#52Ancestors: Unusual Name

From A(bbie) to Z(elma)

This week's #52Ancestors prompt asks us to share an unusual name in our family. Well, I've done some digging into the leaves on my family tree and I just don't have any really weird names!  

Oh, I have a few that seem curious by today's standards, Cinderella and Salome, for starters, but truly unusual? Not so much. As I pondered this some more, however, I decided to make a list of all the female names in my database and do a little analysis! Sorry, fellas, all you Williams and Johns will have to wait for future inspiration!

What I found, more than anything else, was just how many double names I have in my tree. My Luxembourg and German Catholic ancestors just had a very limited repertoire when it came to naming their children, primarily based on saint names. The trouble was they had large families so they had to get creative and double up! 

Remember those mix-and-match flip books when you were little where you turned the pages to match up the head, body and feet, or just the opposite pairing a fireman with a mermaid tail? That sort of scramble seems to have been the approach many of my ancestors took. Pretty much any name combined with either Anna or Mary/Maria was fair game, or each other, so you end up with Anna Maria, Maria Anna, Anna Barbara, Anna Catherine, Mary Catherine, Mary Regina, and so on. It wasn't unusual to have Anna, Barbara, Anna Barbara, Mary and Anna Maria all in one family! Although some of them don't exactly trip off the tongue they were rarely shortened and nicknames were frowned upon.

So, here's to you ladies! Your names range from Abbie to Zelma. Every letter of the alphabet except for Q, W and Y is represented! Even X! Your names may not all be unusual, but you were each unique and your experiences -- and DNA -- shaped generations to come.

A	Abbie, Abigail, Adaline, Adelaide, Agnes, Alberta, Alice, Alma, Alvida, Alvira, Amanda, Amelia, Amy, Anastasia, Angela, Angeline, Ann/Anna/Anne, Annette, Annis, Antoinette, Antonia, Apollonia, Aretha, Audrey, Augusta
B	Barbara, Belle, Bernice, Bessie, Betsey, Betti, Bonita
C	Caroline, Carrie, Casja, Catherine, Cecilia, Cecily, Celestine, Charity, Charlotte, Christina/Christine, Cinderella, Claire, Clara, Claribel, Clarissa, Constance, Cora, Cordelia, Crystal
D	Daisy, Darlene, Delia, Della, Diane, Dilara, Dollie, Donnetta, Dora, Doris, Dorothy/Dorothea, Dulcina
E	Edith, Edna, Eleanor, Eliza, Elisabeth/Elizabeth, Ellen, Elsie, Elvira, Emeline, Emilia/Emily, Emma, Erma, Ernestina, Estella, Esther, Ethel, Eunice, Eva/Eve, Evangeline, Evelyn, Everline
F	Fannie, Fern, Filonia, Florence, Frances, Frieda
G	Genevieve, Georgianne, Geraldine, Gertrude, Gladys, Grace
H	Hannah, Harriet, Hattie, Hazel, Helen/Helena, Hilda
I	Ida, Imogene, Inez, Irena/Irene, Isabel, Irma, Ismaye
J	Jane, Jean/Jeanne, Jeanette, Jennettie, Jennie, Jennifer, Jessie, Johanna/Joanna/Joanne, Josepha, Josephine, Julia/Julie/Julietta, June
K	Katherine, Kittie, Krezencia, Kunigunde
L	Lael, Lana, Laura, Lavina, Lavira, Leigh, Lemira, Lena, Leola, Leona, Leota, Lily/Lillie/Lillian, Lindsay, Linnea, Lisa, Lola, Loretta, Lorine, Lois, Louisa/Louise, Lucille, Lucy, Lucyann, Lydia
M	Mabel, Mae/May, Magdalena/Magdaline/Madeline, Mahala, Maggie/Margaret/Marguerite, Margery/Marjorie, Mamie, Maria/Marie/Mary, Mariam, Marian/Marion, Martha, Matilda, Mattie, Maude, Melissa, Meda, Megan, Mehitable, Mildred, Minnie, Missouri, Myrtle
N	Nadine, Nancy, Natalie, Nellie, Nina, Nona, Nora, Norma
O	Olivia/Olive, Opal, Ophelia, Ottilia
P	Patricia, Pearl, Permilia, Petronella
Q
R	Rachel, Ray, Regina, Rebecca, Rhoda, Rose/Rosa, Rosalia/Rosalie, Rosella, Ruby, Ruth
S	Sabine, Sadie, Salome, Sara, Shirley, Sibilla, Sophie/Sophia, Susan/Susanna/Susannah/Suzanne, Stina, Sylvia
T	Teresa/Theresa, Twila
U	Ursula
V	Velma, Vera, Verain, Veronica, Vesta, Vina, Viola, Virginia, Vivian
W
X	Xenia
Y
Z	Zelma