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. 2023 Nameberry.com.Nameberry is a registered trademark of Nameberry, LLC. I belonged to him until emancipation. Ebba: One of the more unique girl names from the 1800s. Well, I got to thinking about all us slaves that was going to take the name Fitzpatrick. List of slaves - Wikipedia 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. David Nicolle, Graham Turner: Poitiers AD 732: Charles Martel Turns the Islamic Tide. This happened mostly on large plantations where several individuals had the same first names and a surname was used to distinguish them from one another. Most did not want to use their former owners surname, even through about 20% did use the slave owners name. 1412 S. Spoede Rd., St. Louis, MO 63131-2557. please contact the History and Genealogy Department. Farley, (English Origin) Victorian-era last names meaning "fern woodland". 16 Most Famous Female Slaves of African American Origin Allard. This causes many researchers to wrongly conclude that enslaved people did not have surnames until after emancipation, which was not the case. I especially recommend Mother, Thy Name is Mystery! These require Microsoft Word and a Windows platform. common last names in the 1800s - stmatthewsbc.org Distinctively Black names were thought to have risen from the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, which promoted the use of names with connections to Africa. This phenomena makes research very complicated when you dont know the mothers surname. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. -Elbert Hubbard, "Families are like fudge; mostly sweet with a few nuts." Many of the graves are unmarked or the markers have been damaged, but many descendents still live around here, so we hope to identify as many of the possible graves as we can. 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. Remember me. Eugene D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974). Students consider what it means to be free by learning about the choices and aspirations of freedpeople immediately after Emancipation. 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". Through a video-based activity, students examine Americas struggle for a stronger democracy during Reconstruction and today. 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.. Some of them developed a long-term relationship with one of the female slaves. St. Louis County Library. It is these single names that have been most often studied. Popular Last Names in the 1920s Gatsby Flapper Girl Ho Joanne, Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. 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. Robinson: A patronymic of the name Robin. . We had to register as someone, so we could be citizens. . What are the most popular last names in the UK? It means 'raven'. Cook Cook has an Old English origin, and it means 'one who cooks' or 'one who sold cooked meat'. Drawing on extensive archival records, this digital memorial allows analysis of the ships, traders, and captives in the Atlantic slave trade. With your explanations in mind, I will go back over a couple of family groups and re-assess the surname ambiguousness I have in my notes. Dick Lewis Barnett and Phillip Fry were African American veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War. 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. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. In order to receive their pensions decades later, these former soldiers and their family members had to demonstrate to the government that they were who they claimed to be. Former slaves often made up surnames based on their occupations. Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. No, I don't know to whom she belonged before she was brought from Virginia to Kentucky. When I was born my mother was known as Phillis Smith and I took the name of Smith too. Thus, the patronymic surname can be effectively regarded as "keeper of the peace." This phenomenon is not unheard of with African American surnames. . Some scholars of slavery have come to view the names and naming of enslaved people as agauge of many aspects oflife and culture during enslavement and of howcustoms changed over time. 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. It gives the age and sex of the slave and the number of slaves of each age and sex. In the 1760s Anglo-American frontiersmen, determined to settle the land, planted slavery firmly within the borders of what would become Tennessee. Numerous historical sources confirm that enslaved people had surnames that they used among themselves and in many cases were known by their slaveholder. By country & year of birth. Slave Names of the 1800's by Emils M - Prezi 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. Clark is a common surname of Anglo-Scottish origin. Anouilh. . Hi Donna, Dear Robyn, . 120 Most Popular African Last Names Or Surnames - MomJunction The brothers were sold when they were very young and remained with their last owners nearly thirty years. Augustin Meaning: a descendant of Augustine Origin: English 2. And my goodness, how kind of you to suggest a TED talk, maybe one of these days;) Genealogys pull is what initially pulled me into studying slavery, and also introduced me to the new understanding that historians are uncovering. After the war ended and slavery was abolished, they exercised their freedom by changing their names. Surnames. In the early years, especially between the 1860 and 1880s, families even changed a surname several times until they settled on a certain one. This was the case with several others from Wessyngton. His slaveholder was named David Humphries. When Wessyngtons owner George A. Washington married Margaret Lewis in 1849 her father gave the couple twenty-nine slaves. Archambeau. - Jane Howard, "Friends are God's apologies for relations." Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. Others were more promiscuous. The given name Athena was derived from the city name Athens, which is of uncertain origins. 17. 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. Nonetheless, this is a situation where two brothers selected different surnames. Students learn about President Andrew Johnson and the Congressional Republican's conflicting visions of how to rebuild the nation after the Civil War. Elaine Fantham, Helene Peet Foley, Natalie Boymel Kampen, Sarah B. Pomeroy, H. A. Shapiro. It had always been passed down in the family that Thomas has been owned by the Blacks. Slave Ship Manifests filed at New Orleans, 1807-1860 | National Archives They are held at The National Archives (Kew, England). Thomas: Thomas is a common surname of biblical origin meaning twin. Derived from the word anull that is the Catalan language dominantly used in southern France, Anouilh means 'slow worm'. James) will have . They were all sold to different owners: Connell, Rose, Johnson, and Hughes respectively. My Louisiana Creole ancestors who were free persons of color and former slaves practiced a unique naming tradition I think comes from Latin cultures. Best of luck to you, American slave owners or slaveholders were owners of slaves in the United States which typically worked either as agriculture laborers or house servants. Available from 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 (accessed May 6, 2022). 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.". No superior alternative has yet been found. is for you. 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 They identified 21 distinctly Black male names, among them biblical classics such as Abraham and Moses, and word names including Freeman and Prince. This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. I have done quite a bit of genealogy for my own family, and it was difficult enough, but what you are doing, is incredible work. 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. CLICK HERE TO SAVE YOUR SEAT! A favorite of British novelists including Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse, Ambrose has an air of blooming well-being and upper-class erudition. These cookies do not store any personal information. common last names for slaves in the 1800s. Major types on which most would agree are European place and literary names, European personal names in hypocoristic (pet or diminutive) form, biblical and classical names, and names of African origin. Of the 972 names of male Slaves recorded between 1619 and 1799 the leading ones were Jack, Tom, Harry, Sam, Will, Caesar, Dick, John, Robin, Frank, Charles, Joe and Prince. Thats a goal that I am working towards. Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. Use the form below to get in touch with me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. -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. My Vimeo ON Demand video page lists six videos you can choose from to watch for 3 months ($15 each): -Finding the Last Slaveowner: Guidance and Case Studies, -Cluster Research: Using Groups of People to Find Your People, -Using Deed Records to Uncover Your Family, -Putting it All Together: Making Sense of All the Research You've Done and, -More Than Just a Name: Incorporating Social and Community History Into Your Research. 30 January 2022, [PAST EVENT], Eastern Standard Time: Join special guest genealogist Taneya Y. Koonce and I as we present our joint Zoom webinar, Organize Your Genealogy! By examining periods of violence during the Reconstruction era, students learn about the potential backlash to political and social change. Robyn. 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.