Interchangeable First Names ?.....

Looking for Scottish Ancestors

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HeatherV
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2004 12:41 am

Interchangeable First Names ?.....

Post by HeatherV » Tue Apr 26, 2005 10:57 pm

Puzzles with names and am wondering if they might be due to interchangeable names ?

Two sisters, their birth records show their names as Isabella and Lucy.
On various other records, marriage, death and birth of children I seeing
Louisa, Elizabeth in addition to their real names.

My mum's name was Janet - but everyone just called her 'Nettie' - this seems to be a nickname or a short.

If it is any clue, Isabella and Lucy were both from Islay, perhaps something that was done in this area of Scotland ?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Heather
Researching: Fulton, Lidster, Murdoch, MacLean, Graham, Shedden, Fairlie, Renton, Lynch, Gordon
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nelmit
Posts: 4002
Joined: Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:49 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Interchangeable First Names ?

Post by nelmit » Wed Apr 27, 2005 12:19 am

HeatherV wrote:Puzzles with names and am wondering if they might be due to interchangeable names ?

Two sisters, their birth records show their names as Isabella and Lucy.
On various other records, marriage, death and birth of children I seeing
Louisa, Elizabeth in addition to their real names.

My mum's name was Janet - but everyone just called her 'Nettie' - this seems to be a nickname or a short.

If it is any clue, Isabella and Lucy were both from Islay, perhaps something that was done in this area of Scotland ?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Heather
The only experience I've had is Lucy is definitely a pet name for Louisa.

Never heard of any exchange between Elizabeth and Isabella. As far as my own family history goes they each have their own short or pet versions. i.e. - Lizzie, Beth, Eliza, Betty, Bessie etc. and Bella or Isa.

As for Janet, 'The world's yur oyster' call her whit ye like!!!!!

Regards,
Annette m

aka Nellie, Nell, Nettie, Annie. :D
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DavidWW
Posts: 5057
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 9:47 pm

Re: Interchangeable First Names ?

Post by DavidWW » Wed Apr 27, 2005 12:58 am

nelmit wrote: ....snipped ............Never heard of any exchange between Elizabeth and Isabella. As far as my own family history goes they each have their own short or pet versions. i.e. - Lizzie, Beth, Eliza, Betty, Bessie etc. and Bella or Isa.
Isabel and close variants are indeed recognised by Leslie Alan Dunkling's "Scottish Christian Names" as cognates of Elizabeth !!

Davie
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Andy
Posts: 735
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 8:06 am
Location: Gourock

Post by Andy » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:19 am

Elizabeth, Isabel(la), Sibel and Lisa along with the short forms: Bessie, Beth, Betty, Eliza, Elsbeth, Elsie, Elspeth, Lillibet, Lisa and Lizbeth were interchangeable.

Elizabeth is the French form whereas Isabella is the Latin/Spanish for the same name. Sibel is Irish Gaelic, Ishbel is the Scottish version with Lisa the Germanic.
Searching for Keogh, Kelly, Fitzgerald, Riddell, Stewart, Wilson, McQuilkin, Lynch, Boyle, Cairney, Ross, King, McIlravey, McCurdy, Drennan and Woods (to name but a few).

Also looking for any information on Rathlin Island, County Antrim, Ireland.
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HeatherH
Global Moderator
Posts: 700
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:30 pm
Location: Nova Scotia ,Canada

Post by HeatherH » Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:02 pm

And as for Janet the most common is Jean and Jane.But there are certainly many more.
HeatherK
Looking for ...but not limited to Haldane ,Keir ,McLauchlan ,Walker ,Torrance , Reid ,Clark ,Johnstone ,Holmes ,Laurie ,Lawrie ,Strachan , McIlwee ,Welsh ,Queate ,Stewert ,McNight ,Steele ,Cockburn ,Young ....whew! That's more than enough for now.
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JustJean
Posts: 2520
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:52 am
Location: Maine USA

Post by JustJean » Wed Apr 27, 2005 2:14 pm

I'm gonna toss in Betsy as yet another form of Elizabeth....altho in my case Betsy is her name on the BC and Betsy is her name on her MC and Betsy is her name on her DC...but the census enumerator logged her as Elizabeth in 1851 when she was 3.

Jean
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DavidWW
Posts: 5057
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 9:47 pm

Post by DavidWW » Wed Apr 27, 2005 2:25 pm

JustJean wrote:I'm gonna toss in Betsy as yet another form of Elizabeth....altho in my case Betsy is her name on the BC and Betsy is her name on her MC and Betsy is her name on her DC...but the census enumerator logged her as Elizabeth in 1851 when she was 3.

Jean
Hi Jean

"Betsy" is a perfectly acceptable cognate of Eli[s/z]abeth .................

Davie
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HeatherV
Posts: 49
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2004 12:41 am

Post by HeatherV » Wed Apr 27, 2005 10:02 pm

Thanks for the wealth of ideas.

Someone sent me this very helpful website :

http://www.whatsinaname.net/index.html

Heather
Researching: Fulton, Lidster, Murdoch, MacLean, Graham, Shedden, Fairlie, Renton, Lynch, Gordon
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AnneM
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Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 6:51 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire

Post by AnneM » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:01 pm

Hi

Though this is not totally relevant to this topic I've found Betsey as short for Beatrice. The initial assumption on seeing Betsey is that her full name is Elizabeth. Mind you she is an ancestor of my children's and not mine and my ex husband's family were always awkward!

Anne
Anne
Researching M(a)cKenzie, McCammond, McLachlan, Kerr, Assur, Renton, Redpath, Ferguson, Shedden, Also Oswald, Le/assels/Lascelles, Bonning just for starters
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JustJean
Posts: 2520
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 12:52 am
Location: Maine USA

Post by JustJean » Mon May 02, 2005 5:39 pm

DavidWW wrote:
JustJean wrote:I'm gonna toss in Betsy as yet another form of Elizabeth....altho in my case Betsy is her name on the BC and Betsy is her name on her MC and Betsy is her name on her DC...but the census enumerator logged her as Elizabeth in 1851 when she was 3.

Jean
Hi Jean

"Betsy" is a perfectly acceptable cognate of Eli[s/z]abeth .................

Davie
And now for the bad news....I just found my Betsy indexed as Berty in the 1861 England Census at Ancestry. No gender is designated. :cry: I have to admit...the enumerator did write it like Berty...or maybe Besty :? Just goes to prove you have to have an open mind when searching :!:

Jean
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