From the Vaults: Silly 18th Century Names

Reading today's Hollywood gossip sites and magazines, I often find myself groaning at the, ermmm...unique? names that celebrities pick out for their children. Apple, Sunday, Ocean, Blanket (really MJ?), Audio...the list could go on and on. I had always thought that this was a fairly modern phenomenon. My recent forays into the land records at Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, however, suggests that this trend for creative names has a VERY long history.

Take, for example, Mr. B. Goold, who lived in Hants County Nova Scotia in 1784. He petitioned the government to give a grant of land to his daughter, Gratiana Wilhemina Heneretta Zephalinda Sophia Goold (Nova Scotia Archives and Records Managemt, RG 20 "A" Vol. 4). What a mouthful! The poor clerk who had to repeatedly write out this name on the land documents appears to have agreed with me, often shortening the name to G.W.H.Z.S. Goold. I don't blame him.

Silly name #2 comes from the County of Sunbury, in modern day New Brunswick. Beamsley Glazier, a Lieutenant Colonel, was granted 1000 acres of prime real estate (Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, RG 20 "A" Vol. 4). Beamsley! I love it

The final example of historic Nova Scotia silly names comes to us from the Dill family, also of Hants County. Brothers John, David, and...Mungo Dill, received a hefty chunk of land along the road to Windsor (Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management, RG 20 "A" Vol. 3A).

Of course, not every 18th century parent was so creative. After reading about many Williams, Johns, James', and Edwards, coming across these names always gives me a bit of a chuckle. Who knows, today's celebrities may be taking their baby-naming cues from a long history of unique and creative Nova Scotian parents!