common last names for slaves in the 1800s

They reflect an acculturation process by which generations of enslaved people, increasingly removed from the direct influence of their first enslaved African ancestors, adopted the conventions of their enslavers, eventually creating a culture and value system all their own. It comes from the same Greek root as 'ambrosia', the food of the gods, said to confer immortality. Elijah is derived from the Hebrew name Eliyahu, composed of the elements. 1. 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 Extensive records of slaveholding over several generations exist for a number of North Carolina plantations, most notably the Skinner and Hayes plantations in Chowan County; Pettigrew plantations in Tyrrell, Washington, and Wake Counties; Bennehan-Cameron plantation in Orange County; Hargrove plantation in Granville County; Arrington plantations in Nash and Edgecombe Counties; Avery plantation in Burke County; and Lenoir plantation in Caldwell County. Dick Lewis Barnett and Phillip Fry were African American veterans of the Union Army during the Civil War. Dorothy, Doris or Dora: Meaning 'gift of God', this Victorian girl's name was popular in the 19th century. If the slaveholder or another free white man was their father, many Creoles did use either is first or last name as a surname. Prior to the emancipation of the American slaves in 1863, those African-Americans held in bondage had usually just one or two given names. Chapter 4 gives a brief and introductory outline of naming in the United States during slavery and its consequences in African American culture. Students consider what it means to be free by learning about the choices and aspirations of freedpeople immediately after Emancipation. LOTTIE had been the name of the nurse before me and so they just continued that same name. 140+ Victorian Baby Names | Names from the 1800s | Peanut . There are issues, too, about how to interpret the recorded names, which have been classified in different ways depending on researchers interests. An accessible introduction to the field. I am an engineer by day, but my true passion lies in genealogy. They are part of Records of the U.S. Customs Service . Also included here are common names among slaves, many of which were classical and had ties to the Bible or mythology, such as Keziah and Venus. Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery. Until recently, scholarly consensus was that early African American names did not differ significantly from those of white Americans. 687+ African-American Last Names [All Categories] - Tag Vault There are many factors to consider in determining what surnames African Americans used. Bradley was the last man owned em. Robyn. The Genealogy Source Table Collection includes 10 blank, editable source tables for death certificates, city directories, obituaries and funeral programs. If we consider the diverse circumstances that the tragedy of slavery created, we can understand the reasons why. No superior alternative has yet been found. Analyzing Creole names, especially those of African origin, demands a combination of historical and linguistic expertise that has not yet been systematically applied to slave names. It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl. 77th U.S. Col Inf and Co. D. U.S. Col H Art under the name Lewis Smith which was the name I wore before the days of slavery were over. Phone: 314-994-3300, Hours & Locations Comments/Suggestions314-994-3300, Copyright 2023. Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. Jamaica Slavery FamilySearch Each is present in your body. how the surnames former slaves had were connected to their experiences in slavery. Abara: Originating from the Igbo group of West Africa, Abara means 'spirit'. I hope youll sign up to receive my postsif you do, youll get a free PDF with some of my favorite tips! - Jane Howard, "Friends are God's apologies for relations." ", "Call it a clan, call it a network, all it a tribe, call it a family. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts South Atlantic Creole Archipelagos Three formerly enslaved people discuss their names and the changes they underwent after Emancipation. Please subscribe or login. . FamilySearch Centers. 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 . For more information about the records covered in this index,please contact the History and Genealogy Department. See flier for more details. This is true in some cases but not all. Thanks for all you to do keeps us all so enlightened! But once freed most immediately chose surnames, with or without keeping their accustomed name. In another case Sukey Ann and he 4 children were manumitted by their Ashby owner with only their first names. 1800s-1850s: Expansion of slavery in the U.S. - NBC News Ninety percent of them were African-American, a far higher black percentage than for any other common name. 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. Eliza Moore (1843 - January 21, 1948) Source = Pinimg. Edited by Gabriele vom Bruck and Barbara Bodenhorn, 178199. Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough about African and Caribbean research in the areas you name. 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. Besides the Morrows, whom else did you live with in Louisville? Augustin Meaning: a descendant of Augustine Origin: English 2. There are a wide array of sources that provide us with slave surnames, from the slave narratives and interviews, to freedmans bank cards, runaway ads and Southern Claims Commission records. The naming of slaves has not been treated in dedicated monographs, but it often figures in general accounts of plantation culture and the practices of enslavement. There are 15 tables, blank and editable for you to populate, as well as samples of using each. 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. Q. A favorite of British novelists including Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse, Ambrose has an air of blooming well-being and upper-class erudition. But the meanings of names certainly evolved over time, and some have argued that the principles according to which an individual name was given (e.g., after a relative or ancestor) are at least as important as its apparent meaning and type. This financial assistance was available to all Civil War veterans and their families. Where did you get the maiden name of Smith from? In fact, the previous enslaver widow sold most of the slaves. Youll often see the word degraded used in the academic references; these were all attempts at degradation. I have found only one very rare example of a slaveholders inventory, that lists the slaves along with their surnames. The names they gave their children provide a valuable, if limited, index of that process over time. However the frequent rebellions by . Table 7. I worked for him as nurse for his children, and my full and correct name was OCTAVIA, but the family could not catch on to that long name and called me LOTTIE for short. However, the enslaved occasionally had surnames, which became normal leading up to and after emancipation as a mark of assimilation into free society. The given name Athena was derived from the city name Athens, which is of uncertain origins. . 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. Feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions or need some assistance. He was a slave owner and, in 1800 as Chief Justice of New Brunswick, he supported slavery in defiance of British practice at the time. Slavery. And you get to tell the story of Jean-Louiss life in slavery and also in freedom. Many names, whether African derived or English, refer to birth circumstances, including both the ubiquitous day-names, which derive from the West African Akan-Twi language group, and others such as birth order and time of birth (e.g., day of the week, month, or season). 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. Enslaved people resisted in ways large and small. If a surname was needed, the slave owners family name might be used. Manifests - Alphabetical by Slave Names Return to Slave Manifests main page Click on each Slave name to view information on that voyage. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Finding Aids for the National Archives at Atlanta, National Archives Catalog (National Archives Identifier 2767350). People of the Atlantic Slave Trade - Database Davis: This name is a patronymic of David. 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. This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. This unique-sounding French last name means 'bold' or 'daring'. See more details in the flier here and they are available for purchase for $10 . This causes many researchers to wrongly conclude that enslaved people did not have surnames until after emancipation, which was not the case. Brown: A common last name derived from an ancestor's complexion or the color of their hair. Ethereal and delicate, Cassandra was in the Top 70 throughout the 1990s but is now descending in popularity. 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. Unique Surnames to Grenada. 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. One of my grandfathers in Africa was called Jeaceo, and so I decided to be Jackson. Robyn. Fortunately, the French and Latin were excellent record keepers and the Catholics were obsessed with knowing the kinship of everyone. A. Lottie Smith was my name and what they called me before I met Phillip and was married to him. 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. New surnames were created from a local regions name such as Smithfield the name taken might be Smith or Field. Surely the hundreds of black Culbert people living today cannot all be connected to those three cases. Proving their identity as former soldiers often revealed some of the most detailed explanations for former slaves choice of surnames. 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. In the late 1830s, Nathaniel Terry of Todd County, Kentucky died leaving a plantation of fifty slaves. Start your year off with tips and strategies that can help you in the new year & beyond. -Unknown, "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city;)" Currently, the most popular Black last name in America is Williams, with a total count of 774,920 people who have the surname. Practices undoubtedly varied, and different archival sources may yield different conclusions. Just makes me sad for the human spirit that anyone, let alone hundreds of thousands of people could participate in it. I am not able to find any slaveholders in the Versailes area by the name of Ellis. My maiden surname is Williams. By country & year of birth. On all subsequent census records, he is listed as John Lewis. Last updated: November 1, 2003 "Dwelling No." Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. I have been a researcher, writer, lecturer and teacher for over twenty years. Please share, in the comments below, examplesyou have come across of the surnames of enslaved people, especially if it was different from their last slaveholder. Slave surnames | Vita Brevis After Emancipation, many former slaves adopted new names and surnames. You can read about this in the following two posts on my blog. This is common. Perhaps Wash Ellis registered under the name of one of his parents. 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". 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. Drawing on extensive archival records, this digital memorial allows analysis of the ships, traders, and captives in the Atlantic slave trade. -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. Each is present in your body. CLARKE - The name comes from 'clerk, a clergyman, a scholar, one who can read and write' and is most prevalent in England, where some 89,337 people are recorded with this surname. I found in the Civil War registry, an enslaved man who enrolled in the infantry under the name of Wash Ellis. Are you thinking this woman Eliza Ellis was married to Wash Ellis? A brief history of black names, from Perlie to Latasha - The Conversation One former slave Bill Scott from Wessyngton reported in his pension application for military service that when he enlisted in the Union Army officials put down his surname as Washington. Even tiny steps are huge in someones life. This blog is where I share family history methods, resources, tips and advice, with an emphasis on slave research, slavery and its aftermath. Many of these were names of heroesbut not Lincoln. I did not even check the 1850 slave schedule. College, Advanced AA Gen. Class, September 2009, Alice, Robyn and Lajoye, CM AAHGS, September 2017, Robyn and Andrea, NGS Conference, May 2014. Ref. 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. Who called you by that name and where was it done? Some of the most common or popular last names in the 1800s included Robinson, Clark, and Smith. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. 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. CLICK HERE TO SAVE YOUR SEAT! 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. He took his last enslaver surname. Top 100 Southern Surnames or Last Names With Meanings - FirstCry Parenting They are held at The National Archives (Kew, England). Isaiah derives from the Hebrew Yeshayahu, containing the elements. 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. The name.Auber.is also.in.Haiti and.is of.French orign. Thank you. I have been unable to trace several of his siblings and now wonder if it might be because others did not take that name. He stated that he had always been known by his fathers surname Scott, even before he was freed. Search 31 million family names. College, Advanced AA Gen Class, September 2011, AAHGS Annual Genealogy Conference, November 2008, Howard Comm. Surnames like Chantimel have disappeared, while names like Horsford and Ackie, coming from Antigua (where they are common), or Quarless, Dowden, Chandler, and Dottin from Barbados, have enriched Grenada's family history and cultural identity. .When I got home after the war, I was wearing the name of Lewis Smith, but I found that the negroes after freedom, were taking the names of their father like the white folks. . On Anglican (Church of England) baptisms records the child legally and officially is documented with the surname of the mother if she and the father were not married. Explore the most common surnames in England. common last names for slaves in the 1800s. Slave Names In The Americas - Black Voice News The surname Williams occurs roughly 550 times per 100,000 people in the U.S. You can find explanations for each of the table columns below, or use the following links to view more last names for different ancestries. This phenomena makes research very complicated when you dont know the mothers surname. All of them are alive in this moment. Introduction. Claudia Bautista,Santa Monica, Calif. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Evie (F) (English origin) means "life" or "lively". Because I like to let formerly enslaved people speak for themselves, here are several examples of freedmen and women discussing their surnames. In 1870, all of them were listed with the surnames of their last owner; however, each one of them named their sons for one of their brothers. 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. Whereas names withAfrican, classical, or other unique origins were popular during enslavement, --- often continuingfrom one generation to the next and creating a distinctive nomenclature unlike that of southern whites -- free black peopleoften used more traditionally Anglicized versions of their first names. Many took the surname of famous or celebrated people; such as Lincoln, Grant, and Washington was very popular. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! Robinson: A patronymic of the name Robin. You already know the rich historical terrain of FPOC in Louisiana, what terrific grounds for family research. It is these single names that have been most often studied. Places; Login. Tell me the name you were called before you met Phillip Fry? Another slave named Bill who attended the sheep became Bill Shepherd. In 1911, Barnett and Fry's widow, Mollie, both applied for pensions from the government. I belonged to him until emancipation. I worked for him as nurse for his children, and my full and correct name was OCTAVIA, but the family could not "catch on" to that long name and called me "LOTTIE" for short. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! Wesley is one of a group of W-starting surname names reminiscent of the Old West that are making a comeback -- though it's not as well used as it was in the 1970s, when he ranked as high as Number 66. Slavery in the 1800s - The history of slavery Although it is not widely known, some African Americans used surnames before they were emancipated. In the context of The Bahamas, the surname appears to originate with Denys Rolle, an American Loyalist who re-settled on Exuma, one of the so-called Out Islands of The Bahamas, sometime in the mid-1780s. Even worse, during this period, many African Americanssome using surnames for the very first timechanged their surnames once or even several times. Bernard Meaning: brave warrior Origin: French 4. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Some of them developed a long-term relationship with one of the female slaves. The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Familys Journey to Freedom is proudly powered by WordPress Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). 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. EDHASA, 2006, 359 pages, (. Thank you for your kind comment and I am glad my post helped some with the complicated reasons behind the surnames enslaved people had. I also have a Slavery and Freedom Collection available for $20. The idea was for the children to enter the inhumane system of slavery protected by a sense of Selfhood and history. Instead a wide variety of surnames came about that would be the family name for future generations. 5. I first wrote about this in this 2009 post: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2009/09/calvin-r-yarborough-where-it-all-began.html, And,then, more recently in 2013, here: http://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2013/11/many-rivers-to-cross-my-priscilla.html. These people are referred to as slaves, or as enslaved people. I was only three years old when she died. Hi Donna, The most common origin for surnames is that enslaved people initially used the surname of either their mother or their father, if they knew what those names were. With mythological names rising, the handsome son of Zeus and god of medicine, music, and poetry among many other things might offer an interesting, if high-pressure, option. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The fifty most common Victorian surnames in England and Wales for 1853 are listed in alphabetical order below. The resources Im getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. While Smith remains the most common U.S. surname, for the first time, two Hispanic namesGarcia and Rodriguezmade the top 10. Most Popular Names. Hi Rodney, Jonah, the name of the Old Testament prophet who was swallowed by the whale, only to emerge unharmed three days later, is increasingly appreciated by parents looking for a biblical name less common than Jacob or Joshua, yet not too obscure.

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