common last names for slaves in the 1800s

7 Famous Slave Revolts - HISTORY 1754 Excerpts from the Courant for June 22 to 29, 1754 at Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library - contain the names of some "runaway slaves" or indentured servants, and information about them. No superior alternative has yet been found. However, a small change to searching on C?lbert, which accounts for the variations in spelling expands that initial list to 877 enslaved people owned by people with those names. After emancipation, he moved back with his mother, brothers and sisters and used the Cobbs surname. Evie (F) (English origin) means "life" or "lively". 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. 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. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Here, three different former slaves discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation. . 2023 The Voice of the Black Community in California. Thank you so much for your kind words. The Complexity of Slave Surnames > Reclaiming Kin This potential brother had been sold to a local and remained there in SC. 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. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on I am searching for information about a woman named Eliza Ellis, from Versailles KY or that area. Please subscribe or login. Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press. You can find many more examples of the above in my post, The Mind of the Slaveowner. Abel, the name of Adam and Eve's unfortunate younger son, compensates with positive connotations: capable, competent, ready and willing. 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. 42. Throughout the colonial period, as many as one-fifth of the enslaved people in North Carolina retained African names; Quash, Cuffee, Mingo, Sambo, Mustapha, and Sukey were among the most common recorded. This unique-sounding French last name means 'bold' or 'daring'. 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. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration It means 'bought land'. Thank you. 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. They did so either to take on a surname for the first time, or to replace a name or surname given to them by a former master. 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. In another case Sukey Ann and he 4 children were manumitted by their Ashby owner with only their first names. When they were sold away they remembered their loved ones and they created extended kinship networks. In the 1760s Anglo-American frontiersmen, determined to settle the land, planted slavery firmly within the borders of what would become Tennessee. Just from the detail in your first comment, I knew there was a good chance you were already familiar with those authors. Pinckney, Randolph, and Rutledgeappear only incidentally among any list of modern Black peoples names. What remains utterly amazing to me is that in the worst of circumstances, and in spite of every attempt to crush any idea that slaves were anything other than commodities, slaveholders did not succeed. Archambeau. Like most of the architecture and towns in Italy, they can also tell a story. 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. In the. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006. A Wessyngton slave named Bill who was the plantation's blacksmith was known as Billy the Smith during slavery. Hi Jann, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts South Atlantic Creole Archipelagos Practices undoubtedly varied, and different archival sources may yield different conclusions. Ethereal and delicate, Cassandra was in the Top 70 throughout the 1990s but is now descending in popularity. The top 5 most common Hispanic last names from the 1920s are: 1. I love how you have documented the history of your own surname. Nonetheless, this is a situation where two brothers selected different surnames. Have you visited the Whitney Plantation yet? Finding State Laws About Slaves and Free Blacks, More Suggestions for White Slaveholder Descendants, http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-r-yarborough-where-it-all-began.html, http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2013/11/many-rivers-to-cross-my-priscilla.html, https://www.historicpathways.com/articles.html, http://whitneyplantation.com/the-louisiana-slave-database.html. I hope this post also helps us to think about how the surnames former slaves had were connected to their experiences in slavery. Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. This may reveal your family used the surname of the slave owners wifes family. Through a video-based activity, students examine Americas struggle for a stronger democracy during Reconstruction and today. 3. 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 This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. LOTTIE had been the name of the nurse before me and so they just continued that same name. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. A small number of creoles in Louisiana also acquired surnames derived from ethnic identities in Senegal. Facing History & Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. This is common. 63 Italian Last Names That Are *Chef's Kiss* Bellissimo! - Scary Mommy common last names for slaves in the 1800s. -Unknown, "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you might as well make it dance!" List of slave owners - Wikipedia I belonged to him until emancipation. Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names | National Archives . Relish, (Old French Origin) Derived from relaisse meaning "flavor or taste". 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]. 1412 S. Spoede Rd., St. Louis, MO 63131-2557. please contact the History and Genealogy Department. Finding the Slave Who Bore Philomene Daurat. There is also another historian, Gwendolyn Midlo Hall who did work on African ethnicities in Louisiana, you can read more of that here if you havent seen that yet: http://whitneyplantation.com/the-louisiana-slave-database.html, Again, I applaud you for doing the research on the history of the areas where your ancestors livedmany researchers dont realize how crucial that understanding is. I would appreciate any constructive comments on this question, which can be posted to me via my website address above. Lori Wilson Picks Up Baton to Remove Slavery Language From Californias Constitution, New Assembly Bill Would Ban Use of Police Canines for Arrests, Crowd Control, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. 3. But I tell you, trying to document that all those names refer to the same person is hard, hard work! 7. Got.the name.Auber.. Hi Roxana, Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. So far Ive found no one who can give me any information about how these people assumed the Culbert surname. 41. No superior alternative has yet been found." Farley, (English Origin) Victorian-era last names meaning "fern woodland". This lively Old Testament nature name (belonging to one of the three beautiful daughters of Job) may be missing from the current US Top 1000 list, but it ranks highly here on Nameberry making it one to watch! I liked the name better than Octavia, and so I took it with me to Danville, and was never called anything else there than that name. Thank you as always, your posts are so helpful. We had to register as someone, so we could be citizens. My full name is Dick Lewis Barnett. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. American Slave Owners - geni family tree Former slaves often made up surnames based on their occupations. 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. 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. FamilySearch Centers. Who called you by that name and where was it done? 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. It had always been passed down in the family that Thomas has been owned by the Blacks. Most Popular Names. They established and held on to their own cultural traditions in the small spaces that slavery afforded them. Slavery in America was the legal institution of enslaving human beings, mainly Africans and African Americans. This event is $12. Because I like to let formerly enslaved people speak for themselves, here are several examples of freedmen and women discussing their surnames. Edited by Gabriele vom Bruck and Barbara Bodenhorn, 178199. College, Advanced AA Gen Class, September 2011, AAHGS Annual Genealogy Conference, November 2008, Howard Comm. common last names for slaves in the 1800s On the U.S. Federal census that year, Wesley's birthplace was recorded as Alabama, the same as his father, and his mother's birthplace was South Carolina . Login Forgot . 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. She was a Murphy.. 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. Another myth is once African Americans were sold they never saw their families again. If we consider the diverse circumstances that the tragedy of slavery created, we can understand the reasons why. Eliza Moore (1843 - January 21, 1948) Source = Pinimg. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. Through DNA matches, I believe I have recently found a brother of my mothers great grandfather. All of them are alive in this moment. Davis: This name is a patronymic of David. . However, the common practice by slaveholders was to only use the given names of enslaved people in documents such as estate papers, court and deed records. The link was not copied. The Genealogy Source Table Collection includes 10 blank, editable source tables for death certificates, city directories, obituaries and funeral programs. For personal use and not for further distribution. 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. State of residence is Missouri unless otherwise noted. While Smith remains the most common U.S. surname, for the first time, two Hispanic namesGarcia and Rodriguezmade the top 10. A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. 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. 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 . Best of luck to you in your research, I have been a researcher, writer, lecturer and teacher for over twenty years. 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. Most Common English Surnames & Meanings - Forebears Last updated: November 1, 2003 "Dwelling No." Another interesting fact is that Creole surname use also evolved over time and varied from record to record with the same person. 1850 US Census Name Frequencies - buckbd.com Washington: The 'blackest name' in America | The Seattle Times Genealogy becomes so much more than just names and dates, it really feels like a true passion indeed. John C. Inscoe, "Carolina Slave Names: An Index to Acculturation," Journal of Southern History 59 (November 1983). Elijah is derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, composed of the elements. This old French surname has Germanic origin, and means 'noble'. I belonged to him until emancipation. -Winston Churchill, "The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never ever introduce yourself to had life not done it for you." Smithsonian Institution. Garcia is the Spanish variation of the word Gerald that means a pointed weapon, like a spear. Q. Well, I got to thinking about all us slaves that was going to take the name Fitzpatrick. Some of them developed a long-term relationship with one of the female slaves. 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. Remember me. Table 7. British Surnames of the 1800s - Synonym 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. Lastly,emancipation itself often provoked many to choose new surnames, one of the few actual freedoms freedmen had. Students learn about the violent responses to the transformation of US democracy that occurred as a result of Radical Reconstruction. The Voice of the Black Community in California, Last Updated on October 14, 2010 by Paulette Brown-Hinds. On the 30 rolls of NARA Microfilm Publication M1895, Slave Manifests of Coastwise Vessels Filed at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1807-1860 (30 rolls), are reproduced manifests filed with the collector of customs at New Orleans, Louisiana, of slaves transported in coastwise trade to or from New Orleans during the period 1807-1860. Forenames. 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 A. Some of these examples come from the wonderful book, Voices of Emancipation: I served [in the War] as Henry Lock, the Lock being my old Massas name but since the War I have taken name of Rollie., [Edward] was owned by Drury Stovall and went by the name of Edward Stovall. Top 100 Southern Surnames or Last Names With Meanings - FirstCry Parenting Unique Surnames to Grenada. Slavery in the 1800s - The history of slavery They called me OCK. Index to "Descriptive Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri, 1863-1865" (NARA Microfilm Publication M1894 - 6 rolls) For more information about the records covered in this index, please contact the History and Genealogy Department. This is due in part to officials imposing surnames on them based on their last owners. 1. A. This blog is where I share family history methods, resources, tips and advice, with an emphasis on slave research, slavery and its aftermath. Top 100 Best Names From The 1800s | Kidadl 42. 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. Is this the same woman Eliza I see living with Thomas Crenshaw in 1880 and 1900? . 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. And now that it's been chosen by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, it could take off as their first son's nameKingstonhas. When slave owners married, they often received slaves as wedding gifts and inheritances from their wifes family. 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. The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. Q. Many of these were names of heroesbut not Lincoln. . Enslaved people resisted in ways large and small. Drawing on extensive archival records, this digital memorial allows analysis of the ships, traders, and captives in the Atlantic slave trade. Even many given names of ancestors eventually became a surname, such as Todd or William. 9 of the Biggest Slave Owners in American History - Atlanta Black Star Q. Where did you get the maiden name of Smith from? Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno might inspire some parents. . Fortunately, the French and Latin were excellent record keepers and the Catholics were obsessed with knowing the kinship of everyone. How lucky you were to find that Freedmans Bank document! Now, that parent's surname could very well be the surname of the most recent slaveholder or an earlier slaveholder. A favorite of British novelists including Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse, Ambrose has an air of blooming well-being and upper-class erudition. Thanks for writing this post! Ive taken back reclaimed some of that lost memory, especially that of my enslaved ancestors. St. Louis County Library. 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.. . Osprey Publishing 2008. Derived from the word anull that is the Catalan language dominantly used in southern France, Anouilh means 'slow worm'. What were common names for slaves in the 1800s? - Kyoto2.org 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? Peneus saved Daphne from Apollos romantic obsessions by transforming her into a laurel tree. Surely the hundreds of black Culbert people living today cannot all be connected to those three cases. Other common surnames included Jones, Matthews, Sinclair, and Bennett, Price, and Gray.. The three databases below provide details of 36,000 trans-Atlantic slave voyages, 10,000 intra-American ventures, names and personal information. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Some of the most common or popular last names in the 1800s included Robinson, Clark, and Smith. The idea was for the children to enter the inhumane system of slavery protected by a sense of Selfhood and history. common last names in the 1800s - stmatthewsbc.org 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.