Genealogy Chat

Thanks for that OC, Whilst sorting out my dad's side, a la-de-da FRCSE rellie, I notice he has a daughter called Theophelia. Poor old mum is stuck with shepherds in Stepney !!! Jeanne

Ah! Theodosia means 'gift of god'. A classically-minded Vicar would approve of this name even though it isn't a Christian name. OC

Saving for referenc - looks very useful.Ta. Liz

Christine, you may have noticed that I put 'the' in brackets in my earlier post. OC, I was referring to myself as one of (the) hoi polloi, as you said they chose common names like Mary.

Christine I have known several Theda's in my time - just wondering now if that is a corruption of Theodosia (also seen as Theodocia). OC

Not far to fall, then. J

Apology accepted! One has to be so very careful! I should admit that my knowledge of Greek is mainly confined to being able to recognise the letters of the alphabet - in fact, I used them so much when studying maths that I feel I should be able to add them up more easily than construct them into words. Having said that, I have picked up odd bits and pieces for one reason or another. For instance, Theodosia... The ''Theo'' bit is to do with God - like ''Theophilus'' is the Greek equivalent of ''Amadeus'' - or (in German) ''Gottlieb''. Not sure about the ''...dosia'' bit. OH about to throw me off computer.... Christine

(From one pedant to another) Sorry Christine I should have put 'hoi polloi' in inverted commas, to indicate that it was an expressive term. I do apologise! OC

I say, OC I thought we were being pedantic on this thread? In which case you need no ''the'' preceding ''hoi polloi'' because ''hoi'' = ''the''. Christine-in-pedant-mode ;-)

Mary One of the hoi polloi could not POSSIBLY have been called Dionysius Cockshott!!!! You may find, if you dig a bit, that ole Dionysius was quite influential as a husbandman, certainly in the choosing and PAYING of a Vicar... OC

Nudge for reference

He was a husbandman, so I shouldn't think he was particularly influential. Poor man rejoiced in the name of Dionysius Cockshott. Signed: one of (the) hoi polloi.

Mary No, not common at all, but a lot depended on the Vicar....and how influential in the Parish Dionysius's parents were! My Gawsworth lot, who paid the Vicar's stipend, got away with murder in the way of names from the 1500s onwards - Parnall, Henshaw, Jarratt, Wade, etc. The hoi polloi made do with Mary, James, John, Elizabeth etc. OC

I've just been looking at parish records for a CofE church in Yorkshire, and one guy (in about 1780) is called Dionysius. Was it common for children to be given pagan names in those days? The register wasn't written in Latin, so I think he must have been baptised with that name.

yes its James- not many Catholics named Jacob pmsl...

Nudged for future reference! Thanks Claire

Thomam often comes up for Thomas and I understand that Jacobus is always James not Jacob. Janet

Probably known as Sep and Tavy! Yes, Abraham is an Old Testament name, wonder how they got that past the priest?? A branch of my family in the 1700s took a fancy to call all their girls Mally. The Vicar refused to baptise them with this heathen name, which does not appear in the New Testament, and baptised them all as Mary. Fine. But ever after the day of their baptism, they are referred to as Mally. OC

Thanks OC Just looked in my journal and Septimus was the 7th and Octavious the 8th child born. What would they be known as though, surely not by those names when they have brothers called John, Thomas, Joseph, Stephen & Charles ? Abraham Samuel was also a sibling (born 4th) - I though Abraham was a Jewish name (she says scratching her noggin). Jeanne

Phoenix Lack of ambiguity be b******d! My Emme, for instance - is she Emma, Emmie, or Amy? She ought to be Amy because the name follows down for ten generations - but maybe she was really Emmie? and the next lot were misnamed Amy? Incidentally, I always understood that the name Jacob did not exist in its own right as far as the Established Church goes (RC as well) because it is an old testament name used by the Jewish faith. If you see Jacob in a latin register, you should assume it is short for James. Septimus = seventh child (or, born in the seventh month) Octavius = eighth child (or born in the eighth month) Theodosia = hmmm, I really dont know, is this a Catholic Saint's name? The Roman Catholic Church was not keen on fancy names, so it must have some religious significance. OC