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I belonged to him until emancipation. Thank you. However, research byLisa D. Cook and colleagueshas revealed evidence of racialized names from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 25 Haitian Last Names That Reflect The Country's Unique Culture And . It comes from the same Greek root as 'ambrosia', the food of the gods, said to confer immortality. 400 Catchy Slave Names That You Will Like - Worth Start Slave Names In The Americas - Black Voice News I was called mostly Lewis Smith till after the war, although I was named Dick Lewis Smith After the War, I was wearing the name Lewis Smith, but I found the negroes were taking the names of their fathers, like the white folks. This reading contains quoted text not authored by Facing History & Ourselves. He was sold to my master William Orr and he always went by the name Edward Orr after that.. There are also a few problems with the original dataset in name transcription such that a small number of first names were transposed with last names. This causes many researchers to wrongly conclude that enslaved people did not have surnames until after emancipation, which was not the case. Surnames (not always those of former owners) would then be adopted as family names by former slaves and their descendants. James) will have . If searching for a slave owner with the same surname of your ancestor fails, check marriage records for the slave owners. 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. Spencer is a name that has everything: it's both distinguished sounding and accessible, dignified but Spencer Tracy-like friendly. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. Brown: A common last name derived from an ancestor's complexion or the color of their hair. You can find many more examples of the above in my post, The Mind of the Slaveowner. 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. This event is $12. In small communities where census takers and county officials knew African Americans personally and their previous owners, they often recorded the former slaves with the surnames of their last owners. For descendants, I would add the substantial emotional impact of seeing an ancestor's name attached to a dollar value, or being valued in a list with silverware and cattle. Nonetheless, this is a situation where two brothers selected different surnames. One frequently occurring name is Rolle. Surnames for African-Americans - Former Slaves It means 'bought land'. The box for father states unknown in law. Her marriage record states her name is Sarah Charlotte Gale, her father being John Sinclair Gale! No superior alternative has yet been found. Benson, Susan. 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. 2. This is true in some cases but not all. 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. "While African-American genealogical research in many ways is like all genealogical research, the era of slavery makes the task especially challenging. Its knowledge that I think most Americans (not even just white Americans) dont have and it is endlessly fascinating and sobering both at the same time. Tell me the name you were called before you met Phillip Fry? Isaiah derives from the Hebrew Yeshayahu, containing the elements. In ancient history, Lysander was the name of an esteemed Spartan naval commander and his literary cred comes from one of the two star-struck young men in Shakespeare's. 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. For more information about the records covered in this index,please contact the History and Genealogy Department. His slaveholder was named David Humphries. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. ", "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city;)", "Where does the family start? Cheryll Cody, "'There Was No Absalom on the Ball Plantation': Slave-Naming Practices in the South Carolina Low Country, 1720-1865," American Historical Review 92 (June 1987). Besides the Morrows, whom else did you live with in Louisville? that lists the slaves along with their surnames. On Anglican (Church of England) baptisms records the child legally and officially is documented with the surname of the mother if she and the father were not married. 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 . If we consider the diverse circumstances that the tragedy of slavery created, we can understand the reasons why. See flier for more details. 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. Well, I got to thinking about all us slaves that was going to take the name Fitzpatrick. They called me OCK. See flier here. Corbin Corbin has an Old English origin. Former slaves also interchanged surnames on census records. 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. Testimony of Mollie Russell (widow of Phillip Fry), September 19, 1911: Q. The same family may appear with different surnames in the 1870 and 1880 federal census records, and may appear in other records with either, both, or a third surname altogether. I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. No superior alternative has yet been found." I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. In many cases this is ignored and children use their fathers name! Injurious Names: Naming, Disavowal, and Recuperation in Contexts of Slavery and Emancipation. In The Anthropology of Names and Naming. Slavery was coexistent with the founding in 1670 of the first permanent colony in South Carolina, and early official records occasionally contain the names of slaves.3 An inventory of the estate of Francis Jones in 1693 lists 'a negro man Jack' and 'a negro Woman name Jugg.'4 An inventory of the Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. Most Common English Surnames & Meanings - Forebears I love how you have documented the history of your own surname. 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. Washington: The 'blackest name' in America | The Seattle Times One former slave Bill Scott from Wessyngton reported in his pension application for military service that when he enlisted in the Union Army officials put down his surname as Washington. Students consider how US history books, films, and other works of popular culture have misrepresented the history of the Reconstruction era. Smith.). Louis (M) (English origin) means "famous warrior". Have you visited the Whitney Plantation yet? Robyn, Unraveling the origins of FPOC and slaves in Francophone Louisiana takes some thinking outside the fact, meticulous research ,familiarity with the local culture, history and a bit of serendipity on your side. 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. Thanks for all you to do keeps us all so enlightened! Slavery's reach is still with us, and part of the gift of doing African-American genealogy is recovering the stories of those caught in its grasp who could not in their own time leave their own witness.". 13 March 2022, 1-2:30pm [PAST EVENT], Eastern Standard Time: Cant find some of your ancestors in the census? CAs Push to Restore Voting Rights to System-Impacted Individuals Still in Custody, Eli Lilly to Cap Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs, Asm. 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 Black Last Names: 80 Popular & Common African American, African I also meant to email you and tell you how I enjoyed your article in the last NGSQ. So far Ive found no one who can give me any information about how these people assumed the Culbert surname. Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. Thanks for writing this post! Three formerly enslaved people discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation. 1850 US Census Name Frequencies - buckbd.com Abara: Originating from the Igbo group of West Africa, Abara means 'spirit'. Edited by Gabriele vom Bruck and Barbara Bodenhorn, 178-199. Slave Names | NCpedia Now, that parent's surname could very well be the surname of the most recent slaveholder or an earlier slaveholder. . Seating is limited. Also, the government seemed to be in a almighty hurry to have us get names. In more than thirty years of researching my ancestors and hundreds of others enslaved on one of Americas largest plantations, slaves owned by mid-sized planters and small farmers, reviewing thousands of documents I have come across various situations that might give others clues on what to look for. While Smith remains the most common U.S. surname, for the first time, two Hispanic namesGarcia and Rodriguezmade the top 10. Q. 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 page. Q. I hope youll sign up to receive my postsif you do, youll get a free PDF with some of my favorite tips! Free black slave holders could be found at one time or . But I tell you, trying to document that all those names refer to the same person is hard, hard work! Almost every major tome on slavery discusses slave naming practices in some form or fashion. My maternal grandmother was an Auber. Surname origins reveal a complex history of slavery in The Bahamas It is certainly possible that Wilsons siblings could have been sold away or owned by others. 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. While enslaved almost all had just one Christian name. So just a few things to be aware of when researching any African-American ancestors. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. Slave Names and Naming in the Anglophone Atlantic Thank you as always, your posts are so helpful. Ones occupation also set the naming method, such as Sheperd, Cooper, or Smith. A krio from.Freetown Sierra Leone. Slavery. "Albumen print of enslaved women and their children near Alexandria, Virginia." Benson 2006 is one of the few general discussions of slave names. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries African-American slaves retained Africanisms in their naming practices. I am the identical person who served in the said companies under the name of Lewis Smith. 26 September 2021 [PAST EVENT]: Acclaimed genealogist Melvin Collier and I will be presenting an all-new 2-hour lecture titled More Than Just Names: Incorporating Social and Community History Into Your Research from 1:00-3:30 EST (please note it is Eastern Standard Time). FamilySearch Centers. Besides the Morrows, whom else did you live with in Louisville? Top 100 Best Names From The 1800s | Kidadl Place names that were disproportionately popular among Black Americans in history include Boston, Jamaica, York, and Africa. Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. Another interesting fact is that Creole surname use also evolved over time and varied from record to record with the same person. African Americans in the U.S. Federal Census, 1870-1890 (National Thank you for your kind comment and I am glad my post helped some with the complicated reasons behind the surnames enslaved people had. Elaine Fantham, Helene Peet Foley, Natalie Boymel Kampen, Sarah B. Pomeroy, H. A. Shapiro. In fact, it's not even past." We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Some of these individuals probably lived through the Civil War to become named citizens in Ashley County, Arkansas and may have taken the last name of Hollaway/Holaway or Terry/Tery. He stated that he had always been known by his fathers surname Scott, even before he was freed. Middle Tennessee, where tobacco, cattle, and grain became the favored crops, held the . For example, I know of one Louisiana family whose surname of Poulard evolved from a ancestor of the Poular nation(aka Fulani). . Each name was a clue to her origins. Davis: This name is a patronymic of David. ", "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. Data from the 2010 Census tells a different story. Samuel had only two slaves: the man that could be Wilson and a 42-year-old woman. If the slaveholder or another free white man was their father, many Creoles did use either is first or last name as a surname. They cut it off from OCTAVIA. Robyn. This event is $20. Prior to the emancipation of the American slaves in 1863, those African-Americans held in bondage had usually just one or two given names. Several names have been added under the letter representing the person's last name. Popular last names in the 1800's? - Answers After emancipation, he became William Smith. Another myth is once African Americans were sold they never saw their families again. When Wessyngtons owner George A. Washington married Margaret Lewis in 1849 her father gave the couple twenty-nine slaves. Abel, the name of Adam and Eve's unfortunate younger son, compensates with positive connotations: capable, competent, ready and willing. When slave owners married, they often received slaves as wedding gifts and inheritances from their wifes family. I dont know what became of his parents. Sabe, Anque, Bumbo, Jobah, Quamana, Taynay, and Yearie) used in the Slave quarters. Here are some common black last names: Jackson Davis Brown Wilson Harris Lewis Clark Walker Hall Thomas Young Allen King Wright Scott Baker Adams Nelson Carter Mitchell Perez Roberts Turner Phillips Campbell Parker Evans Edwards Green Hall Baker Bell Coleman Crawford James Reyes Most Common Black Last Names No, I dont know to whom she belonged before she was brought from Virginia to Kentucky. This database is a compilation of information on over four thousand slaves from Louisiana who were involved in manumission (the formal emancipation from slavery) between 1719 and 1820. Robyn. I made up my mind I'd find me a different one. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. My fathers name was John Crosby and he lived in the town of Geneva, Alabama, I had two brothers and one sister. Just from the detail in your first comment, I knew there was a good chance you were already familiar with those authors. The top 5 most common Hispanic last names from the 1920s are: 1. Slavery in the 1800s - The history of slavery John C. Inscoe, "Carolina Slave Names: An Index to Acculturation," Journal of Southern History 59 (November 1983). The most common of 603 names of female Slaves were Bet, Mary, Jane, Hanna, Betty, Sarah, Phillis, Nan, Peg, and Sary. Slavery. Youll often see the word degraded used in the academic references; these were all attempts at degradation. I have found only one very rare example of a slaveholders inventory, that lists the slaves along with their surnames. Q. 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. Like most of the architecture and towns in Italy, they can also tell a story. Here, our list of notable early African American names. Plus, Jonah comes with a ready-made nursery-decorating motif. 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. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Lastly,emancipation itself often provoked many to choose new surnames, one of the few actual freedoms freedmen had. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. See footnotes for source information. College Advanced AA Gen. Class, November 2012, Robyn, Aaron, Karen, Katherine and Michael, October 2014, African-American Family History Conference, February 2015, African-American Genealogy Group Conference, October 2016, Central Maryland AAHGS, with Alice Harris, September 2015, 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. I am awar eof the different naming traditions practiced in that area and I thank you for sharing them here for my readers. The fifty most common Victorian surnames in England and Wales for 1853 are listed in alphabetical order below. If you can identify your ancestor's master, this source will prove of tremendous value to your research. As a newspaper that publishes in the spirit of the Black Press, the Black Voice News has given voice to the voiceless and shined a light on systemic inequities and disparities since 1972. They cut it off from OCTAVIA. 3. They ran away, fought back, feigned illness, destroyed tools, and clung to their families. They cut it off from OCTAVIA. Anouilh. . This may reveal your family used the surname of the slave owners wifes family. I communicate with them on Facebook. Another common practice was to select a surname that fit the personality of an individual, such as Hardy or Rambler. 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]. After I had returned to Louisville from Danville, My sister, Lizzie White, got to calling me Mollie, and it was with her that the name started. A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. Of course my mother wasnt a Bradley fore she married. LOTTIE had been the name of the nurse before me and so they just continued that same name. But once freed most immediately chose surnames, with or without keeping their accustomed name. Forenames. 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. In 1911, Barnett and Frys widow, Mollie, both applied for pensions from the government. Some of the most common or popular last names in the 1800s included Robinson, Clark, and Smith. common last names for slaves in the 1800s. 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. LOTTIE had been the name of the nurse before me and so they just continued that same name. 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. Edmon S. Conner Recalls About His Career", "Law and the Cultural Production of Race and Racialized Systems of Oppression", "Runaway Slaves and Servants in Colonial Virginia", Slavery in the Courtroom: An Annotated Bibliography of American Cases, "Soldier of Furtune: John Smith before Jamestown", "YSTUMLLYN, JOHN ('Jack Black') (d. 1786), gardener and land steward | Dictionary of Welsh Biography", "Strong, Jonathan (c. 17471773), de facto freed slave", "Juan Francisco Manzano | Slave Narratives | The MoAD Salon | MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora", "Relatos sobre la India Juliana. Top 130 French Last Names or Surnames With Meanings - FirstCry Parenting 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. 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. 1412 S. Spoede Rd., St. Louis, MO 63131-2557. please contact the History and Genealogy Department. 42. Enslaved people suffered constant sale, where children were frequently torn away from parents at young ages and spouses were often separated. 5. How lucky you were to find that Freedmans Bank document! In 1836, William Turbeville died leaving an estate with several slaves who were brothers: Turner, Nelson, Simon, Jordan, and Jacob. My father would be 105 if he were alive. My great grandfather Wilson Percival was born in South Carolina and I believe he took his surname from last slave owners family. ", "If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all the generations of your ancestors. Enslaved people resisted in ways large and small. Some last names recognize certain histories or describe important events or narratives that mean a lot to the family. Spanish areas had male Slave names as Francisco, Pedro, and Antonio; and for females: Maria, Isabella, and Juana. 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. My great great grandfather in Mississippi took the surname of the previous SC enslaver, whose widow sold him away. Harriet Tubman and some of the slaves she helped free. I am sure your father would also be very proud of your interest in family history. PDF Lists of Slave owners with names of slaves 781 New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Early African-American Names | Nameberry This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. 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. The existence of those surnames in the area would help to verify, but also, you are fortunate to have the important oral history of that name change in the first place, since so many of us dont. BRATHWAITE - This name was derived from a geographic location in the north of England. Therefore, a few of the most common first names of the time such as Mary (rank 815) and Sarah (1010) will appear in the list and surnames which correspond to personal names (e.g. Explore the most common surnames in England. But if Romeo and Venus are now deemed baby-appropriate, why not Apollo? 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. 3. Clark is a common surname of Anglo-Scottish origin. 120 Most Popular African Last Names Or Surnames - MomJunction -Thich Nhat Hanh, evolve theme by Theme4PressPowered by WordPress, Maryland Genealogical Society Holiday Luncheon, December 2017-2, Washington FHC Annual Conference, May 2011, Baltimore Family History Conference, October 2017-2, International Black Genealogy Summit, September 2016-2, Carroll County Genealogical Society Dinner, June 2018, Baltimore Family History Conference, October 2017, Reginald Lewis Museum, September 2011-2.jpg, Maryland State Archives Family History Festival, October 2014-2, Central Maryland AAHGS Meeting, March 2013, Robyn, Vonda, Andrea and Glenn, NGS Conf., May 2014, Maryland Genealogical Society Holiday Luncheon, December 2017-1, Howard Comm. 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. Where did you get the maiden name of Smith from? Your insight is always welcome and I am glad you shared these posts for other readers to see. A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. 2019 (cited under the Anglophone Caribbean) includes a good general introduction to slave naming. Some of the most common or popular last names in the 1800s included Robinson, Clark, and Smith. After Emancipation, many former slaves adopted new names and surnames. And you get to tell the story of Jean-Louiss life in slavery and also in freedom. I was bornthe child of Phillis Houston, slave of Sol Smith. My Louisiana Creole ancestors who were free persons of color and former slaves practiced a unique naming tradition I think comes from Latin cultures. I love to hear from my readers. I truly believe they used surnames of each of their former owners for some of their childrens middle names. Emphasizes the giving and repeated use of names as a performative act of domination. I would also recommend Elizabeth Shown Mills various case studies on enslaved people in Louisiana, which you can find at her website at https://www.historicpathways.com/articles.html. Part of what drives me in this research, I think, is the feeling that I am reclaiming their stories, their names, and their very being, even if what I uncover is just a tiny bit. Extensive records of slaveholding over several generations exist for a number of North Carolina plantations, most notably the Skinner and Hayes plantations in Chowan County; Pettigrew plantations in Tyrrell, Washington, and Wake Counties; Bennehan-Cameron plantation in Orange County; Hargrove plantation in Granville County; Arrington plantations in Nash and Edgecombe Counties; Avery plantation in Burke County; and Lenoir plantation in Caldwell County.