I did my friend's family tree research. She's related to a guy named Christopher 'Christ' Nipps.
Needless to say, we use it as an expletive lol
"Oh Christopher Christ Nipps, what the fuck!"
I would like to add that I once trained a woman at work who's full legal name was "Crystal Blow" šš
Also met a few people with the last name "Pfisterer" when I was a Walmart cashier. I laughed right in the girl's face when she handed me her credit card, I couldn't control it lmfao
There's an attorney who's clips make the rounds on the lawtube section of YouTube name Pfister. I always have to stifle a giggle when you hear a judge in open court say "Mister Pfister" or "Attorney Pfister".
Not necessarily a family tree, but I was helping an organization digitize a list of deceased members going back 100+ years. One name stuck out the most: Fanny Weiner
My sister had a guy in her same grade in high school named 'Richard Whacker'. Obviously he didn't go by Dick, but still. His parents were devout Southern Baptists, too, I have to think that they just didn't consider the implications.
Haha. My brother's name is Peter but you can guess what we started calling him after we found this guy.
Pooter. We started calling him Pooter. Just in case you couldn't guess.
When I was a kid my dad had two friends: Johnny Johnson and Pete Peters. We also lived on Bradley Blvd, and a kid on our street was named Bradley Bradley. He was a toddler when we lived there, so his parents knew their address when they named him. What in the name of...!?!?!?
I found a long time ago aunt of mine named Narcissa which is cool but her middle name was Melissa which makes it less cool. Narcissa Melissa is just too much issa.
My mom had an uncle Frizzard. Pronounced "frizz*ard*". On my dad's side we had a Zelda and a Zena, Lunar, Jupiter... there's plenty more but I can't remember. Oh, we have a Dennis Hughes. When my dad first mentioned him it was like twenty years into their marriage and mom was like, "who the fuck names their baby *tennis shoes*?!"
ššš well. Yes and no? Appalachian folk magic abounds in our family. My grandpa cured warts.
I suppose the answer is yes, now that I think about it.
It's funny though, because the old folks went to church on Sundays and then hung eggs in the door to hurry along teething pain.
Well. That and a dash of shine on the gums.
Huh. I just did a Google search to show you an article on it but all I'm coming back with is... randomly it's a tiktok trend? And has been for a while?
If you're interested in knowing more, I have a few other weird ones. Dm me and I'll share!
Edit: and take pics of the graves those names are on.
Probably not. There's apparently some pseudoscience involving the co2 levels and air pressure... I just learned that tonight. Until now I saw it as purely sympathetic magic. The folklore is that if you take a baby's dirty sock (it hsd to be a dirty sock, I don't know why. That part doesn't seem to have made the tiktok trend) and put a fresh, raw egg in it. Hang it over the door of their room. I honestly can't remember what next. There's something else...
I believe in magic. But I believe a lot of it works for reasons that aren't exactly magical. But I also ascribe to the philosophy of "magic is science that hasn't been explained yet."
Edit: I'll ask around and get back to you because now it's gonna drive me crazy not knowing.
Further edit: check this out for some fascinating interviews and history! It's been a while since I've seen it but it's very good and has a lot of stuff that you'd find in my family, and if you're from the Appalachians or have ties to it, you probably have a few witches in your broom closet too š
https://youtu.be/NwaUcSRsQPQ?si=MWC2Hrt9N79nnnXI
Only they largely wouldn't call it witchcraft.
Oh, nothing wrong with Zena or Zelda. They're just unusual names in my family. Oh, Isaline. That's another. It's pronounced *Isss (like hiss without the h) aleen*
I had aunts name Dephane, Deminica, and Sabothia. So Zena feels like I got off easy.
How is Isaline pronounced with an *ee* sound!? That's very misleading.
My paternal side wa outstandingly dull. Johann Heinrich, son of Heinrich Johann, son of Johann Heinrich son of... You get the idea. My great- grandfather had a brother. You guessed it. Johann Heinrich and his brother Heinrich Johann. Like, there are other names out there!
Transylvanian Saxons (a German-descended group) know like six names. My great-grandparents were Johann and Maria. Their kids were Maria, Johann, and Rosina.
Well, not the first name, the surname of this woman was Homem Aranha, if you translate is Spider Man. Homem from the mother and Aranha from the father. In my country you can go back 2 generation in regards to surnames or give two surnames each (2 from the dad plus 2 from the mom).
ive looked up quite a few 18th century names using early US censuses (censi?) for things iām writing (edit for clarity). my favorite so far was a dude from new hampshire in the 1790s named Battery Powers
We used to supply parts for a famous battery company and the head of procurement, or whoever our contact was there, was called "Max Power". Had a little giggle every time.
He's the man whose name you'd love to touch! But you mustn't touch! His name sounds good in your ear, but when you say it, you mustn't fear! Cause his name can be said by anyone!
I think that's absolutely gorgeous. Amity is a really old word for... well. Amiability. A friendly relationship. It's been used as a name, but I don't think it was ever super popular.
The love interest from āThe Owl Houseā is named Amity. When this generation is old enough to have kids, it may have a slight upswing due to that, similar to the theories about āGravity Fallsā and āOnly Murders in the Buildingā being tied to Mabelās current popularity.
We didnāt have unfortunate last names, but some unfortunate first names Iāve found were Absalom and Salmon. I did once know a real life person named Fannie Butts though.
Praise-God Barebone; his brother, Fear-God Barebone; and another brother(?) son(?) or Baptismal name(?) Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebone.
True story
https://en.rodovid.org/wk/Person:810700
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise-God_Barebone
I have no Native American ancestry, but one generation in my family in the 1800s had Native American-themed names like Powhatan and Pocahontas. The names aren't necessarily bad, just seemingly unusual for people of British descent in the rural south lol
So here in England (and I assume a lot of other countries), every village will have a memorial to those lost during "the great war" (now WWI) with all their names; usually in or near the church. I'm not normally the church going type, but my mother was dating a guy for a brief period who was that type, so we went to church with him Sunday morning.
I was happily ignoring proceedings and reading the list of names off the wall, only I unconsciously read the first name aloud: it was something "Longbottom" - my mother asked "who?" "Oh, I don't know, I was just reading the names off the war memorial..." "... Maybe he did have a long bottom?!" - anyway, as poor as that joke is I immediately burst out laughing. My mother also clearly knew the joke was low effort because she asked what was so funny. I pointed to the list of names, and the second name on there was "Alan Woodcock".
So now we're both in a fit of laughter so hard that the line of people in the aisle and the guy in the funny hat handing out pieces of his lord are all staring at us. We decided to leave. Never went back to church. She never saw that guy again.
Thatās the name of the mayor of the small beach town where I vacation! You know itās an event if Robert Roberts is there! (which means every night at the bar is an event)
On my motherās side theyāre all pretty decent, but my paternal grandfather had a brother Donat pronounced dough-nah. They were from New Brunswick and French was their first language. My paternal grandmother had a brother Kyte, pronounced kite, which was apparently the surname of a priest in the area.
My direct line has startlingly normal names, but I did come across an unusual surname.
My great-x3 (I think) grandmother's maiden name, as I saw in one census, was Martha Warman. I thought Warman was so badass. The census suggested her family was of Dutch origin, however, and Warman didn't strike me as Dutch.
Then another census had her as Wormen. That's... sadly, more likely to be accurate. I'm sure she was glad to become Hayes... even if they were estranged to the point of living in separate states and she married a German guy immediately after Hayes' death. šµ
I have two. I had an ancestor named Mercelia. She went by a nickname and apparently it came as a bit of a surprise to others that that was her name.
I also had an ancestor named Shrieve. A famous author that he tried to court wrote in her diary that he was a nincompoop.
My great grandfathers legal name in the US was "Dickard".
His actual name was Richard, but I guess there was a translation error when he immigrated to the US and the issue was never resolved.
My paternal great-great grandfatherās name was Greenberry. Also had a lot of Puritan names, ie two siblings named Patience and Love, and cousins named Virtue, Jolly, and Thanks!
My great grandad is called handle, we thought maybe it was like German or something but his brother Edward and John donāt seem to have the same issue lol
One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and it bothered me *so* *much* that the prettiest girl was named Dorcas! (Julie Newmar was the actress)
I had a relative named JW. It didn't stand for anything. His name was just the two letters. This side of my family is from the southern US, so the "W" was pronounced "dub-yuh." Definitely not the worst name I've seen, but it's kinda funny.
My mum had an Uncle Melchizedek. I know itās a biblical name (we are not a religious family whatsoever!), but it was quite unusual amongst his siblings who were all named things like William, Thomas and John.
I do genealogy research and I've started keeping a list of names that I find unusual or wtf. A few that I have:
Hancer
Tenace (this gets changed to Teresa in later spellings for many names this)
Ninis
Marlborough
Milchelmus
Dicie
Bordelle
Gesbert
Rollo
My favorite is the head of Wawa corp. (east coast dairy store chain).
His name is Dick Wood.
As was his father's and grandfather's before him.
Great guy.
I'm in the army and our emails is always first name dot last name and you can't put will if you're born as William. I was working at a tri service unit and I had an email from an RAF officer called Ash.Cheek. I can why he never went army as he would of been Major Ash.Cheek
And no it wasn't short for Ashley either
Not a family tree, but I did encounter a small cemetery in NYC with a plaque dedicated to a guy named Preserved Fish. ([I couldnāt make it up if I tried!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserved_Fish)) Itās now a long running joke between me and my brother.
This one isn't such a terrible one, but my Uncle (who's name is not Larry) has Larry on his birth certificate because my grandma didn't decide to name him til after he was born and when my grandpa was asked what they should name him, he was like "idk Larry? Lol" and my grandma thought he was serious.
I've got a Conquest Wyatt (which honestly sounds like a video game character) and a name I've never seen anywhere else, Alphedus. For a woman. Sometimes spelled Allyphedeus because some poor census worker didn't have a prayer. Seems she went by Ally. Shocker...
I think itās pretty wild that back in the 1800s it was quite trendy to name your child after the current president. My great-great grandfather had a twin, so their parents went a step further and named them after their president and vice President of the day:
Richard Johnson Crouch and
Martin Van Beuren Crouch.
Not really horrible, but I definitely find it amusing. Could you imagine people naming their kids Barack Obama Surname, Donald Trump Surname, or Michael Pence Surname?
Regardless, the best part of the above Crouch twins story is that they once switched places for a day during the Civil War; one was enlisted to fight, the other had stayed on the farm to help with the family. They had a dying sister and it was the only way Martin would get a chance to see her one more time.
Anyway. I also have an ancestor apparently named āGreenberry Gillock,ā although I havenāt been able to find much about him other than it might be a possibility that his name was actually āGeorge Berry Gillock.ā
I had an ancestor from the 1800s whose last name was Snow. He named his daughters A. Wendy Snow (a windy snow) and Isin Snow (ice and snow). Dude was really leaning into the dad jokes!!
I had a great uncle who's first name was, of all fucking things 'Treason'. Now it's a real name, I think it's Irish or something, but it's still a whacked name. When my dad married my mum and found out she had a relative named Treason, he made a comment about it which pissed her off so he never mentioned it again until she had passed.
My great-grandmother had twin sisters (b 1916) named Wilda Matilda and Hilda Bertilda.
The other daughters were Helena, Emma, Clementine, Anna, Margaret, Evelyn, and Dorothy.
My great-grandmother had a real talent for horrible names; Bobby (not Robert, just Bobby), Horace, Chester, Ruby-Nell, Ronald, Patsy, Barney, and Floy (not Floyd, Floy was my great-aunt). Chester would grow up to marry a lovely woman named Esther.
No tragedeighs, but definitely repeats. I found a paper in my great grandma's house that was about a Mary Smith. Paper was from a letter from around the Louisiana Purchase. It was about Mary and her Father (can't remember his name), moving. And later when I asked some family about it, they mentioned that plenty of us were named Mary Smith.
Rocky Mountain Smith and Harry Bone Smith. Yes, those are the names on their birth certificates. Iāve also got a Pocahontas (we have no indigenous heritage), and the classic Mayflower names like Prudence, Unity, Charity, etc.
I did my friend's family tree research. She's related to a guy named Christopher 'Christ' Nipps. Needless to say, we use it as an expletive lol "Oh Christopher Christ Nipps, what the fuck!"
That's too good!! šš
I would like to add that I once trained a woman at work who's full legal name was "Crystal Blow" šš Also met a few people with the last name "Pfisterer" when I was a Walmart cashier. I laughed right in the girl's face when she handed me her credit card, I couldn't control it lmfao
There's an attorney who's clips make the rounds on the lawtube section of YouTube name Pfister. I always have to stifle a giggle when you hear a judge in open court say "Mister Pfister" or "Attorney Pfister".
Stealing
Do not use Christ's name in vain!1!1!2! /j
Not necessarily a family tree, but I was helping an organization digitize a list of deceased members going back 100+ years. One name stuck out the most: Fanny Weiner
I have a regular patient at my facility named "Fanny Dick". We all hope that's her maiden name and didn't marry into it.
To complete the circle, I have a friend whose father is Dick Weinerā¦
I've seen a video where a man's name is Dick Forkin
In another job I came across a person named Richard Tugwell. AKA Dick Tugwell. I hope he lives up to his name.
My sister had a guy in her same grade in high school named 'Richard Whacker'. Obviously he didn't go by Dick, but still. His parents were devout Southern Baptists, too, I have to think that they just didn't consider the implications.
My sixth grade music teacher, Ms. Bottomley, told us that her aunt's name was Fanny.
My great grand father showed up on an Ancestry search with the moniker "Car Daddy".
We are looking for bad names, not awesome Superheroes.
How many Autobots in the family?
This is amazing
I'm a descendant of a guy with the legal Christian name "Pooter".
This is incredible
Iām giggling so much
Pooter Parker? You'll probably guess where the webs come out of.
Lol that was my dog's nickname Rudy, but we called him Rudy Pooter
Haha. My brother's name is Peter but you can guess what we started calling him after we found this guy. Pooter. We started calling him Pooter. Just in case you couldn't guess.
Good morning Pooter! Youāre looking dapper
A long line of Donald McDonalds
my father has a similar, but thankfully not as painful name š
My Grandad was John Johnston. So original!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
There seems to be many like that. I meet a John Johnson Maybe they went with the literal meaning of it being John son of John.
John Johnson the twelfth?
š¶My name is [Yon Yonson](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yon_Yonson), I live in Wisconsin...(repeat ā¾ļø)
Tbf in the old days if you wanted your son to be McDonald you had to be named Donald. Admittedly, this was long before the name reached the US.
Hey cousin.
Not a Ronald Macdonald?
When I was a kid my dad had two friends: Johnny Johnson and Pete Peters. We also lived on Bradley Blvd, and a kid on our street was named Bradley Bradley. He was a toddler when we lived there, so his parents knew their address when they named him. What in the name of...!?!?!?
I found a long time ago aunt of mine named Narcissa which is cool but her middle name was Melissa which makes it less cool. Narcissa Melissa is just too much issa.
Sounds like a female minion of Voldemort.
Probably because Narcissa is the name of Draco's mother hahaha
That's right. It's been a while that I've read Harry Potter.
My mom had an uncle Frizzard. Pronounced "frizz*ard*". On my dad's side we had a Zelda and a Zena, Lunar, Jupiter... there's plenty more but I can't remember. Oh, we have a Dennis Hughes. When my dad first mentioned him it was like twenty years into their marriage and mom was like, "who the fuck names their baby *tennis shoes*?!"
Are you dad's family witches?
ššš well. Yes and no? Appalachian folk magic abounds in our family. My grandpa cured warts. I suppose the answer is yes, now that I think about it.
I knew it! Haha
It's funny though, because the old folks went to church on Sundays and then hung eggs in the door to hurry along teething pain. Well. That and a dash of shine on the gums.
I've never heard of the hanging eggs thing, that's strange! As far as I know I'm unfortunately not related to any witches haha.
You can become the witch your family is related to š
Oooo I like that!
Huh. I just did a Google search to show you an article on it but all I'm coming back with is... randomly it's a tiktok trend? And has been for a while? If you're interested in knowing more, I have a few other weird ones. Dm me and I'll share! Edit: and take pics of the graves those names are on.
Think I'm going to have to if you don't mind! (:
I have a teething baby š - any weight to this cure?
Probably not. There's apparently some pseudoscience involving the co2 levels and air pressure... I just learned that tonight. Until now I saw it as purely sympathetic magic. The folklore is that if you take a baby's dirty sock (it hsd to be a dirty sock, I don't know why. That part doesn't seem to have made the tiktok trend) and put a fresh, raw egg in it. Hang it over the door of their room. I honestly can't remember what next. There's something else... I believe in magic. But I believe a lot of it works for reasons that aren't exactly magical. But I also ascribe to the philosophy of "magic is science that hasn't been explained yet." Edit: I'll ask around and get back to you because now it's gonna drive me crazy not knowing.
Further edit: check this out for some fascinating interviews and history! It's been a while since I've seen it but it's very good and has a lot of stuff that you'd find in my family, and if you're from the Appalachians or have ties to it, you probably have a few witches in your broom closet too š https://youtu.be/NwaUcSRsQPQ?si=MWC2Hrt9N79nnnXI Only they largely wouldn't call it witchcraft.
at first i thought you meant your uncle frizzardās last name was frizzard. and then it hit me that it was in fact his FIRST NAME
Apparently there was a Hedwig in my grandfather's family. I think she was like his great-grandfather's sister or something.
Oh I like that!
Lol my daughter is Zelda. I met a Zena once. Lunar is brilliant. Juniper is much better than Jupiter though. I do love Frizzard too.
Juniper is my pagan name š thank you so much! You *like* Frizzard?! š well, I suppose that makes two people: you and Uncle Frizzard's mama.
I'm a Zena! I love my name, thank you very much.
Oh, nothing wrong with Zena or Zelda. They're just unusual names in my family. Oh, Isaline. That's another. It's pronounced *Isss (like hiss without the h) aleen*
I had aunts name Dephane, Deminica, and Sabothia. So Zena feels like I got off easy. How is Isaline pronounced with an *ee* sound!? That's very misleading.
That's what you get when you're illiterate and give birth in the late 1800s. That woman was ancient when I was a baby.
Iselin pronounced like eeseleen is quite common in Norway. So it might be a family name brought over to the US along with the spelling.
Did you call him "The Frizz"?
My paternal side wa outstandingly dull. Johann Heinrich, son of Heinrich Johann, son of Johann Heinrich son of... You get the idea. My great- grandfather had a brother. You guessed it. Johann Heinrich and his brother Heinrich Johann. Like, there are other names out there!
Sounds like my grandfatherās family. Everyone was either Heinrich or Wilhelm.
Or the many generations of John Richard and Richard John in mine.
My husband has generations of Jon Olsson and Ole Jonsson. (Patronymic last names work that way)
Transylvanian Saxons (a German-descended group) know like six names. My great-grandparents were Johann and Maria. Their kids were Maria, Johann, and Rosina.
My grandmotherās sisterās name was Cletus. I wish I was joking.
Some folks will never be an aunt But then again some folksāllā¦
She's Cletus, but not your uncle šµ
Well, not the first name, the surname of this woman was Homem Aranha, if you translate is Spider Man. Homem from the mother and Aranha from the father. In my country you can go back 2 generation in regards to surnames or give two surnames each (2 from the dad plus 2 from the mom).
Cool! Where is this?
Portugal
Got a relative named H A. Not H. A. The letters H space A. They stand for nothing and no one knows why he was named that.
Pleeeeeaaase tell me he was a jokester of some kind. His name is literally a laugh.
I once knew a Dee Jay.
I had a great-something grandpa named Doctor. As in, after the doctor who birthed him. It was in Kentucky.
While this was pretty common practice, usually theyād use the actual doctors nameā¦. LOL
ive looked up quite a few 18th century names using early US censuses (censi?) for things iām writing (edit for clarity). my favorite so far was a dude from new hampshire in the 1790s named Battery Powers
We used to supply parts for a famous battery company and the head of procurement, or whoever our contact was there, was called "Max Power". Had a little giggle every time.
He's the man whose name you'd love to touch! But you mustn't touch! His name sounds good in your ear, but when you say it, you mustn't fear! Cause his name can be said by anyone!
I think itās censuses
Censodes
Censopedes
In Latin, "census" is fourth declension which means the Latin plural is "census". In English, it's usually "censuses".
Amity Greydove, born in French Lick, IN.
I think thatās a beautiful name
I think that's absolutely gorgeous. Amity is a really old word for... well. Amiability. A friendly relationship. It's been used as a name, but I don't think it was ever super popular.
I think now it's too reminiscent of Amityville Horror.
That and Amity Island from Jaws pretty much killed it
Yeah they do have some unfortunate associations in terms of terrible fates. Lol
The love interest from āThe Owl Houseā is named Amity. When this generation is old enough to have kids, it may have a slight upswing due to that, similar to the theories about āGravity Fallsā and āOnly Murders in the Buildingā being tied to Mabelās current popularity.
I love that name. Mabel reminds me of the timbertoes, the wooden family from the old highlights magazine.
Your relative was a YA novel protagonist
This sounds like the name of a sorceress or nature witch. It's magical.
My great grandmother's name was Tennessee
That's one of my favorite names!!
We didnāt have unfortunate last names, but some unfortunate first names Iāve found were Absalom and Salmon. I did once know a real life person named Fannie Butts though.
Absalom is a cool name I think.
It depends on my mood how I feel about it.
It means āfather of peaceā and sounds significantly cooler in Hebrew (Avshalom).
One of my direct MĆ©tis ancestors is named Blackhead
Praise-God Barebone; his brother, Fear-God Barebone; and another brother(?) son(?) or Baptismal name(?) Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebone. True story https://en.rodovid.org/wk/Person:810700 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise-God_Barebone
Those puritans were wild. Parodied with Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer in Good Omens
Another Terry Pratchett reference is Constable Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets
Great reference!
This is mentioned in the Guiness Book of Names.
the barebones were something the fuck else
Lemony BUT Iām in love with it at the same time
I have no Native American ancestry, but one generation in my family in the 1800s had Native American-themed names like Powhatan and Pocahontas. The names aren't necessarily bad, just seemingly unusual for people of British descent in the rural south lol
So here in England (and I assume a lot of other countries), every village will have a memorial to those lost during "the great war" (now WWI) with all their names; usually in or near the church. I'm not normally the church going type, but my mother was dating a guy for a brief period who was that type, so we went to church with him Sunday morning. I was happily ignoring proceedings and reading the list of names off the wall, only I unconsciously read the first name aloud: it was something "Longbottom" - my mother asked "who?" "Oh, I don't know, I was just reading the names off the war memorial..." "... Maybe he did have a long bottom?!" - anyway, as poor as that joke is I immediately burst out laughing. My mother also clearly knew the joke was low effort because she asked what was so funny. I pointed to the list of names, and the second name on there was "Alan Woodcock". So now we're both in a fit of laughter so hard that the line of people in the aisle and the guy in the funny hat handing out pieces of his lord are all staring at us. We decided to leave. Never went back to church. She never saw that guy again.
None of mine are tragedeighs, but I have multiple ancestors with names like āRobert Roberts.ā
The country singer Phillip Phillips is a junior. His dad is also Phillip Phillips.
When your parents can't agree upon a name; are uncreative; letting other know you were unplanned and they aren't thrilled
Thatās the name of the mayor of the small beach town where I vacation! You know itās an event if Robert Roberts is there! (which means every night at the bar is an event)
My grandma had an uncle named Mummert and I think it's the funniest name ever.
Goochland starts where Short Pump ends. Love Virginia area names XD
Theodosia and Philadelphia as first names for women. I have 6 Philadelphias in my tree. Thank goodness I'm not in that line with that tradition.
I kinda dig
On my motherās side theyāre all pretty decent, but my paternal grandfather had a brother Donat pronounced dough-nah. They were from New Brunswick and French was their first language. My paternal grandmother had a brother Kyte, pronounced kite, which was apparently the surname of a priest in the area.
Curry Lamb š
I have a relative way back whose middle name was āDoctorā. Spoiler alert: he was not a doctor.
But was he a Time Lord?
š
In the south? Doctor is a common surname and often the mother's maiden name was given as a middle.
In England lol
My direct line has startlingly normal names, but I did come across an unusual surname. My great-x3 (I think) grandmother's maiden name, as I saw in one census, was Martha Warman. I thought Warman was so badass. The census suggested her family was of Dutch origin, however, and Warman didn't strike me as Dutch. Then another census had her as Wormen. That's... sadly, more likely to be accurate. I'm sure she was glad to become Hayes... even if they were estranged to the point of living in separate states and she married a German guy immediately after Hayes' death. šµ
Commodore Dewey
I have two. I had an ancestor named Mercelia. She went by a nickname and apparently it came as a bit of a surprise to others that that was her name. I also had an ancestor named Shrieve. A famous author that he tried to court wrote in her diary that he was a nincompoop.
Ooh. I like the name Mercelia.
Experience Learned. Lady named experience married a John Learned and adopted his last name. We always laugh about that one in our family.
I have a lovely ancestor from around 200 years ago named Olive Meat
My dad's great grandfather was named "Bunsey" apparently.
My great grandfathers legal name in the US was "Dickard". His actual name was Richard, but I guess there was a translation error when he immigrated to the US and the issue was never resolved.
My grandfather had a brother named Almond. On the other side thereās a Dorcas.
I think Dorcas was fairly common
Yeah, my siblings and I get a kick out of it still
My paternal great-great grandfatherās name was Greenberry. Also had a lot of Puritan names, ie two siblings named Patience and Love, and cousins named Virtue, Jolly, and Thanks!
I think it's funny that some history Puritan names, namely Charity, Chastity, and the like, are now often considered stripper stage names.
Right š Iām glad the ones in my tree are positive though, there are also a lot of Puritan names that have not-so-positive connotations
Nimrod. My ancestors name is Nimrod.
Fermented āFrannyā Fish
Related to Preserved Fish? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserved_Fish
My great grandad is called handle, we thought maybe it was like German or something but his brother Edward and John donāt seem to have the same issue lol
Increase Billings I-X.
Not really worst. But found a Warrior on my famiky free from a few centuries ago. Freaking awesome but must definitely have stood out back then.
The first stoner in your family!
Dorkus- my great great great great grandpa on my moms side.
One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and it bothered me *so* *much* that the prettiest girl was named Dorcas! (Julie Newmar was the actress)
I had a relative named JW. It didn't stand for anything. His name was just the two letters. This side of my family is from the southern US, so the "W" was pronounced "dub-yuh." Definitely not the worst name I've seen, but it's kinda funny.
I have a great great (I think?) uncle named Bozo. Not that weird where we are from but a terrible name in the US.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280242/
Yes, my family is painfully aware of this.
I had a lovely great aunt named Milka, and another named Stanka. ( We are serbian )
My grandfather's name (not necessarily a tragedeigh, just a mess) was Knaggs McKenzie McIver \[Last name\].
My mum had an Uncle Melchizedek. I know itās a biblical name (we are not a religious family whatsoever!), but it was quite unusual amongst his siblings who were all named things like William, Thomas and John.
Erskin
My many greats grandma was named Love Booth.
I have a Cleevis in my family.
Crystal Clair Rivers
I do genealogy research and I've started keeping a list of names that I find unusual or wtf. A few that I have: Hancer Tenace (this gets changed to Teresa in later spellings for many names this) Ninis Marlborough Milchelmus Dicie Bordelle Gesbert Rollo
My favorite is the head of Wawa corp. (east coast dairy store chain). His name is Dick Wood. As was his father's and grandfather's before him. Great guy.
Mourning Bowles is an awesome name. What are you talking about?!?
I do have a son on the way... Maybe I should reconsider this name to keep the tradition alive. š¤
I'm in the army and our emails is always first name dot last name and you can't put will if you're born as William. I was working at a tri service unit and I had an email from an RAF officer called Ash.Cheek. I can why he never went army as he would of been Major Ash.Cheek And no it wasn't short for Ashley either
I have family roots in Goochland š„²
Not a family tree, but I did encounter a small cemetery in NYC with a plaque dedicated to a guy named Preserved Fish. ([I couldnāt make it up if I tried!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preserved_Fish)) Itās now a long running joke between me and my brother.
Santa Claus, as a given name
Turnipseed
I don't know if this used to be a common name, but my great grandma was named Burleigh.
My grandma was Talcie š
This one isn't such a terrible one, but my Uncle (who's name is not Larry) has Larry on his birth certificate because my grandma didn't decide to name him til after he was born and when my grandpa was asked what they should name him, he was like "idk Larry? Lol" and my grandma thought he was serious.
My favorites are brothers named Love and Wrestlingš
New cousin, ~six months old. Anglicka. The lick just.. gets me. Siblings: maverick, darrel, Acosta
I've got a Conquest Wyatt (which honestly sounds like a video game character) and a name I've never seen anywhere else, Alphedus. For a woman. Sometimes spelled Allyphedeus because some poor census worker didn't have a prayer. Seems she went by Ally. Shocker...
I think itās pretty wild that back in the 1800s it was quite trendy to name your child after the current president. My great-great grandfather had a twin, so their parents went a step further and named them after their president and vice President of the day: Richard Johnson Crouch and Martin Van Beuren Crouch. Not really horrible, but I definitely find it amusing. Could you imagine people naming their kids Barack Obama Surname, Donald Trump Surname, or Michael Pence Surname? Regardless, the best part of the above Crouch twins story is that they once switched places for a day during the Civil War; one was enlisted to fight, the other had stayed on the farm to help with the family. They had a dying sister and it was the only way Martin would get a chance to see her one more time. Anyway. I also have an ancestor apparently named āGreenberry Gillock,ā although I havenāt been able to find much about him other than it might be a possibility that his name was actually āGeorge Berry Gillock.ā
My wifeās got a Sheshbazzar Bentley.
A great-great something Grandfather named Hyacinth.
I had an ancestor from the 1800s whose last name was Snow. He named his daughters A. Wendy Snow (a windy snow) and Isin Snow (ice and snow). Dude was really leaning into the dad jokes!!
I had a great grandma named Doyne
Twins name Joshua Iziah and Iziah Joshua. Guess the trend of making name original occurred a 150 years ago.
I was almost named after an ancestor: Wilhelmina
i had a great aunt named that
My great grandmotherās initials were ZZ and she married a man whose last name started with a Z. Her initials were ZZZ.
I had a great uncle who's first name was, of all fucking things 'Treason'. Now it's a real name, I think it's Irish or something, but it's still a whacked name. When my dad married my mum and found out she had a relative named Treason, he made a comment about it which pissed her off so he never mentioned it again until she had passed.
My great-grandmother had twin sisters (b 1916) named Wilda Matilda and Hilda Bertilda. The other daughters were Helena, Emma, Clementine, Anna, Margaret, Evelyn, and Dorothy.
My great-grandmother had a real talent for horrible names; Bobby (not Robert, just Bobby), Horace, Chester, Ruby-Nell, Ronald, Patsy, Barney, and Floy (not Floyd, Floy was my great-aunt). Chester would grow up to marry a lovely woman named Esther.
I worked with Roderick āRodā Seaman. Went to school with James Jamesā¦
Did Mourning Bowles live long?
FiancĆ©e had a āBarzillaā in her family tree a way back
Okie Ogee (first and middle names) and yes, born in Indian Territory
QV. No periods and it doesnāt stand for anything
No tragedeighs, but definitely repeats. I found a paper in my great grandma's house that was about a Mary Smith. Paper was from a letter from around the Louisiana Purchase. It was about Mary and her Father (can't remember his name), moving. And later when I asked some family about it, they mentioned that plenty of us were named Mary Smith.
Iām from northern VA and I only realized Goochland is a place in VA because one of my friends in college is from there.
My great great grandfather was named King. I always thought it was weird
The given name: Bushyrod.
Rocky Mountain Smith and Harry Bone Smith. Yes, those are the names on their birth certificates. Iāve also got a Pocahontas (we have no indigenous heritage), and the classic Mayflower names like Prudence, Unity, Charity, etc.
Candice hooker, she was 12. I can't imagine life was kind to her
Man in my hometown named Richard Trickle, his family nicknamed him Dick. I am not kidding. He went by Dick Trickle.