Curious ancestral forenames.

[Osweo]

is the best I've found so far. My 4xGreat Grandad, a butcher from Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Anyone got better?

[Æscwyn]

My great grandfather was called Wyness. No idea exactly where my gg grandmother got the name from, but people always say it sounds Scottish, which would make sense since my gg grandmother is known to have been in a relationship with a married Scottish doctor at the time. Wyness was a bastard in the old fashioned sense.

[Odoacer]

My 2nd great grandaunt, Zarilda (or Zerelda, or Sarilda, or Serelda, depending on the record), has the most unusual name by far of anyone in my family tree. Of my direct ancestors, my grandmother & great grandmother, who were both named Melba; & my 5th great grandfather, Noahiah.

[Amapola]

MATAMOROS

[The Journeyman]

Ahh forename...

[Bridie]

All of my ancestors that I've seen so far have had very ordinary, boring English forenames.

Some of the middle names have often seemed odd though, because, especially prior to about 1900 or so, it appears that it was common practice in England for maiden names of mothers to be used as a middle name for their newborns or less commonly, the birthplace of the mother or father or a beloved grandparent as a middle name.

I have a Great-Great Grandfather who was named Arthur Medloe Mortimore... the Medloe bit seems to have been derived from Medlow, Hampshire, the place of his mother's birth. (Arthur was born in Turville, Buckinghamshire.)

I wonder how many of these odd sounding forenames that you English fellows have found in your family trees have been the result of babies being named after their mum's maiden surnames or birthplace names relevant to close family members of theirs.... My guess is, quite a few.

Could apply to some countries outside of England too, I'm not sure.

[Lábaru]

Perhaps Roland (my Grandfather), is not a very common surname in Spain.

[Allenson]

I have a female ancestor on my maternal grandfather's side who was named Arpha Ingersoll.

Also, many of my English Puritan ancetors had odd forenames such as Deliverance, Mehitable, Dorcas, Freegift, etc.

[leisitox]

bedrik (my grandfather)

[Logan]

Anyone got better?

Lead actors surname in the credits.

[YOUTUBE]M7OekQOkeN0[/YOUTUBE]





Myself; a surname used as a second forename, Hale.

Mortimore?