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 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries African-American slaves retained Africanisms in their naming practices. I took the name of Jackson for the reason that I preferred to go by my fathers name, rather than the name of my last owner.. Copyright 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. 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. There are a wide array of sources that provide us with slave surnames, from the slave narratives and interviews, to freedmans bank cards, runaway ads and Southern Claims Commission records. 3. I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. 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. Louis (M) (English origin) means "famous warrior". It means 'raven'. Slavery in America was the legal institution of enslaving human beings, mainly Africans and African Americans.
9 of the Biggest Slave Owners in American History - Atlanta Black Star A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. Smithsonian Institution. Through DNA matches, I believe I have recently found a brother of my mothers great grandfather. A. She was the great patroness-goddess of the city of Athens. Please subscribe or login. 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". She was a Murphy.. ", "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city;)", "Where does the family start? 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. Here, our list of notable early African American names.
I would still recommend all of these books, except the first one listed for obvious reasons. They cut it off from OCTAVIA. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! He stated that he had always been known by his fathers surname Scott, even before he was freed. how the surnames former slaves had were connected to their experiences in slavery.
Popular last names in the 1800's? - Answers But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Last updated: November 1, 2003 "Dwelling No." Many of these were names of heroesbut not Lincoln. It was after emancipation on that I went back to work for Col. Morrow and where I got the name Lottie, as already explained. Five of the slaves were sold to the Washingtons and brought to Wessyngton. How did you ever come by the name of "Mollie"? See flier for more details. Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803), a former slave, he enslaved a dozen people himself before becoming a general and a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Testimony of Mollie Russell (widow of Phillip Fry), September 19, 1911: Q. Former slaves often used surnames names of historical figures such as Washington, Jefferson or Jackson. Miracle, (Old English and Latin Origin) Derived from the first name Mauritius meaning "dark". Besides the Morrows, whom else did you live with in Louisville? Picked by several celebrities (a couple of times even for a girl), adding up to an enthusiastically recommended choice. Robyn. Through Reclaiming Kin, I share tips on genealogy skillbuilding for all genealogists, and on researching slavery and the enslaved. 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. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. Q. The idea was for the children to enter the inhumane system of slavery protected by a sense of Selfhood and history. Many Welsh surnames follow this pattern, with Jones (from 'John's son) being the most common. A Wessyngton slave named Bill who was the plantation's blacksmith was known as Billy the Smith during slavery. . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. Copeland This last name comes from Old Norse origin. Alfred Francis Russell (1817-1884), 10th President of Liberia. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. this page. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on I am a farmer. by John C. Inscoe, 2006; Revised May 2022 by NC Government & Heritage Library.
Gradually, to show contempt for Slaves, the captors used Buck and Wench for naming the genders till they became trade terms, like Filly and Shoat.Contempt for the male was removing his honorific attachment to fatherhood and manhood by being addressed as Boy. Once the vigorous years of his prime were passed, he was allowed to assume the title of Uncle. Females were called Gal, girl, or the name of some animal. Free black slave holders could be found at one time or .
Surnames - Historic UK Dorothy, Doris or Dora: Meaning 'gift of God', this Victorian girl's name was popular in the 19th century. 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. 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 Although enslavers often assigned names to newly acquired enslaved peoplethat were whimsical, satirical, or condescending in intent, the frequent appearance of classical names-Venus, Cato, Hercules, Bacchus, Pompey-reflect enslavers' own educations and libraries. Got.the name.Auber.. Hi Roxana, It means 'bought land'. It is not uncommon to see an African American family listed with one surname in 1870 and another in 1880. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher. He identified father, mother and siblings in a Freedmans bank deposit in 1873, when he was already in New York City. Enslaved people remained legally nameless from the time of their capture until their purchase by American enslavers. "Injurious Names: Naming, Disavowal, and Recuperation in Contexts of Slavery and Emancipation." In The Anthropology of Names and Naming. My maiden surname is Williams. Here, our list of notable early African American names.
Slave Names of the 1800's by Emils M - Prezi 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. Through a video-based activity, students examine Americas struggle for a stronger democracy during Reconstruction and today. Thanks for adding your very experienced voice to the conversation. They established and held on to their own cultural traditions in the small spaces that slavery afforded them. If we consider the diverse circumstances that the tragedy of slavery created, we can understand the reasons why. My father would be 105 if he were alive. 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.
12 Lost American Slangisms From The 1800s : NPR History Dept. : NPR 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. Samuel had only two slaves: the man that could be Wilson and a 42-year-old woman. Over time, East Tennessee, hilly and dominated by small farms, retained the fewest number of slaves. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. This was the case with several others from Wessyngton. Rodriguez (Rodriguez is Spanish for the son of Rodrigo. 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.
Slave name index - next1000.com So I asked my mother and she told me my father John Barnett, a white man, and I took up the name of Barnett . 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. He was a planter with 20,000 acres of land in East Florida and was at the forefront of slavery in The . The difficulties include using records that provide no surnames, the constant sale and breakup of families, and the lack of identification of fathers. 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. The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Familys Journey to Freedom is proudly powered by WordPress Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). -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?" Spanish areas had male Slave names as Francisco, Pedro, and Antonio; and for females: Maria, Isabella, and Juana. 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. 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. A krio from.Freetown Sierra Leone. Injurious Names: Naming, Disavowal, and Recuperation in Contexts of Slavery and Emancipation. In The Anthropology of Names and Naming. Robyn, youve done it again! Label vector designed by Ibrandify - Freepik.com, https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.174.8?destination=/explore/collection/search%3Fedan_q%3Denslaved%26edan_fq%255B0%255D%3Dobject_type%253A%2522Photographs%2522.
A brief history of black names, from Perlie to Latasha - The Conversation 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. Rounding out the Top 40, here are the next 30 most common names among African-Americans and Caribbean people: Taylor (Jayceon Terrel Taylor "The Game") Wilson (Charlie Wilson) Moore (Shemar Moore) White (Barry White) Lewis (Carl Lewis) Walker (Jimmie J. J. Walker) Green (Al Green) Thompson (Kenan Thompson) Washington (Denzel Washington) 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. Have you visited the Whitney Plantation yet? Or, the Slaves were given numbers or classical Greek names. Join my mailing list below to receive my posts and get a free PDF with some of my favorite tips! 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. Clark is a common surname of Anglo-Scottish origin.
140+ Victorian Baby Names | Names from the 1800s | Peanut The 2000 U.S. Census counted 163,036 people with the surname Washington. Letter to James Edward Calhoun, August 27, 1831. John C. Inscoe, "Carolina Slave Names: An Index to Acculturation," Journal of Southern History 59 (November 1983). 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. Such resistance signified continual deep-rooted discontent with the condition of bondage and, in some places, such as the United States, resulted in ever-more-stringent mechanisms for social control and repression in slaveholding areas.
Most Common English Surnames & Meanings - Forebears If the slaveholder or another free white man was their father, many Creoles did use either is first or last name as a surname. Elijah is derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, composed of the elements. Recognizable patterns of change in names and naming practices are evident from the mid-eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century and on through the 1860s. College, Advanced AA Gen. Class, September 2009, Alice, Robyn and Lajoye, CM AAHGS, September 2017, Robyn and Andrea, NGS Conference, May 2014. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. You already know the rich historical terrain of FPOC in Louisiana, what terrific grounds for family research. How lucky you were to find that Freedmans Bank document! Letter to Armistead Burt of September 1, 1831, sfn error: no target: CITEREFCalhoun1837 (. I am an engineer by day, but my true passion lies in genealogy.
Most Common African-American Surnames: Origin & Meanings 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. The majority of these slaves used the surname Lewis instead of Washington. I am the applicant for pension on account of having served in Co. B. Hi Jann, 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. The most common of 603 names of female Slaves were Bet, Mary, Jane, Hanna, Betty, Sarah, Phillis, Nan, Peg, and Sary. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one" In the context of The Bahamas, the surname appears to originate with Denys Rolle, an American Loyalist who re-settled on Exuma, one of the so-called Out Islands of The Bahamas, sometime in the mid-1780s. They cut it off from OCTAVIA.
The Complexity of Slave Surnames > Reclaiming Kin See footnotes for source information. This mini-lesson helps students define the term, learn what forms reparations can take, and consider what reparations should be offered for slavery and other racist policies. Trinidad and Tobago.
120 Most Popular African Last Names Or Surnames - MomJunction Bradley was the last man owned em. Proving their identity as former soldiers often revealed some of the most detailed explanations for former slaves choice of surnames. There are so many examples of every kind of scenario, and I think it just speaks to the variety of experiences our ancestors had.
Early African-American Names | Nameberry 19. My maternal grandmother was an Auber. 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. I love to hear from my readers. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. Middle Tennessee, where tobacco, cattle, and grain became the favored crops, held the . You can use the links below to view more common surnames. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW!
Top 100 Southern Surnames or Last Names With Meanings - FirstCry Parenting For more information about the records covered in this index,please contact the History and Genealogy Department. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one", "Friends are God's apologies for relations. My father once told me his grandfather ran away from the Carrington place and changed his name to Williams.
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.
PDF Slave Names in Colonial South Carolina - Latin American Studies Also largely unrecorded are the alternative names the enslaved used among themselves, sometimes called country names or basket names; they may also, according to African practice, have had multiple names over a lifetime.
Louisiana, U.S., Records of Enslaved People, 1719-1820 - Ancestry.com The following is a list of historical people who were enslaved at some point during their lives, in alphabetical order by first name. Thank you, my dear friend, for adding this about enslaved people owned in the Caribbean is really important, as some of the customs were certainly different. "The past is not dead. Instead a wide variety of surnames came about that would be the family name for future generations. 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. . I also see that in 1900 she is listed as widow with 1 child living, so you may have luck trying to find out who her child was. The name James has been a popular Victorian male names in the 1800s. I am the identical person who served in the said companies under the name of Lewis Smith. Hi Pat, 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. But, my mtdna also said I share ancestry with the Kru people of Liberia and the Mende from Sierra Leonne! 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. The practice was common until its abolition in 1865 with the end of the Civil War and the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.. For the time being, we are using this as the Slavery Plantation umbrella or portal. 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. Of course my mother wasnt a Bradley fore she married. As a result, many slaves used the surnames of their owners wifes family. 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.
Slave Names In The Americas - Black Voice News Interestingly, the five most common American surnames as of 2010 haven't changed that much over time and are Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones. -Elbert Hubbard, "Families are like fudge; mostly sweet with a few nuts." . Popular English baby names by decade - 1840s - 1990s 1840s 5 Robert - 53 Margaret - 47 The 1860s first saw the Rimmers' use of 1870s Boys Girls Total registered births - 1,944 1 John - 160 Mary - 151 The 1870s first saw the Rimmers' use of What was the first girl's name in the 1900s? It is these single names that have been most often studied. Kaplan, Justin, and Anne Bernays. Just from the detail in your first comment, I knew there was a good chance you were already familiar with those authors. In 1801, the British government took the first census for Great Britain and Ireland. 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). Enslaved people resisted in ways large and small. Some of the most common or popular last names in the 1800s included Robinson, Clark, and Smith. Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. 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. The following documents are excerpts from government records in which Dick Barnett and Mollie (Smith) Russell explain when and why they changed their names. Robyn. Societies. This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. 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. 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. One ancestor was known as Baber Masse, Elizabeth SENET and Elisabeth Leveille in different documents. Caps statement implies that choosing his own surname was a part of exercising his newfound freedom. African Americans were known by these surnames in the slave community and often recorded by slave owners on plantation documents. Danish West Indies, Denmark, Records of Enslaved People, 1672-1917
Jamaican Surnames - Jamaican Family Search 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. The resources Im getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. This blog is where I share family history methods, resources, tips and advice, with an emphasis on slave research, slavery and its aftermath. But I tell you, trying to document that all those names refer to the same person is hard, hard work! The campaign in Britain to abolish slavery began in the 1760s, supported by both black and white abolitionists. 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. He was a slave owner and, in 1800 as Chief Justice of New Brunswick, he supported slavery in defiance of British practice at the time. Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names Return to Slave Manifests main page Click on each Slave name to view information on that voyage. If you can identify your ancestor's master, this source will prove of tremendous value to your research. In my research so far, I have found very little evidence of white Culbert slaveholders only three cases so far. I am awar eof the different naming traditions practiced in that area and I thank you for sharing them here for my readers.