.When I got home after the war, I was wearing the name of Lewis Smith, but I found that the negroes after freedom, were taking the names of their father like the white folks. 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. The names they gave their children provide a valuable, if limited, index of that process over time. This causes many researchers to wrongly conclude that enslaved people did not have surnames until after emancipation, which was not the case. Slavery - The National Archives . Finding the Slave Who Bore Philomene Daurat. There is also another historian, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall who did work on African ethnicities in Louisiana, you can read more of that here if you havent seen that yet: http://whitneyplantation.com/the-louisiana-slave-database.html, Again, I applaud you for doing the research on the history of the areas where your ancestors livedmany researchers dont realize how crucial that understanding is. David Nicolle, Graham Turner: Poitiers AD 732: Charles Martel Turns the Islamic Tide. 42. Most Popular Names. Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. 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. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Almost every major tome on slavery discusses slave naming practices in some form or fashion. Newly emancipated slaves also frequently chose new first names, discarding those associated with slavery. Search 30 million given names. The name of the tragic mythological Trojan princess who was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but was condemned never to be believed, Cassandra has been used for striking characters in movies and soap operas. common last names in the 1800s - stmatthewsbc.org Recently, I was looking for more information on Wesley Thompson, who was born about 1835 and who was living in Morgan County, Alabama with his wife, Nellie, and five children in 1880. 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. Florence, Fiorella, Fleur, and Flower are translations, but we like Flora best of all. You can find many more examples of the above in my post, The Mind of the Slaveowner. It can be a difficult path, but just might be reachable. . Cook Cook has an Old English origin, and it means 'one who cooks' or 'one who sold cooked meat'. 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 . . It is not uncommon to see an African American family listed with one surname in 1870 and another in 1880. 6. In my own family history, on my Yarborough side, I believe I have uncovered a pattern that my formerly-enslaved great-grandparents, Calvin and Precilla YARBOROUGH may have used in naming their children. This financial assistance was available to all Civil War veterans and their families. Robyn. College, Advanced AA Gen Class, September 2011, AAHGS Annual Genealogy Conference, November 2008, Howard Comm. The first published African-American poet & author Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa. My mother's name was Octavia Smith and it was from her that I got it but where the name came from to her I never knew. See flier for details; cost of this event is $25. Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974). Entre la construccin de la memoria y la ficcin histrica", "From Africa to India: Music of the Sidis and the Indian Ocean Diaspora (review)", "Mark and Phillis Executions, Burned at the Stake and Gibbeted in Puritan Massachusetts", "Letter from Paul Revere to Jeremy Belknap, circa 1798", "Re: Nancy Titsworth-1800-Livin - Genealogy.com", Association of Muslim Social Scientists & International Institute of Islamic Thought 2008, "Creolizing Natural Liberty: Transnational Obligation in the Thought of Ottobah Cugoano", "Madison and the White House, Through the Memoir of a Slave", "Black Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South, by Barbara Krauthamer (2013) Not Even Past", "Timeline of Missouri's African American History", "So Tom e Prncipe recorda o Rei Amador", "Black Christian Republicans: Delegates to the 1847 Liberian Constitutional Convention", "A Slave's Service in the Confederate Army", "Slavery and French Cuisine in Jefferson's Working White House", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_slaves&oldid=1140857860, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 03:19. The most common origin for surnames is that enslaved people initially used the surname of either their mother or their father, if they knew what those names were. This page is currently showing names ranked from 1 to 1000. I also meant to email you and tell you how I enjoyed your article in the last NGSQ. It is from this myth that the plant genus, Phoebe is the Latin variation of the Greek name Phoibe, which derived from. Kindest regards, This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. When I was born my mother was known as Phillis Smith and I took the name of Smith too. If the name is spelled Rodrigues, the name is Portuguese but has the same meaning) 3. The Missouri Compromisealso referred to as the Compromise of 1820was an agreement between the pro- and anti-slavery factions regulating slavery in the western territories. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. 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. Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the. Thats a goal that I am working towards. 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. 42. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one", "Friends are God's apologies for relations. While Smith remains the most common U.S. surname, for the first time, two Hispanic namesGarcia and Rodriguezmade the top 10. Surnames - Historic UK In 1850, Ward. According to the latest search data available, Italian last names and their meanings are searched for nearly, 40,500 times per month. 63 Italian Last Names That Are *Chef's Kiss* Bellissimo! - Scary Mommy Beginning in the early nineteenth century, more biblical names were given to enslavedchildren, a reflection of the widespread attempts to Christianize enslaved communities. Dick Lewis Barnett and Phillip Fry were African American veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War. 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. Copyright 2023 Facing History & Ourselves. Renate, In the 1930s, ex-slave Martin Jackson explained why he chose his last name after Emancipation: The master's name was usually adopted by a slave after he was set free. Dick Lewis Barnett and Phillip Fry were African American veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War. You are the continuation of each of these people." For personal use and not for further distribution. Along with records from churches,manumission societies, enslavers, and estate settlements, these documents provide a vast pool of data from which to trace patterns and trends from the colonial period through emancipation. However, a small change to searching on C?lbert, which accounts for the variations in spelling expands that initial list to 877 enslaved people owned by people with those names. It is these single names that have been most often studied. Here, our list of notable early African American names. 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). 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. By examining periods of violence during the Reconstruction era, students learn about the potential backlash to political and social change. I am generally called Cap Sherrod but I was married under Cap Ross and have voted under the name Ross, A good many people call me Cap Sherrod because I belonged to Sherrod but I calls myself Cap Ross.. 19. This blog is where I share family history methods, resources, tips and advice, with an emphasis on slave research, slavery and its aftermath. Another interesting fact is that Creole surname use also evolved over time and varied from record to record with the same person. Your insight is always welcome and I am glad you shared these posts for other readers to see. Thanks for this very thoughtful article. And this example from another pension file shows how even the given name of this enslaved woman was held under little regard: Testimony of Mollie Russell (widow of Phillip Fry), September 19, 1911: Q. -Kendall Hailey, "If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all the generations of your ancestors. Remember me. Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. Best of luck to you in your research, Nat Turner's Rebellion One of the most famous slave revolts in American history came in 1831 when Nat Turner led a bloody uprising in Southampton County, Virginia. John C. Inscoe, "Carolina Slave Names: An Index to Acculturation," Journal of Southern History 59 (November 1983). You are the continuation of each of these people.". . The battle was long and hard-fought, with pro-slavery campaigners arguing that the slave trade was important for the British economy and claiming that enslaved Africans were happy and well-treated. Lori Wilson Picks Up Baton to Remove Slavery Language From Californias Constitution, New Assembly Bill Would Ban Use of Police Canines for Arrests, Crowd Control, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. The most common of 603 names of female Slaves were Bet, Mary, Jane, Hanna, Betty, Sarah, Phillis, Nan, Peg, and Sary. 100 Most Common US Surnames Origins and Meanings - ThoughtCo I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. If searching for a slave owner with the same surname of your ancestor fails, check marriage records for the slave owners. Surnames. Flora, the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, who enjoyed eternal youth, is one of the gently old-fashioned girls' flower names we think is due for a comebackalongside cousins Cora and Dora. That alone can make if difficult to research an African- American family during those years. 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. George Duncan Ludlow (1734-1808), colonial lawyer. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Finding Aids for the National Archives at Atlanta, National Archives Catalog (National Archives Identifier 2767350). Enslaved people remained legally nameless from the time of their capture until their purchase by American enslavers. Testimony of Dick Lewis Barnett, May 17, 1911: I am 65 years of age; my post office address is Okmulgee Okla. Because I like to let formerly enslaved people speak for themselves, here are several examples of freedmen and women discussing their surnames. Enslaved women were raped, creating children with white fathers who in most cases did not claim them and even sold them away. Well, I got to thinking about all us slaves that was going to take the name Fitzpatrick. I presume no death certificate for her survives? Thanks for writing this post! Tell me the name you were called before you met Phillip Fry? Tags: African American Names, African American Surnames, African Names, Black Surnames, Last Slave Owner, Plantation Owners, plantation slavery, Slave Family, Slave Naming Patterns, slave trade. I have gotten so many requests over the years from those who couldn't make the live webinars so I hope you enjoy this new feature. Alfred Francis Russell (1817-1884), 10th President of Liberia. Runaway ads illustrate how many slaveholders knew the surnames of their slaves. -George Burns, "Where does the family start? Spencer is a name that has everything: it's both distinguished sounding and accessible, dignified but Spencer Tracy-like friendly. I was only three years old when she died. They did so either to take on a surname for the first time, or to replace a name or surname given to them by a former master. These require Microsoft Word and a Windows platform. A favorite of British novelists including Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse, Ambrose has an air of blooming well-being and upper-class erudition. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Going back a decade to the 1850 Slave Schedule, both William Wood and Samuel O. Whereas names withAfrican, classical, or other unique origins were popular during enslavement, --- often continuingfrom one generation to the next and creating a distinctive nomenclature unlike that of southern whites -- free black peopleoften used more traditionally Anglicized versions of their first names. . ", "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. 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. Slave Names and Naming in the Anglophone Atlantic Slave Names of the 1800's by Emils M - Prezi When Wessyngtons owner George A. Washington married Margaret Lewis in 1849 her father gave the couple twenty-nine slaves. Students learn about President Andrew Johnson and the Congressional Republican's conflicting visions of how to rebuild the nation after the Civil War. Who called you by that name and where was it done? It was after emancipation on that I went back to work for Col. Morrow and where I got the name Lottie, as already explained. Nameberry is a registered trademark of Nameberry, LLC. How lucky you were to find that Freedmans Bank document! Former slaves often made up surnames based on their occupations. And even though slave marriages were not legal, many enslaved people followed the practice of the wife taking her husbands surname: My mother was named Mary Bradley and my father was named Hilliard Bradley. The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Familys Journey to Freedom, A Thank You Letter from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Plantation Records Key Link to African American Past . 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). Following the emancipation of approximately 360,000 enslaved people in North Carolina, changes in African American names became indicative of a new value system and sense of self-identity among freedpeople. In 1800, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman were able to escape their terrible life of enslavement and were able to help other slaves trapped in a world of forced labour and grant them freedom once again due to the Underground Railroads that helped him, his partner Anna Murray Douglas and many other fugitives sneak away from the horrible > | Index main page>| Index by slave owner's name, Index to "Descriptive Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri, 1863-1865"(NARA Microfilm Publication M1894 - 6 rolls). Isaiah derives from the Hebrew Yeshayahu, containing the elements. Once the slaves were freed they found they did need another name besides a given name. Although it is not widely known, some African Americans used surnames before they were emancipated. The slave schedules of 1860 Arkansas do not give the names of the slaves. The population was more than 16 million and the industrial revolution was under way, which debunks any perception of a broadly colonial society. Slave rebellions | History, Examples, & Facts | Britannica Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. Thomas Black Cobbs was owned by a small slave owner Catherine Black. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher. 9 'Facts' About Slavery They Don't Want You to Know | Snopes.com See flier for more details. Along with Abraham and Prince, other early African American names currently in the US Top 1000 include Alonzo, Athena, Daphne, Elijah, Isaiah, Israel, King, Phoebe, and Titus. Surnames (not always those of former owners) would then be adopted as family names by former slaves and their descendants. The link was not copied. This financial assistance was available to all Civil War veterans and their families. The following is a list of historical people who were enslaved at some point during their lives, in alphabetical order by first name. i have no way to confirm this. Louisiana, U.S., Slave Manumission Records, 1719-1820. Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names | National Archives 43. Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno might inspire some parents. It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl. Popular Last Names in the 1920s Gatsby Flapper Girl That is why you will find a lot of families in Louisiana with surnames like Baptiste, Narcisse, Jean-Louis, Nanette-Louise, Rene, Jacques etc Ive come across very few former slaves and fpoc using the surnames of their former owner. is for you. Brief, but stimulating and thoughtful for students coming new to the subject. 6. The origins of this last name date back to the pre-medieval period. . A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration An enslaved child sold away from their parents at a young age to the Deep South would probably have a different sense of naming than enslaved children who were able to grow up in the presence of their parents and extended family. In 1870, all of them were listed with the surnames of their last owner; however, each one of them named their sons for one of their brothers. 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. To date there are no book-length studies covering the naming of slaves across the Anglophone Atlantic, but Burton 1999 and Kaplan and Bernays 1997 provide useful entry-level discussions for the Caribbean and mainland United States, respectively. Where did you get the maiden name of Smith from? Enslaved people often transferred such names to later generations in modified form or relied on African naming traditions, such as "day names" or names reflecting the order of birth among siblings. Just makes me sad for the human spirit that anyone, let alone hundreds of thousands of people could participate in it. Slaveholders often renamed newly acquired slaves; but self-naming by slaves, which also occurred, is likely to be underreported in the records, which were mainly created by and for slaveholders. 12 Lost American Slangisms From The 1800s : NPR History Dept. : NPR I would appreciate any constructive comments on this question, which can be posted to me via my website address above. Choose the best name for your child. The surname Williams occurs roughly 550 times per 100,000 people in the U.S. You can find explanations for each of the table columns below, or use the following links to view more last names for different ancestries. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. This phenomena makes research very complicated when you dont know the mothers surname. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. Or, the Slaves were given numbers or classical Greek names. It had always been passed down in the family that Thomas has been owned by the Blacks. 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.. CAs Push to Restore Voting Rights to System-Impacted Individuals Still in Custody, Eli Lilly to Cap Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs, Asm. They called me "OCK". They identified 21 distinctly Black male names, among them biblical classics such as Abraham and Moses, and word names including Freeman and Prince. 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. Geographic names were common, as were the names of ships or distant ports for enslaved peopleborn in places such as Wilmington or New Bern. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. . The highest percentage of African names was found among male slaves in the eighteenth century, when . However the frequent rebellions by . Common African American Last Names | GenealogyBank Q. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. Another common way of distinguishing people would be 'son of', for example Johnson (son of John), Richardson, Wilson, Harrison etc. It comes from the same Greek root as 'ambrosia', the food of the gods, said to confer immortality. Evidence indicates that many enslaved parents named their children after the first generation or so of family members brought to America. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You can read about this in the following two posts on my blog. The different spellings are due to the non-consistent spelling rules in Norway in the 1700s and 1800s. 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. Special slave censuses were kept in the early 1800s. Each is present in your body. Thomas mother, younger brothers and sisters remained with the Black family. Is this the same woman Eliza I see living with Thomas Crenshaw in 1880 and 1900? 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". Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. 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. One thing for sure, historians are always expanding our knowledge on this topic.BTW, I am a big fan of your website and your work in the field! common last names for slaves in the 1800s. Hi Jann, . A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. Here, our list of notable early African American names. Born in Union County, South Carolina, he was sold to his last enslaver in 1858 and then brought to Mississippi. If the former slave had been befriended or assisted in getting established after the Civil War, they might have taken that persons name. 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 He identified father, mother and siblings in a Freedmans bank deposit in 1873, when he was already in New York City. The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. In doing slave research in Barbados, I have found one group of enslaved Chase ancestors who were manumitted (freed) and given the last name of the former slave owner. Robinson: A patronymic of the name Robin. 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. Thank you for posing your question. Bradley was the last man owned em. An accessible introduction to the field. Most Common English Surnames & Meanings - Forebears 41. The Language of Names. I am searching for information about a woman named Eliza Ellis, from Versailles KY or that area. This may reveal your family used the surname of the slave owners wifes family. 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. This suggests most of those African-Americans probably did come about that name from prior slaveholders (since we know they likely werent from Scotland;):) I think you just have to include all the variations of Culbert to see how that could be the case. Peneus saved Daphne from Apollos romantic obsessions by transforming her into a laurel tree. Many took the surname of famous or celebrated people; such as Lincoln, Grant, and Washington was very popular. Robyn N. Smith, [insert post title], Reclaiming Kin (https://reclaimingkin.com: accessed [insert date you read the post]), [insert the date the post was written]. The majority of these slaves used the surname Lewis instead of Washington.