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However, many African Americans faced a problem when they applied for their pensions. Runaway ads illustrate how many slaveholders knew the surnames of their slaves. 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. Students learn about President Andrew Johnson and the Congressional Republican's conflicting visions of how to rebuild the nation after the Civil War. Thats high on my to do list. Flora, the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and spring, who enjoyed eternal youth, is one of the gently old-fashioned girls' flower names we think is due for a comebackalongside cousins Cora and Dora. The, For descendants, I would add the substantial emotional impact of seeing an ancestor's name attached to a dollar value, or being valued in a list with silverware and cattle. 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. Robyn. 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. This is common. Several of the other slaves were sold to various slave owners. In Greek mythology, Athena is the name of the daughter of Zeus who was the goddess of wisdom, warfare, handicrafts, mathematics, and courage, among others. It had always been passed down in the family that Thomas has been owned by the Blacks. So just a few things to be aware of when researching any African-American ancestors. Another myth is once African Americans were sold they never saw their families again. I took the name of Jackson for the reason that I preferred to go by my fathers name, rather than the name of my last owner.. ", "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you might as well make it dance! Use the form below to get in touch with me and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Q. Thank you, my dear friend, for adding this about enslaved people owned in the Caribbean is really important, as some of the customs were certainly different. Middle Tennessee, where tobacco, cattle, and grain became the favored crops, held the . One name you find frequently used was Freeman or Freedmen to declare their new freedom. 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. Index by slave owner's name | Surname unknown or illegible. Baptiste Meaning: derived from the name Bautista; the Spanish form of Baptist Origin: Spanish 3. 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. This potential brother had been sold to a local and remained there in SC. > | Index main page>| Index by slave owner's name, 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). Now, that parent's surname could very well be the surname of the most recent slaveholder or an earlier slaveholder. Location the owner of ones ancestor is crucial for an African American genealogist to trace his family before 1870. Best of luck to you in your research, 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. When retained, a given name was generally changed to its full form: Thomas, not Tom; Elizabeth, not Bet. 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. Place names that were disproportionately popular among Black Americans in history include Boston, Jamaica, York, and Africa. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one", "Friends are God's apologies for relations. Copyright 2023 Facing History & Ourselves. You are the continuation of each of these people.". Societies. Many took the surname of famous or celebrated people; such as Lincoln, Grant, and Washington was very popular. See flier here. 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. However, the enslaved occasionally had surnames, which became normal leading up to and after emancipation as a mark of assimilation into free society. Tags: African American Names, African American Surnames, African Names, Black Surnames, Last Slave Owner, Plantation Owners, plantation slavery, Slave Family, Slave Naming Patterns, slave trade. 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. 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. Slavery. For more information about the records covered in this index,please contact the History and Genealogy Department. 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. PDF Slave Names in Colonial South Carolina - Latin American Studies Robyn, youve done it again! I am researching the surname Culbert worldwide, and the data can be found at: culbert.one-name.net There are a growing number of African Americans with this surname, which I believe originates in Scotland. Ho Joanne, 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. Where did you get the maiden name of Smith from? Even worse, during this period, many African Americanssome using surnames for the very first timechanged their surnames once or even several times. Isaac evolved from the name Yitzchaq, derived from the Hebrew word, Lysander is a distinctive Greek name that could be thought of as a more creative cousin of Alexander. Anouilh. I would appreciate any constructive comments on this question, which can be posted to me via my website address above. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Copeland This last name comes from Old Norse origin. Here, our list of notable early African American names. Clark is a common surname of Anglo-Scottish origin. 16 Most Famous Female Slaves of African American Origin Several names have been added under the letter representing the person's last name. Seating is limited. -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. i have no way to confirm this. And this example from another pension file shows how even the given name of this enslaved woman was held under little regard: Testimony of Mollie Russell (widow of Phillip Fry), September 19, 1911: Q. This was the case with several others from Wessyngton. Early African-American Names | Nameberry Unfortunately, I am not knowledgeable enough about African and Caribbean research in the areas you name. They established and held on to their own cultural traditions in the small spaces that slavery afforded them. LOTTIE had been the name of the nurse before me and so they just continued that same name. I am not able to find any slaveholders in the Versailes area by the name of Ellis. St. Louis County Library. Like most of the architecture and towns in Italy, they can also tell a story. See flier for more details. Some of the most common or popular last names in the 1800s included Robinson, Clark, and Smith. One thing I envy about the Catholic church is the baptisms available for even the enslaved people there. For more details, see the flier here, and you can purchase them here. They are held at The National Archives (Kew, England). 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. Farley, (English Origin) Victorian-era last names meaning "fern woodland". 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. (Media Note: If you quote a post, please credit me by name, Robyn N. African Americans were known by these surnames in the slave community and often recorded by slave owners on plantation documents. One ancestor was known as Baber Masse, Elizabeth SENET and Elisabeth Leveille in different documents. This lifelong quest has helped me to better know my familys past. 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. I am an engineer by day, but my true passion lies in genealogy. Just from the detail in your first comment, I knew there was a good chance you were already familiar with those authors. Some last names recognize certain histories or describe important events or narratives that mean a lot to the family. African Americans in the U.S. Federal Census, 1870-1890 (National I was called by that name all the time I was with the Morrows. Enslaved people often transferred such names to later generations in modified form or relied on African naming traditions, such as "day names" or names reflecting the order of birth among siblings. Slavery existed in the United States from its founding in 1776 and became the main . Were there any famous slaves? Edmon S. Conner Recalls About His Career", "Law and the Cultural Production of Race and Racialized Systems of Oppression", "Runaway Slaves and Servants in Colonial Virginia", Slavery in the Courtroom: An Annotated Bibliography of American Cases, "Soldier of Furtune: John Smith before Jamestown", "YSTUMLLYN, JOHN ('Jack Black') (d. 1786), gardener and land steward | Dictionary of Welsh Biography", "Strong, Jonathan (c. 17471773), de facto freed slave", "Juan Francisco Manzano | Slave Narratives | The MoAD Salon | MoAD - Museum of the African Diaspora", "Relatos sobre la India Juliana. They are part of Records of the U.S. Customs Service . Facing History & Ourselves, "Changing Names," last updated May 12, 2020. A. Mr. Thomas Jefferson of Louisville, bought me when I was three years of age from Mr. Dearing. That is why you will find a lot of families in Louisiana with surnames like Baptiste, Narcisse, Jean-Louis, Nanette-Louise, Rene, Jacques etc Ive come across very few former slaves and fpoc using the surnames of their former owner. Hi Jim, Top 100 Southern Surnames or Last Names With Meanings - FirstCry Parenting I love how you have documented the history of your own surname. The names that were brought together to form "Geffery" were "Gaufrid" (territory-peace), "Godafrid" (god-peace), and "Galfridus" (song-peace). 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. Thomas: Thomas is a common surname of biblical origin meaning twin. 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. How did you ever come by the name of "Mollie"? This financial assistance was available to all Civil War veterans and their families. I make extensive use of tables for organization, analysis and citation in my research, and they have proven very popular with genealogists. Both comments and pings are currently closed. There are many factors to consider in determining what surnames African Americans used. There are also a few problems with the original dataset in name transcription such that a small number of first names were transposed with last names. 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 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. 6. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. Allard. Archambeau. Hi Susan, Many of the former slaves and some free people of color took the first name of their father, mother and sometimes former slaveowner as their last. If the slaveholder or another free white man was their father, many Creoles did use either is first or last name as a surname. This financial assistance was available to all Civil War veterans and their families. Perhaps this caused some Slaves to ask: Am I my new name or am I still my old name? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. ", "If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all the generations of your ancestors. As a result, many slaves used the surnames of their owners wifes family. FamilySearch Centers. . I am the applicant for pension on account of having served in Co. B. Thanks for commenting and continued luck in your research, What were common last names in the 1800s? - TeachersCollegesj Many enslaved people were allowed to keep their original African names or names assigned them elsewhere (as reflected by the frequency of Spanish and Portuguese names among the first generation of enslaved people in the Carolinas.) 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. Please subscribe or login. 40. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. It can be a difficult path, but just might be reachable. The given name Athena was derived from the city name Athens, which is of uncertain origins. In ancient history, Lysander was the name of an esteemed Spartan naval commander and his literary cred comes from one of the two star-struck young men in Shakespeare's. When Wessyngtons owner George A. Washington married Margaret Lewis in 1849 her father gave the couple twenty-nine slaves. Slavery in America was the legal institution of enslaving human beings, mainly Africans and African Americans. 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. I was only three years old when she died. "More than half of the surnames are derived from the Christian or fore-name of the father," [1] and based on a total of 3,253,800 people, nearly 18 in every 100 persons was known by one of these fifty surnames. 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. 2. Since those are the countries from which many of America's original settlers came, it's hardly surprising. Nat Turner's Rebellion One of the most famous slave revolts in American history came in 1831 when Nat Turner led a bloody uprising in Southampton County, Virginia. -George Burns, "Where does the family start? 20 August 2022, 1-3:30 pm [PAST EVENT], Eastern Standard Time: Join me for a two-hour lecture and workshop on Using Deed Records. 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! Ethereal and delicate, Cassandra was in the Top 70 throughout the 1990s but is now descending in popularity. Cora: We first fell in love with this short baby girl's name from Downton Abbey, but Cora was already popular in the 1800s, meaning 'maiden' or 'good'. When I was born my mother was known as Phillis Smith and I took the name of Smith too. You already know the rich historical terrain of FPOC in Louisiana, what terrific grounds for family research. is for you. Q. EDHASA, 2006, 359 pages, (. 1. Introduction. Former slaves often made up surnames based on their occupations. Robyn. College Advanced AA Gen. Class, November 2012, Robyn, Aaron, Karen, Katherine and Michael, October 2014, African-American Family History Conference, February 2015, African-American Genealogy Group Conference, October 2016, Central Maryland AAHGS, with Alice Harris, September 2015, Howard Comm. This meant that army records documented their service with their old names instead of their new ones. The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. Over time, East Tennessee, hilly and dominated by small farms, retained the fewest number of slaves. Augustin Meaning: a descendant of Augustine Origin: English 2. I was only three years old when she died. No superior alternative has yet been found. For personal use and not for further distribution. -Elbert Hubbard, "Families are like fudge; mostly sweet with a few nuts." Slavery's reach is still with us, and part of the gift of doing African-American genealogy, "The past is not dead. This event is $25. At her death when Thomas was ten, he was sold to Solomon Cobbs who lived nearby. 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. Another interesting fact is that Creole surname use also evolved over time and varied from record to record with the same person. Here, our list of notable early African American names. Wonderful to have first hand account that help shine light on the attitudes of our ancestors. Start your year off with tips and strategies that can help you in the new year & beyond. In the 1760s Anglo-American frontiersmen, determined to settle the land, planted slavery firmly within the borders of what would become Tennessee. When slave owners married, they often received slaves as wedding gifts and inheritances from their wifes family. And you get to tell the story of Jean-Louiss life in slavery and also in freedom. ", "Families are like fudge; mostly sweet with a few nuts. Copyright 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. A Wessyngton slave named Bill who was the plantations blacksmith was known as Billy the Smith during slavery. I have been a researcher, writer, lecturer and teacher for over twenty years. Q. 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. | Name Census If the former slave had been befriended or assisted in getting established after the Civil War, they might have taken that person's name. 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. List of slaves - Wikipedia Interestingly, the five most common American surnames as of 2010 haven't changed that much over time and are Smith, Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Peneus saved Daphne from Apollos romantic obsessions by transforming her into a laurel tree. My father once told me his grandfather ran away from the Carrington place and changed his name to Williams. Thats a goal that I am working towards. This was done more because it was the logical thing to do and the easiest way to be identified than it was through affection for the master. The origins of this last name date back to the pre-medieval period. Harriet Tubman and some of the slaves she helped free. Join me as I present this NEW webinar that covers why we miss our ancestors in these records and presents numerous strategies to assist in finding every clue in census records. One of the largest sources are the Civil War pension records of the almost 200,000 black men who served in the US Army and Navy. In the late 1830s, Nathaniel Terry of Todd County, Kentucky died leaving a plantation of fifty slaves. You can read the introductory maps for a high-level guided explanation, view the timeline and chronology of . The name.Auber.is also.in.Haiti and.is of.French orign. Famous name bearers: many King Louis of France, Sandra Bullock's son and actor Louis Partridge. Emphasizes the giving and repeated use of names as a performative act of domination. The Language of Names. I belonged to him until emancipation. 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. . Daniel Odgen, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts In The Greek and Roman Worlds, p. 119, Laurence Vidal, Los Amantes de Granada, Ed. He identified father, mother and siblings in a Freedmans bank deposit in 1873, when he was already in New York City. 1760-1810 Persons declared to be "white by law" or "free" (part 1), (part 2) at Jamaican Family Search Genealogy Research Library. 12 Lost American Slangisms From The 1800s : NPR History Dept. : NPR After emancipation, he became William Smith. Expand or collapse the "in this article" section, Slave Names and Naming in the Anglophone Atlantic, Slave Names on Emancipation and after Slavery, Expand or collapse the "related articles" section, Expand or collapse the "forthcoming articles" section, African Retailers and Small Artisans in the Atlantic World, Alexander von Humboldt and Transatlantic Studies, Atlantic New Orleans: 18th and 19th Centuries, Black Atlantic in the Age of Revolutions, The, Chinese Indentured Servitude in the Atlantic World, Cities and Urbanization in Portuguese America, Colonial Governance in the Atlantic World, Comparative Indigenous History of the Americas, Criminal Transportation in the Atlantic World, Domestic Production and Consumption in the Atlantic World, Economy and Consumption in the Atlantic World. Tracing Your Roots: Were Slaves' Surnames Like Brands? Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on A brief history of black names, from Perlie to Latasha - The Conversation common last names for slaves in the 1800s. One frequently occurring name is Rolle. And even though slave marriages were not legal, many enslaved people followed the practice of the wife taking her husbands surname: My mother was named Mary Bradley and my father was named Hilliard Bradley. Entre la construccin de la memoria y la ficcin histrica", "From Africa to India: Music of the Sidis and the Indian Ocean Diaspora (review)", "Mark and Phillis Executions, Burned at the Stake and Gibbeted in Puritan Massachusetts", "Letter from Paul Revere to Jeremy Belknap, circa 1798", "Re: Nancy Titsworth-1800-Livin - Genealogy.com", Association of Muslim Social Scientists & International Institute of Islamic Thought 2008, "Creolizing Natural Liberty: Transnational Obligation in the Thought of Ottobah Cugoano", "Madison and the White House, Through the Memoir of a Slave", "Black Slaves, Indian Masters: Slavery, Emancipation, and Citizenship in the Native American South, by Barbara Krauthamer (2013) Not Even Past", "Timeline of Missouri's African American History", "So Tom e Prncipe recorda o Rei Amador", "Black Christian Republicans: Delegates to the 1847 Liberian Constitutional Convention", "A Slave's Service in the Confederate Army", "Slavery and French Cuisine in Jefferson's Working White House", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_slaves&oldid=1140857860, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 03:19.