. John C. Inscoe, "Carolina Slave Names: An Index to Acculturation," Journal of Southern History 59 (November 1983). Most common last names names: 1-1000 | 1001-2000 | 2001-3000 | 3001-4000 | 4001-5000 Slavery is a social-economic system under which people are enslaved: deprived of personal freedom and forced to perform labor or services without compensation. 40. ", "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? Almost every major tome on slavery discusses slave naming practices in some form or fashion. I am sure your father would also be very proud of your interest in family history. . In my research so far, I have found very little evidence of white Culbert slaveholders only three cases so far. Throughout the colonial period, as many as one-fifth of the enslaved people in North Carolina retained African names; Quash, Cuffee, Mingo, Sambo, Mustapha, and Sukey were among the most common recorded. Thanks for all you to do keeps us all so enlightened! Thanks for commenting and continued luck in your research, In the late 1830s, Nathaniel Terry of Todd County, Kentucky died leaving a plantation of fifty slaves. -Elbert Hubbard, "Families are like fudge; mostly sweet with a few nuts." Picked by several celebrities (a couple of times even for a girl), adding up to an enthusiastically recommended choice. I am awar eof the different naming traditions practiced in that area and I thank you for sharing them here for my readers. He was a planter with 20,000 acres of land in East Florida and was at the forefront of slavery in The . You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. Slavery in America was the legal institution of enslaving human beings, mainly Africans and African Americans. Copyright 2023 Facing History & Ourselves. Besides the Morrows, whom else did you live with in Louisville? CLICK HERE TO SAVE YOUR SEAT! Besides the Morrows, whom else did you live with in Louisville? Dorothy, Doris or Dora: Meaning 'gift of God', this Victorian girl's name was popular in the 19th century. Wheatley was traded into slavery at the age of 7 or 8 and imported to North America. Expand or collapse the "in this article" section, Slave Names and Naming in the Anglophone Atlantic, Slave Names on Emancipation and after Slavery, Expand or collapse the "related articles" section, Expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section, African Retailers and Small Artisans in the Atlantic World, Alexander von Humboldt and Transatlantic Studies, Atlantic New Orleans: 18th and 19th Centuries, Black Atlantic in the Age of Revolutions, The, Chinese Indentured Servitude in the Atlantic World, Cities and Urbanization in Portuguese America, Colonial Governance in the Atlantic World, Comparative Indigenous History of the Americas, Criminal Transportation in the Atlantic World, Domestic Production and Consumption in the Atlantic World, Economy and Consumption in the Atlantic World. This had a profound impact on the Selfhood of each of the enslaveddisrupting ones presumed Mission in life, as indicated by ones name; shattering the sharing of personal and historical experiences, attitudes, and spirits towards life; and putting in disarray the philosophy of life framework and common sense values by which all Africans lived. Danish West Indies, Denmark, Records of Enslaved People, 1672-1917 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. 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. There has been much debate among scholars, historians and genealogists whether enslaved African Americans used the surnames of their last owners, previous owners, or a surname that had no connection to slavery. They reflect an acculturation process by which generations of enslaved people, increasingly removed from the direct influence of their first enslaved African ancestors, adopted the conventions of their enslavers, eventually creating a culture and value system all their own. The slave schedules of 1860 Arkansas do not give the names of the slaves. But if Romeo and Venus are now deemed baby-appropriate, why not Apollo? For personal use and not for further distribution. You can read the introductory maps for a high-level guided explanation, view the timeline and chronology of . Register now! A. The last U.S.census slave schedules were enumerated by County in 1860 and included 393,975 named persons holding 3,950,546 unnamed slaves, or an average of about ten slaves per holder. How did you ever come by the name of "Mollie"? I love how you have documented the history of your own surname. Lastly,emancipation itself often provoked many to choose new surnames, one of the few actual freedoms freedmen had. It gives the age and sex of the slave and the number of slaves of each age and sex. Table 7. 1. This unique-sounding French last name means 'bold' or 'daring'. European, Javanese and African and Indentured Servitude in First Contact and Early Colonization of Brazil, France and its Empire in the Indian Ocean, France and the British Isles from 1640 to 1789, George Montagu Dunk, Second Earl of Halifax, Green Atlantic: the Irish in the Atlantic World, Histories and Historiographies of the Atlantic World, Impact of the French Revolution on the Caribbean, The, Indentured Servitude in the Atlantic World, Indian, Internal Slave Migrations in the Americas, Interracial Marriage in the Atlantic World, Liverpool in The Atlantic World 1500-1833, Maritime Atlantic in the Age of Revolutions, The, Marriage and Family in the Atlantic World, Material Culture of Slavery in the British Atlantic, Money and Banking in the Atlantic Economy, Napolon Bonaparte and the Atlantic World, Nation and Empire in Northern Atlantic History, Native American Histories in North America, Native Americans and the American Revolution, People of African Descent in Early Modern Europe, Pets and Domesticated Animals in the Atlantic World. Anthropologist Meyer Fortes's observation that the naming practices of any society "epitomize personal experiences, historical happenings, attitudes to life, and cultural ideas and values" holds particularly true for African American enslaved people. Genealogy becomes so much more than just names and dates, it really feels like a true passion indeed. Numerous historical sources confirm that enslaved people had surnames that they used among themselves and in many cases were known by their slaveholder. No superior alternative has yet been found. Peneus saved Daphne from Apollos romantic obsessions by transforming her into a laurel tree. ", "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. Now, that parents surname could very well be the surname of the most recent slaveholder or an earlier slaveholder. This is such a well-written and informative post one that I know will open many eyes to the complexity of slave surnames, as well as many other aspects of the lives of the enslaved. It is from this myth that the plant genus, Phoebe is the Latin variation of the Greek name Phoibe, which derived from. Alfred "Teen" Blackburn (1842-1951), one of the last living survivors of slavery in the United States who had a clear recollection of it. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. 42. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. 2023 Nameberry.com.Nameberry is a registered trademark of Nameberry, LLC. Join my mailing list below to receive my posts and get a free PDF with some of my favorite tips! When I was born my mother was known as Phillis Smith and I took the name of Smith too. Anouilh. Where did you get the maiden name of Smith from? Many took the surname of famous or celebrated people; such as Lincoln, Grant, and Washington was very popular. Rather than being derived from the supernatural world, European given names were a mere handle or tag. The fifty most common Victorian surnames in England and Wales for 1853 are listed in alphabetical order below. how the surnames former slaves had were connected to their experiences in slavery. Through a video-based activity, students examine Americas struggle for a stronger democracy during Reconstruction and today. Names and Naming, African Africans arriving in the American colonies and later the United States continued to give their children African names well into the nineteenth century. Here, three different former slaves discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation. All children of a female slave were automatically slaves, considered as belonging to the owner of the mother. Each is present in your body. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! Sabe, Anque, Bumbo, Jobah, Quamana, Taynay, and Yearie) used in the Slave quarters. A great and timely article. Bernard Meaning: brave warrior Origin: French 4. Runaway ads illustrate how many slaveholders knew the surnames of their slaves. Unique Surnames to Grenada. Maria Aparecida Schumaher, Erico teixeira Vital Brazil. Louis (M) (English origin) means "famous warrior". She was the great patroness-goddess of the city of Athens. Herbert G. Gutman, The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925 (1976). -Kendall Hailey, "If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all the generations of your ancestors. 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. Pinckney, Randolph, and Rutledgeappear only incidentally among any list of modern Black peoples names. 42. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher. If the slaveholder or another free white man was their father, many Creoles did use either is first or last name as a surname. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. 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. I just cannot imagine (thankfully) the idea of my name being changed with every new owner, with not having any idea of what my parents surnames were, of having a white father but not being able to have a father/child relationship with himand all the other myriad of circumstances that enslaved people faced. 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 . Through DNA matches, I believe I have recently found a brother of my mothers great grandfather. Burton, Richard D.E. Names and Naming in Afro-Caribbean Culture. New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids 73 (1999): 3558. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), born into slavery in Maryland and escaped to the Northeast in 1838, where he became an internationally renowned abolitionist writer, speaker, and diplomat. . Here are an even dozen, pretty much forgotten slanglike words or sayings from the 19th century, rediscovered while delving in the archives and with added guidance from James Maitman's 1891 . This is another instance of oral history being a key component in tracing African American ancestry. See footnotes for source information. Until recently, scholarly consensus was that early African American names did not differ significantly from those of white Americans. I have been unable to trace several of his siblings and now wonder if it might be because others did not take that name. Copyright 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. -Hugh Kingsmill, "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?" Isaiah derives from the Hebrew Yeshayahu, containing the elements. 3. Enslaved women were raped, creating children with white fathers who in most cases did not claim them and even sold them away. The resources Im getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. Another common practice was to select a surname that fit the personality of an individual, such as Hardy or Rambler. George Duncan Ludlow (1734-1808), colonial lawyer. Questions about slave naming intersect with some of the major debates in slavery studies (especially regarding Creolization and the formation of Atlantic Creoles) and can illuminate issues about the ethnicity of African slaves, the personhood and agency of those enslaved, the nature of kinship structures among the enslaved, and the survival of African cultural practices in the diaspora.